CityLab Daily: How Housing Industries Keeps Racism Alive
Also today: The unstoppable appeal of highway expansion, and Paris debuts public housing in a pricey landmark.
New suburban homes in San Jose, California, circa 1963, when the state was engaged in debate over housing segregation led by its powerful real estate industry.
Photographer: Joe Munroe/Archive Photos via Getty Images
The real estate industry has played a significant role in keeping racist housing practices in the U.S. alive, starting with its campaign to defend housing segregation during the civil rights era. That’s according to a new book, Freedom to Discriminate, in which author Gene Slater traces how realtors invoked ideas of freedom and patriotism in their “great war” against California’s fair housing policies. That rhetoric from the 1960s continues to influence today’s conservative thought against affordable housing, Slater tells Patrick Sisson in an interview today on CityLab: When Real Estate Agents Led the Fight Against Fair Housing
Meanwhile, a new study by Freddie Mac of more than 12 million U.S. housing appraisals reveals further evidence that the appraisal industry is systematically undervaluing the homes of Black and Latino Americans. The study reinforces the pervasiveness of a racial disparity that appraisal organizations have only recently begun to acknowledge, Brentin Mock reports: Freddie Mac Finds ‘Pervasive’ Bias in Home Appraisal Industry