Prof. Myron Orfield Quoted in the Carolinian Newspaper About the Legacy of the Fair Housing Act

Professor Myron Orfield was quoted in the Carolinian Newspaper about how the Fair Housing Act that was passed by Congress in 1968 could have had broader effects in reducing housing discrimination resulting in less segregated cities. An investigation by ProPublica shows that presidents of both parties declined to use the leverage of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to enforce the act. The study shows this lack of enforcement has resulted in residential segregation in virtually every aspect of racial inequality, from higher unemployment rates for African Americans, to poorer health care, to elevated infant mortality rates, and inferior schools. Prof. Orfield said that when the federal government abandoned HUD’s efforts, it turned away from a critical opportunity to reshape American life. He said, “Segregation would have been cut by half and possibly eliminated. The country would have been very different.”