Fair Housing Month Begins Amid National Assault on Fair Housing
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Fair Housing Month Begins Amid National Assault on Fair Housing
Washington, D.C. – Today, the National Fair Housing Alliance® (NFHA™) released the following statement from Lisa Rice, President & CEO, to mark April as National Fair Housing Month, coinciding with the anniversary of the signing of the Fair Housing Act in 1968 shortly after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This year’s commemoration is set against the Trump Administration’s efforts to undermine and eliminate fair housing protections across the country. The Administration has issued executive orders that are inconsistent with the Fair Housing Act; announced plans to decimate the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity; tried to shutter the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; eliminated critical fair housing and lending rules and guidances; gutted the fair housing and fair lending enforcement capabilities at multiple agencies; tried to cancel fair housing enforcement and education grants; sided with companies accused of discriminating against Black and Latino people; and taken or begun many other actions that collectively constitute an assault on fair housing:
“The fight for fair housing was born from decades-long efforts by civil rights icons and modern-day patriots. Their work helped unleash unparalleled opportunities for hundreds of millions of people from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The Fair Housing Act established three promises for the people of this nation—the elimination of discrimination in our housing and lending markets, the opportunity for everyone to live in an affordable home in a well-resourced, resilient, healthy neighborhood; and fair housing as the national policy of the United States. While these promises are not yet fulfilled, we have made great strides towards achieving them.
As we mark this year’s national Fair Housing Month, many organizations are wasting precious resources preventing this country from backsliding to a time when race, sex, and disability discrimination were the norm, and re-hashing battles we have already won. Instead of implementing important projects to increase affordable housing units, eliminate toxins from residential areas, ensure people can have clean water in their homes, and expand access to safe credit, we are fighting unprecedented assaults on fair housing. Instead of helping people realize the dream of homeownership, we are trying to prevent massive layoffs and firings, higher inflation, steep market restrictions and an economic recession. Without question, our nation’s civil and human rights are under attack in ways we have not seen since the 1950s and 60s. Mostly gone are the burning crosses, vicious dogs, and fire hoses; today the weapons of war are funding depletion, algorithms, falsehoods, and executive orders.
While the nation is in the throes of a fair and affordable housing crisis, the Trump Administration is dismantling critical civil rights divisions at HUD, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the Department of Justice, and other agencies that help protect and enforce civil rights laws. The Administration is making it harder for victims of discrimination to file complaints; removing fair housing programs from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA; and even eliminating fair housing information from government websites. Fair housing has always received broad and regular bipartisan support and is an official policy of the United States. But the Trump Administration is taking unprecedented and, at times, illegal actions that will open the floodgates to the type of discriminatory and predatory conduct that led to the 2008 financial crisis which caused millions of people to lose their homes and wealth. The Administration’s actions create a high risk of destabilizing the entire housing and financial markets. This redounds to the benefit of no one.
Our nation’s fair housing and lending protections are essential, not optional, for a safe and sound housing market. Eliminating federal fair housing enforcement strips Americans of crucial protections against housing discrimination, leaving them with no recourse. Many Black and Latino prospective homebuyers will face increased difficulty getting a mortgage, tenants will face sexual harassment with few legal safeguards, people with disabilities will struggle to find accessible housing, families with children will face barriers when trying to find housing, and landlords will freely deny homes to voucher holders and veterans based on their source of income.
The Administration’s actions also upend the longstanding bipartisan support for fair housing and civil rights protections that have made this nation the greatest democracy on the planet. Right now, to keep America great, people need increased federal support for a fair and stable housing and finance market, not a retreat from basic civil rights or manipulative and politically motivated actions designed to deepen division and sow chaos and instability.
The Administration’s actions, while challenging, will not deter us from working to bring the promises of the Fair Housing Act to fruition. We will continue to combat discrimination, expand fair housing and lending opportunities and work to ensure all people can live in a safe, vibrant, healthy community with the resources people need to thrive.
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The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) is the country’s only national civil rights organization dedicated solely to eliminating all forms of housing and lending discrimination and ensuring equal opportunities for all people. As the trade association for over 170 fair housing and justice-centered organizations and individuals throughout the U.S. and its territories, NFHA works to dismantle longstanding barriers to equity and build diverse, inclusive, well-resourced communities.