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Though Congress long ago declared housing discrimination illegal, there is very little enforcement of the law, and in 2000, the isolation of minority families remains high. The most recent federal and local studies of the housing market and of lending practices indicate continued and widespread discrimination. Segregated black communities extend well into sections of some suburban rings. In many housing markets, most black families have been segregated for generations. Large, segregated Latino barrios are emerging in cities that are major migration destinations. The numbers of families living in areas segregated by race and poverty have grown rapidly. This paper examines the history of housing segregation and discrimination, discussing institutionalized practices and expectations and questioning whether the government's fair housing is a real cure. After presenting facts about housing segregation (e.g., economic differences explain only a small fraction of existing segregation, and most new housing is developed on the edge of suburbia and sold to an overwhelmingly white clientele), the paper discusses the need for a new concept of suburbia, then offers recommendations in such areas as preventing ghettoization and resegregation, ending discrimination and opening white areas, and broadening the concept of community development. Illustrative policy approaches are included. (SM)

The belief that public schools produce better integration than private schools is deeply held by many people, but unfortunately, it is supported by little empirical evidence. A systematic look at integration is undertaken through a random sample of public and private schools in two cities. A total of 4302 students were observed, 2864 from public schools, and 1438 from private schools. Unlike previous studies of integration in schools, data are drawn from a setting in which racial mixing has greater meaning: the lunchroom. Also developed are new measures of integration that allow for easier, more meaningful comparisons between different school systems. Analyses suggest that private schools tend to offer a more racially integrated environment than do public schools. The primary explanation for private schools' success at integration is that private school attendance is not as closely attached to where a person lives as attendance at public schools. Public schools tend to replicate and reinforce racial segregation in housing. Because private schools do not require that their students live in particular neighborhoods, they can more easily overcome segregation in housing to provide integration in school. The strong religious mission and higher social class found in most private schools are also factors that contribute to better racial integration. Contains 7 tables of data, 6 notes, and 19 references. (Author/BT)

This report is derived from a community forum held in Scottsbluff (Nebraska) on April 28-29, 1993, by the Nebraska Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Views on race relations in selected areas of western Nebraska were expressed by concerned citizens; community leaders; government officials (federal, state, and local); educators; law enforcement officials; and persons from the business community. They reported that steps were being taken to improve race relations in western Nebraska, but that these were insufficient. Main sections of the report address the following: (1) background information on the area and its population, minority groups, and poverty; (2) race relations in general, especially pertaining to Hispanics and Native Americans; (3) reported harassment and racism in the public schools, minority dropout rates, lack of minority group teachers, teacher insensitivity, multicultural and outreach activities, and minority student recruitment at Western Nebraska Community College; (4) procedures for filing complaints of housing discrimination with the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity; and (5) relationships between local law enforcement agencies and Native Americans and Hispanics. Appendices include newspaper articles about Native American protests of police action and the results of Chadron School District's survey of existing multicultural education. (RAH)

This study shows where school segregation is concentrated and where schools remain highly integrated. It offers the first national comparison of segregation by community size and reveals that segregation remains high in big cities and serious in mid-size central cities. Many African-American and Latino students also attend segregated schools in the suburbs of the largest metropolitan areas, while rural areas and small towns, small metropolitan areas, and the suburbs of the mid-size metro areas are far more integrated. States with more fragmented district structures tend to have higher levels of segregation, particularly in states having relatively small proportions of minority students who are concentrated in a few districts. Based on these and other study findings, the country and its schools are perceived as going through vast changes without any strategy. It appears that the civil rights impulse from the 1960s is dead and racial segregation is reemerging. This report recommends policies to school districts, state government, and federal civil rights and education officials to foster integrated education and to make interracial schools function more effectively. It calls for: (1) resumption of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department; (2) restoration of federal aid for successful integration strategies; (3) basic research on the consequences of segregation by race, ethnicity and poverty; and (4) an examination of the ways in which multiracial education functions most effectively. (GLR)

This publication reports on the effects of school desegregation in Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Public Schools 15 years after desegregation was introduced and focuses on the quality of education available for minorities. In particular, the report looks at desegregation and educational outcomes, interracial and human relations, the effect of housing patterns on school desegregation, and strategies such as school choice and the development of black male academies. Information for the report was gathered during field investigations and a day and a half community forum. Report sections cover the context in which the desegregation plan was implemented, educational outcomes, human relations, other strategies to improve education, and the effect of housing patterns on school integration. A final section offering conclusions and recommendations observes that desegregation has not been fully accomplished, grades and scores for black children have declined, disciplinary actions and dropout rates have increased, and racial attitudes have polarized. Desegregation efforts have been complicated by declining economic and housing opportunities. Appendixes contain a list of public schools in the Milwaukee district, and an agenda from the information-gathering forum. (JB)

This digest assesses the human rights situation of poor and marginalized children in urban areas around the world, considering the range of problems that these children and their families face, drawing attention to the need for actions based on a knowledge of urban areas and potential urban advantages, and examining the capacity of competent, accountable, and transparent urban governance to promote the rights of children, enable communities and poor households to influence public policies and actions, and ensure tangible and significant progress in improving conditions in urban settlements. The digest focuses on "Why Look at Children in Urban Areas?"; "Children's Rights and Good Governance"; "Global Trends in Urban Development"; "Urban Poverty and Exclusion" (looking at numbers and factors contributing to urban poverty); "Conditions for Children in Urban Areas" (physical infrastructure, housing, and social dimensions); "Taking Action" (promoting the role of children, child participation in local governance, the Child Friendly Cities movement, enhancing data collection, and improving physical and social conditions); and "Links" (major United Nations agencies and international and regional non-government organizations). (Contains 204 references.) (SM)

This is a report prepared by the Illinois Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. It deals with how local, state and federal officials, as well as private individuals and groups, have dealt with Cairo, Illinois' racial and economic problems. The areas addressed are employment, housing, health, and law enforcement. It has been found that the impact of civil rights legislation has still not reached Cairo after nearly a decade. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has not yet processed its discrimination charges. The State Fair Employment Practices Commission admits it has done "nothing" to end discrimination in Cairo because it does not have the money or legislative authority to take effective action. The City Council lets its attitude towards Blacks stand in the way of selling vacant property to a corporation willing and able to build desperately needed low-income housing for the city's poor. A segregated all-white school continues to operate with the support of federally sponsored tax exempt status while the public school system nears financial ruin. In spite of these failures, Blacks have accomplished a great deal during the past decade. For instance, the biracial board of directors and black administrative staff of a housing corporation have successfully overcome the roadblocks of the City Council and have provided low-income housing for poor whites and blacks. (Author/AM)

This report is the result of an investigation initiated by the Commission to study metropolitan area development and its social and economic impact on urban minorities. In public hearings in St. Louis, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., between January 1970 and June 1971, the Commission documented the problem with the testimony of more than 150 witnesses. Further testimony was gathered by the Commission's State Advisory Committees in these cities and in Boston, Milwaukee, and Phoenix. The report concludes that despite a plethora of far-reaching remedial legislation, a dual housing market continues today in most metropolitan areas across the United States. Inadequate enforcement by Federal agencies and circumvention or, at best, lip-service adherence by local authorities, builders, real estate agents, and others involved in the development of suburban communities have helped to perpetuate the systematic exclusion of minorities and low-income families. The result has been the growth of overwhelmingly white, largely affluent suburbs, and the concurrent deterioration of central cities, overburdened by inordinately large and constantly increasing percentages of poor and minority residents. Two of the sectors hardest hit by extensive residential segregation have been education and employment. (Author/JM)

In early 1972, the Pennsylvania State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights turned its attention to the growing Puerto Rican population in Philadelphia, a population estimated to be anywhere from 30,000 to 125,000. A two-day open meeting or informal hearing was held on June 6 and 7, 1972, to look at two major problem areas for Puerto Ricans in Philadelphia--education for their children, and housing for their families. On June 6, teachers, students, parents, Puerto Rican community leaders, and representatives of State, and local education agencies talked about the problems Puerto Ricans encounter in the city's elementary and secondary schools. The second day, June 7, was devoted to a discussion of housing. Residents of the Spring Garden and Northeast sections of Philadelphia covered the problems of substandard housing. They described the lack of public housing, the deteriorating conditions of most buildings, and the problems encountered by Puerto Ricans who would like to buy a home. Federal and local housing officials described various housing programs and the guidelines which must be met to secure funds for buying and rehabilitating housing. This report is based on background investigations by the field staff of the Commission on Civil Rights and the Pennsylvania State Advisory Committee, and testimony received during the open meeting. (Author/JM)

One crucial step toward an understanding of discrimination against blacks in rental housing is a careful analysis of the landlord's economic incentives. Such analysis does not exist in the literature. This paper develops a model of landlord behavior under perfect competition when both black and white tenants have racial prejudice. This model provides considerable support for open housing legislation and some insight into the design of such legislation. According to this exclusion model, open housing can help eliminate restrictions on the supply of housing available to blacks and reduce the differential between black and white rentals. Open housing will not lead to integration in individual apartment buildings, but this result is due to the prejudice of blacks and whites, not to any deficiency in the open housing approach to discrimination in housing. Furthermore, the exclusion model indicates that open housing will not be a financial disaster for landlords, and that it will not completely eliminate the black-white rent differential for neighborhoods undergoing racial change. Finally, clearinghouses for apartment information, which significantly lower landlords' incentives to discriminate, will increase the effectiveness of open housing legislation. Several ways to improve the effectiveness of open housing legislation are derived. (Author/JM)

Racial prejudice is said to influence strongly the locational decisions of households in urban areas. This paper introduces racial prejudice into a model of an urban area and derives several results about residential location. A previously developed long-run model of an urban area adds a locational dimension to a model of the housing market under perfect competition. The solution to such a model is a set of prices and quantities that, in addition to satisfying the usual profit and utility maximization conditions, ensures that no firm or household will have an incentive to change its location. The main theoretical contribution of these models is therefore a locational equilibrium condition, which is the price per unit of housing services, expressed as a function of location, that ensures that no one will have an incentive to move. The paper examines the demand side of this type of model in some detail and shows how a simple formulation of racial prejudice affects the locational equilibrium condition. In particular, housing price functions are derived that lead to locational equilibrium for prejudiced whites and for prejudiced blacks. These functions are combined to obtain a condition for racial equilibrium such that neither blacks nor whites will have an incentive to move. (Author/JM)

This paper focuses on designing policies to eliminate discrimination in the sale of single-family houses by analyzing the behavior of the agents who actually do most of the discriminating, namely real estate agents. Discriminatory practices are said to be supported by policies of house builders, lending institutions, and government, and by the prejudice of the white majority. The paper analyzes the racial beliefs and practices of real estate brokers in an attempt to understand the economic incentives that lead brokers to discriminate against blacks. It is argued that a broker's job consists of three steps: (1) attracting customers, (2) matching customers with listings, and (3) finding financing for 'matched' customers. It is then shown that at each of these steps the structure of the real estate industry interacts with the racial prejudice of the white community and of brokers to give each broker economic incentives to discriminate against blacks. The techniques used by brokers to discriminate are also reviewed, and several proposals designed to eliminate broker discrimination are made: by eliminating brokers' control over information and by eliminating local boards' control over access to listing, one would eliminate the economic incentives to discriminate. (Author/JM)

This report evaluates the Civil Rights activities of seven federal agencies with fair housing responsibilities. It is the second of a series of six reports to be issued by the Commission on Civil Rights describing the structure, mechanisms, and procedures utilized by the federal departments and agencies in their effort to end discrimination against this nation's minority and female citizens. The purpose of these reports, it is stated, is to offer, after a careful analysis, recommendations for the improvement of those programs which require change. Highlights of the conclusions of this report include the following: it is asserted that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the major agency with responsibilities for fair housing, has invested considerable time and resources in dealing with complaints; HUD has failed to conduct sufficient and systematic fair housing reviews of State and local governments, housing authorities, builders and developers, real estate brokers, managers, or lenders; HUD has not adequately monitored compliance agreements or affirmative marketing plans; and, it is held that few significant actions have been taken by the other agencies with fair housing responsibilities to impact on the country's serious problem of housing discrimination. (Author/JM)

The debate about the black-white price differential in housing is clarified in this paper. The theoretical literature on this differential is reviewed, and it is shown how the various theories can be tested in a regression of house values on housing characteristics. A properly specified house-value regression leads not only to tests of hypotheses about the black-white price differential but also to measures of this differential. The econometric specification derived in this paper is estimated using data for owner-occupied houses in St. Louis in 1967. These estimates provide support for hypotheses about the effects on the price of housing of racial attitudes and of discrimination against blacks. It is also found that a black-white price differential exists both between neighborhoods and within neighborhoods; the price of equivalent housing is about 25% higher in highly integrated and largely black neighborhoods than in all-white neighborhoods, and, within any given neighborhood, blacks pay about 15% more than white for equivalent housing. (Author/AM)

Economists have studied the effects of racial prejudice on urban residential structure using a set of models that focus on conditions at the border between the black and white areas. This paper reviews the theoretical literature on these border models and investigates their generality. Section 1 considers the border model developed by Bailey in 1959 and shows that without substantially stronger assumptions than are made in its original statement, this model is internally inconsistent as an equilibrium model of residential structure. Section 2 considers a general equilibrium border model developed independently by Courant (1973) and Rose-Ackerman (1975) and briefly summarizes it. These two models are amended to allow for the possibility of differences in income between and within the racial groups in Section 3. Section 4 presents the implications of these findings for the appropriateness of border models and makes suggestions for alternative ways of modeling the effect of racial prejudice on urban structure. The main result derived in the paper is that border models are logically inconsistent without unrealistic assumptions either about the incomes of blacks relative to the incomes of whites or about the extent of white prejudice. The paper concludes with several suggestions for more satisfactory modeling of prejudice and urban structure. (Author/AM)

On the twentieth anniversary of "Brown v. Board of Education" the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights undertook to commemorate the Supreme Court's decision with an examination of civil rights progress between 1954 and 1974. The Commission is publishing a series of concise reports summarizing the status of civil rights in education employment, public accomodations and housing. The first report in the series provided a brief historical background; the second covered equality of educational opportunity, and the third dealt with equality of economic opportunity. This fourth report looks at national housing policies and the extent to which they have been effective in providing equality of opportunity in housing for all America's citizens. It is stated that, at this juncture in our Nation's history, the Commission finds that the forces promoting discrimination in housing hold powerful, if less than universal, sway. These forces will be curbed only by new dedication of national resources and fair housing enforcement efforts to the creation of many more rental and home ownership opportunities for monorities and women of all incomes, in good housing located in a full variety of viable urban neighborhoods, and in rural areas and on native American reservations as well. (Author/JM)

This document reports the findings of a national study of black-white differentials in housing consumption. The main issue is said to be whether blacks pay higher prices and/or consume different residential packages than whites as a result of racial discrimination and segregation. Results indicate that blacks purchase different residential packages and pay different prices for the attributes contained in their respective packages. These differences are considered to result from whites' higher income levels, different housing preferences, and willingness to pay a premium for housing in white neighborhoods. Results of comparisons of blacks living in all black neighborhoods with blacks living in mixed neighborhood indicate that the former purchase smaller quantitities of residential services, but pay higher prices. These differences are seen to result from variations in the elasticity of the supply of housing for black occupancy and from variations in the residential packages consumed. Since this analysis focuses on the outcome of the residential market transaction process, how the results obtained can be translated into policy programs is said to be unclear. (Author/AM)

This paper discusses some of the ways in which social science research can be useful to the courts in school desegregation litigation. A discussion of specific legal cases is used to illustrate areas where the courts have needed social science research. Several areas that can be analyzed by social scientists include: (1) housing segregation, (2) state and school officials' actions that may represent intentional school segregation, (3) racial and economic segregation of housing in metropolitan areas, (4) the interdistrict effects of official discrimination, and (5) resegregation. This paper does not reveal all of the many uses and misuses that courts have made of social science evidence. A list of references includes all court cases and acts cited. (Author/AM)

This report evaluates the status of civil rights oversight and policymaking by the White House and Office of Management on Budget (OMB) during the Nixon-Ford administrations, from 1972 to 1976. The report documents the activities of the White House, OMB, the Federal Regional Councils, and the Federal Executive Boards. Housing, school desegregation, business enterprises, and federal grants in relation to the prominent minority groups are investigated. The administration's failure to enforce Federal civil rights legislation during 1972-76 is attributed to the executive branch of government. This branch failed to provide policymakers with effective means to discover the nature of problems or to suggest ways to implement corrective action. In the belief that executive direction is indispensable to civil rights legislation, it is recommended that the President assume responsibility for Federal civil rights enforcement programs and that a cabinent-level position be created whose role would be to strengthen enforcement programs. It is also recommended that a Division of Civil Rights within the OMB be established. (KC)

The purpose of this report is to determine how well the Federal Government has done its civil rights enforcement job, particularly in eliminating discrimination in housing, during the period from January 1975 through August 1978. Reported on are the Government's activities under the following laws: (1) Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968; (2) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; (3) the Equal Credit Opportunity Act; (4) the Community Reinvestment Act; and (5) the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. Also covered are the fair housing activities of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, the General Services Administration, and the Veterans Administration. In addition, the fair housing enforcement efforts of the Departments of Justice, Defense, and Agriculture, as well as the fair housing roles of more than 50 other Federal agencies which can affect housing opportunities in connection with their program or regulatory operations are reported on. (Author/EB)

A research project was conducted based on the hypothesis that metropolitan school desegregation, by removing white enclaves in the schools, has an effect on the way housing choices are made and results in lower levels of housing segregation. By comparing seven pairs of cities that are otherwise similar (in terms of size, region, minority percentage, and ethnic mix), it was consistently found that the city with metropolitan school desegregation experienced more housing integration than its counterpart, the city without metropolitan desegregation. The cities examined varied in regard to their size, their ethnic minorities, and the region of the country in which they are located. They include Bridgeport, Connecticut and Springfield, Massachusetts; Richmond, Virginia and Charlotte, North Carolina; Augusta, Georgia and Greenville, South Carolina; Atlanta, Georgia and Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida; Saginaw, Michigan and Racine, Wisconsin; Tulsa, Oklahoma and Wichita, Kansas; and San Bernardino and Riverside, California. The research also documented differences in the ways schools are used by housing sellers, depending on the factor of metropolitan school desegregation, with advertisements for housing in communities with segregated schools consistently using school names. (Author/GC)

Racial residential segregation has been a persistent feature of the American housing market. At least three distinct theories have been presented to explain this racial segregation. The "class" theory claims that, due to disproportionate overrepresentation of blacks in lower income classes, they will be overrepresented in lower quality housing markets. The "discrimination" theory posits that blacks are excluded from white neighborhoods by such practices as whites refusing to sell to blacks, mortgage discrimination, etc. The "voluntary" theory claims that both blacks and whites prefer to live amid neighbors of the same race and thus "self-segregate" themselves into racially homogeneous neighborhoods. In order to test the third theory, research was conducted in two mid-Western cities on segregation preferences. The findings support the hypothesis that blacks prefer racially balanced integrated areas, while whites prefer all white areas. (Author/RLV)

The status of civil rights in housing, education, and employment is reviewed in this report. Among the conclusions are: (l) although 1979 court decisions helped to remedy discriminatory housing policies and practices, housing discrimination remains widespread throughout the United States, and decent housing for older persons, minorities, and female-headed households is still undelivered, (2) despite court decisions and legislation, equal educational opportunity is still an unrealized goal; and (3) although affirmative action programs have been increasingly used to improve employment opportunities for minorities and women, and although various laws prohibit discrimination in employment, unemployment levels for minorities and women remain intolerably high. Additional civil rights issues discussed include voting rights, police practices, and immigration. (Author/RLV)

Public hearings and workshops were held in five metropolitan areas to gather data about the problems women in American cities face when they try to acquire and maintain a place to live. The chief findings were: (1) women have faced and continue to face discrimination in marketing, lending, and shelter-related services; (2) discrimination against women has historically been overt but is becoming increasingly subtle; (3) women are not aware of the nature or extent of sex discrimination; (4) myths and stereotypes are the underpinnings of prejudicial attitudes toward women; (5) statistics pertinent to women's access to shelter or housing-related services are not available; (6) women outside male-headed households represent a sharply growing demographic trend; (7) discrimination on account of sex is frequently compounded with discrimination on account of some other characteristic; (8) lending institutions have discounted women's incomes when making decisions on applications for mortgage credit; (9) sex discrimination based in the law further reinforces sex discrimination in housing; and (10) women are virtually excluded from policy making jobs in the nation's shelter system. Recommendations which encourage solutions to these problems include public education efforts, government compliance efforts, data collection, affirmative government housing programs, local women's coalitions, and expansion of opportunities for women to participate in housing policy-making decisions. (Author/MK)

In January 1980, the National Neighbors (NN) conducted a survey to determine the types of difficulties that families with children experience in the rental housing market due to exclusionary rental policies. In order to reach the families who experience such problems, NN ran public service announcements on television and radio stations inviting persons discriminated against to call a toll-free number and tell of their experiences. Five hundred and fifty-four people from several metropolitan areas (Los Angeles, Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth, Hartford, Oklahoma City and Columbus, Ohio) responded to the announcements. Among the findings, 99 percent of the respondents reported that they had had difficulty in finding a place to live because of no-children policies. Most of the respondents complained that rental housing which accepts children is either too expensive or substandard, and sometimes both. When controlling for an income level of $15,000 and above, it was found that there was a significant difference between the housing problems experienced by minorities and those experienced by whites, with minorities reporting serious problems more often. These findings suggest that restrictive rental policies against children seriously affect the lives of a very diverse group of families--small and large, middle-class and poor, blacks and Hispanics. (Author/MP)

This report of racial discrimination in housing throughout the United States measures the nature and extent of discrimination against blacks in both the sales and rental housing market. The report is based upon the findings of 300 whites and 300 blacks, working in matched pairs, who shopped for housing advertised in the newspapers of forty metropolitan areas. A systematic comparison was made of the relative treatments accorded black housing seekers and white housing seekers. Results indicate that white applicants for housing were favored more frequently on most indices of discrimination than their black counterparts. These indices of discrimination included information offered on housing availability, courteous treatment by realtors, the terms and conditions presented to applicants, and the housing information requested or volunteered by realtors. Also presented are comparisons of housing availability for the different cities surveyed, implications of the findings for policy, and a report on related analyses now in progress. Included are tables and appendices covering civil rights legislation on housing and the forms used in this project. (Author/WP)

Recent increases in black migration to the suburbs and the continuing existence of discrimination in housing have emphasized the issues of integration and resegregation in suburban municipalities. To prevent resegregation, many integrated municipalities have adopted integration maintenance measures such as efforts to inform people that racial diversity will not lead to community decline; deliberate attempts to influence housing choices in order to promote racial diversity; school desegregation; and development schemes to prevent decline in racially mixed communities. It has been argued that integration maintenance tools are illegal, that they unfairly restrain the realty business, and that they discriminate against black homeowners and renters. Ethical considerations point to the possibility of integration maintenance policy being exploited to control black influx into a community by allowing entry only to more economically advantaged blacks or limiting blacks' housing choices. Both legal and ethical aspects must be considered in undertaking integration maintenance programs. Population data for Oak Park, Illinois, demonstrate that integration maintenance affected long term demographic trends and prevented resegregation in the community. The study of Oak Park, and similar studies in other areas may be of use in developing programs for fair housing and integration maintenance. (Author/MJL)