Fair Housing Act can reach municipal zoning decisions harming communities of color

Evidence

Zoning, at least in the United States, has been one of the more interesting instruments of segregation. It has had a major responsibility in banning mixed land use, that is, in separating place of residence from place of work. Since work places tend necessarily to be integrated, the banning of mixed land use must be considered a separatist stroke of genius (see Schnore, 1967; Toll, 1969). — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 401 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

In a pathbreaking approach, the plaintiffs emphasized the artificiality of the prevailing distinction between de jure and de facto segregation and argued that the Constitution required the school system to take affirmative action to overcome residential patterns shaped by government policies. Fifteen years after Brown, about fourteen thousand black students remained in complete racial isolation in the northwest quadrant, while the most segregated white schools dotted the newest outer-ring subdivisions in the southeastern part of Mecklenburg County. Judge McMillan’s attitude evolved from initial skepticism to genuine shock as the NAACP systematically exposed the underside of the Charlotte Way, the municipal policies that had transformed the metropolitan landscape in broad daylight but remained hidden from the collective consciousness of the white suburbs. (“I lived here for twenty-four years without knowing what was going on,” the judge later remarked. “I really didn’t know.”) — Matthew D. Lassiter, The Suburban Origins of “Color-Blind”…, 29 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Facially-neutral rezoning displaces black residents into blight and industrial exposure; Municipal boundary lines perpetuate racial and class segregation — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law: An Introduction, 1349; Dismantling racism in housing requires confronting both past and present (+6 more)

Related

• Residential segregation is an artifact of municipal policy, not of individual white choices (similarity 0.84)
• Early zoning bodies deliberately down-zoned black neighborhoods to industrial status (similarity 0.83)
• Facially-neutral rezoning displaces black residents into blight and industrial exposure (similarity 0.82)
• Facially neutral industrial rezoning disproportionately displaced black neighborhoods (similarity 0.81)
• Challenging segregation required exposing how government had shaped housing patterns. (similarity 0.81)
• Banning mixed land use is a segregating instrument of zoning (similarity 0.80)
• Residential segregation was deliberately constructed, not natural or market-driven (similarity 0.79)
• Color-blind policy would perpetuate racial segregation without affirmative dismantling (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Banning mixed land use is a segregating instrument of zoning #exemplifies (0.85) — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 401
• Residential segregation is an artifact of municipal policy, not of individual white choices #corroborates (0.82) — Matthew D. Lassiter, The Suburban Origins of “Color-Blind”…, 29
• Dismantling racism in housing requires confronting both past and present #expands (0.80)
• Early zoning bodies deliberately down-zoned black neighborhoods to industrial status #exemplifies (0.80) — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up, 362
• Facially neutral industrial rezoning disproportionately displaced black neighborhoods #exemplifies (0.80) — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up, 349
• Commercial segregation, like residential segregation, was engineered through zoning #expands (0.75)
• Color-blind policy would perpetuate racial segregation without affirmative dismantling #expands (0.75) — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up, 342
• Municipal boundary lines perpetuate racial and class segregation #complicates (0.72) — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law, 1349