Reality show star, aka electoral president elect, Donald Trump has picked of all people, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson as secretary of housing and urban development (HUD). It didn’t seem to matter to him that just weeks prior Carson stated he wasn’t qualified and would rather act as an advisor.
It’s no surprise that Trump would pick Carson, who referred to one of the most important departments in our country as “nothing more than “social engineering.” It appears that Carson’s appointment may be Trump’s payback to HUD for filing and winning a lawsuit against his father for racial discrimination against prospective tenants.
Combine that with Carson’s statement, the handwriting is on the wall as to how they will diminish and even destroy fair housing protections in our country. Read: www.yahoo.com/...
To understand the importance of HUD, it helps to learn a little about it’s history.
The “Great Depression” began in 1929 with the stock market crash on “Black Tuesday.” Twenty five percent of U.S. workers found themselves without jobs, the wealthy lost vast amounts of their fortunes and the world economy crumbled.
Families who found themselves out of work with little or no income faced foreclosures and evictions, however the banks were a lot smarter than they are today and during the 2008 financial collapse, instead of tossing thousands of families to the street they allowed them to stay, rent free as long as they agreed to keep up the property. It was not uncommon for entire communities to be living in their homes under this arrangement, it saved neighborhoods from falling into disarray, property values remained and once the economy rebounded and people were back to work, they were once again able to pay their mortgages.
After WWII families had the opportunity to purchase homes under the GI Bill. Thousands of cookie cutter communities popped up nationwide and city dwellers flocked to the suburbs. Everything was coming up roses for families living the “American Dream” but unfortunately that dream wouldn’t be for everyone.
Minorities were being intentionally left out of home ownership by lenders, builders realtors and many white communities. Racial discrimination was rampant, people in the burbs fled the cities to get away from integration, they made it clear what they wanted and it wasn’t a mixed neighborhood. The problem became so obvious that in 1968 the “Fair Housing Act” was passed after the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in an attempt to reign in discriminatory zoning and housing practices to level the playing field for minorities.
Michigan Governor George Romney, then secretary of Housing and Urban Development, wanted to use his position to tackle America’s housing problems which he described as a “high-income white noose” around the black inner city. His “Open Communities” initiative ordered HUD officials to reject applications for water, sewer and highway projects from cities and states where local policies fostered segregated housing. Romney failed to clear it with the White House and when the President Richard Nixon heard that HUD was turning down grants he shut Romney’s initiative down. Read More: billmoyers.com/...
There have been several attempts over the years to revitalize the program, each time met with opposition going as far as almost defunding the department of Housing and Urban Development. Therefore, the intended benefits of the 1968 Fair Housing Act has not been realized to it’s full potential. Lenders continue to discriminate and place minorities in high risk mortgages with high interest rates and fee’s even if their credit and job history are the same as their white counterparts.
Without enforcement of HUD block grants that provide affordable housing in desirable communities, minorities are finding it harder and harder to move out of less attractive areas that may be higher in crime, have more foreclosures and falling property values.
Julie Gordon writes in the “Center for American Progress” about housing credit issues and offers some possible solutions.
“To increase access to safe and affordable credit, we recommend that the following steps be taken”
- Congress should complete comprehensive reform of the housing finance system.
- The Federal Housing Finance Agency, or FHFA, should play a powerful role in increasing access to credit.
- As a provider of credit to so many underserved populations, the Federal Housing Administration, or FHA, should continue to improve access to and affordability of credit.
- Congress and regulators should support alternative mortgage channels, innovative products to reach underserved borrowers, and effective housing counseling.
- Congress should extend the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act, and it should convert the mortgage interest deduction to a tax credit.
- Regulators should collect better mortgage data to help identify problems and potential solutions in the market. Read More: www.americanprogress.org/...
Whatever steps need to be taken must begin now. This issue of housing segregation is ongoing and stronger than ever. In an article by Dave Collins, AP - a builder in Darien, Conn. submitted building plan for affordable housing in one of the richest and whitest towns in the area. The community was so infuriated that he was attempting to bring lower class minorities into their pristine community that they took their anger out on his little son by demoting him on his Little League team. Read More: news.yahoo.com/...
Can’t we get past this after all these years? Why shouldn’t everyone in our country have the opportunity to enjoy the American Dream of home ownership if they have the financial qualifications to do so? No one should be limited as to where they purchase or should they be charged higher fees due to unscrupulous racial profiling from some lenders. Leaders in our country must address this issue, strengthen and allow HUD and FHFA to do their job. Discrimination and segregation should be an unfortunate memory of the past.