Skip to main content

EOTO - The Fair Housing Act of 1968

 The Fair Housing Act of 1968


    Prior to The Fair Housing Act of 1968, African Americans, in addition to many other minority groups, were being denied basic housing rights. These denials resulted in difficulty finding housing in decent, let alone desirable locations. Minority groups struggled when it came to buying and renting homes. Landlords and sellers would raise prices, set different terms of agreement, use different qualification criteria, or simply refuse to allow these people to live in the available houses due to things such as race, sex, or religion. 

    Prior to the passing of The Fair Housing Act of 1968, two previous versions of this law were rejected by Congress. The rejection of the two prior versions lead people to believe that a third try at passing the law would be an incredibly long shot. After the assignation of MLK things really took a turn. On April 11, 1968 President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, also known as The Fair Housing Act of 1968, which prohibited the discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, sex, handicap, and family status. This was the third major Civil Rights Act passed during the 60's, signifying great advancements on the American front in terms of racial equality. The Fair Housing Act was passed with the hopes of creating equality when it comes to the ability to purchase and rent homes. This also was enacted in order to integrate and diversify housing communities, developments, and residential facilities. 

    The act covers most housing structures and types. The only exempt possibilities are owner occupied buildings with less than four units, single family homes sold or rented by an owner without an agent, and housing operated by religious organizations or private clubs that limit occupancy to solely members. Regardless of the exemptions, the act provided security to minority groups ensuring that if they were financially capable and housing was available, they would be able to obtain it without discrimination. 

    The Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibited many forms of discrimination in regards to buying and renting homes. These prohibitions included things such as refusing to rent to a certain kind of person, setting different terms and conditions based up the tenant or buyer, imposing varying prices due to buyer/renter, using a different set of qualifications for certain people, discouraging a purchase due personal characteristics, and denying a mortgage due to things such as race, sex, or religion. By prohibiting these forms of discrimination it again granted minorities the ability to live in desirable locations with sensible amenities. 

    Even today, there is discrepancies in certain neighborhoods, and even homeownership as a whole between minority groups and whites in America. African American homeownership is significantly lower than that of white people. Just 47% of African Americans own their homes, whereas 75% of white people own their homes. Minorities tend to live in less desirable housing communities, with limited access to luxury amenities. According to the National Housing Conference, 64% of people receiving housing assistance are non-white. So while this Act has made a tremendous impact on minorities, and African Americans in particular, there is still a ways to go. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

EOTO Recap - California Reagents v Bakke

 California Reagents v Bakke Mock Trial Recap     In class we had the opportunity to go through the motions of the California Reagents v. Bakke trial. This was a very prominent case, signifying whether affirmative action and minority quotas were Constitutional and would be permitted to continue on within schools and corporations. The case began when Allan Bakke; veteran, NASA intern, and med-school applicant, was denied twice from University of California at Davis. Bakke reportedly had stand out MCAT scores, a high GPA, and decent interviews and was well rounded between the participation in the U.S. Military as well as NASA.      The side of Bakke deemed racial quotas unconstitutional. They said that affirmative action makes it unfair for students who do not fit the certain group standards to be admitted. Based upon solely numerical values such as grades and GPA, Bakke was more than qualified to be admitted to the medical school. Due to...
Post a Comment
Read more

Speech Theories

Speech Theories      Free Speech is monumental and valuable to the American culture; quite frankly, it makes America, America. After evaluating the eight speech theories used by scholars to describe and understand the premise of free speech in the United States, I was able to conclude which was the most valuable to American society. The eight speech theories are, Marketplace of Ideas, Participation in Self-Government, Stable Change, Individual Self Fulfillment, Check on Governmental Power, Promote Tolerance, Promote Innovation, and Protect Dissent. The theory that I found to be most prominent and valuable, was Individual Self Fulfillment.      The speech theory of Individual Self Fulfillment is described as the ability to express one's individuality and create their own identity. This privilege typically allows people to find others with similar likes, dislikes, and interests. This allows people to make meaningful connections resulting in ha...
Post a Comment
Read more

News Sources

 With so many available news sources literally right at our fingertips, it's important to understand the validity of each source. By taking a deeper look into the places we get our news from, it allows us to have a clearer picture of how the facts we read may be altered, skewed, or changed to fit a certain agenda. Some news sources are more reliable, straight-forward, and clear cut than others, these are the ideal sources. Below are five places I receive news from, and a short conclusion regarding each. 1. NewsBreak I primarily receive a lot of news from the NewsBreak app. This app is relatively unknown, it provides a lot of local smaller stories. It allows for me to still feel connected to my home town while being eight hours away. Due to NewsBreak focusing on a lot of smaller news stories, it is easy to miss some of the major worldly events happening. Along with that, since it is relatively unknown, I am unsure how reliable this news source is. 2. Facebook With apps like Facebook...
Post a Comment
Read more