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. 2015 Jun;30(Suppl 1):571-588.
doi: 10.1111/socf.12178. Epub 2015 Jun 2.

The Legacy of the 1968 Fair Housing Act

Douglas S Massey

The Legacy of the 1968 Fair Housing Act

Douglas S Massey. Sociol Forum (Randolph N J). 2015 Jun.

Abstract

Civil rights activists in 1968 hoped that the passage of the Fair Housing Act would lead to the residential desegregation of American society. In this article I assess the degree to which this hope has been fulfilled. I begin by reviewing how the black ghetto came to be a universal feature of American cities during the 20th Century and the means by which high levels of black segregation were achieved. I then describe the legislative maneuvers required to pass the Fair Housing Act and review its enforcement provisions to assess its potential for achieving desegregation. After examining trends in residential segregation since 1970, I conclude with an appraisal of the prospects for integration as we move toward the 50th anniversary of the Act's passage.

Keywords: civil rights; inequality; neiborhood; policy; race; segregation.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Trends in neighborhood-level dissimilarity from whites 1970–2010
Figure 2
Figure 2
Trends in neighborhood-level isolation indices 1970–2010
Figure 3
Figure 3
Trends in white isolation and contact indices
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Andrews Kenneth T, Gaby Sarah. Forthcoming. Local Protest and Federal Policy: The Impact of the Civil Rights Movement on the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Sociological Forum. 30:SI.
    1. Bauman John F. Public Housing, Race, and Renewal: Urban Planning in Philadelphia, 1920–1974. Philadelphia: Temple University Press; 1987.
    1. Bickford Adam, Massey Douglas S. Segregation in the Second Ghetto: Racial and Ethnic Segregation in U.S. Public Housing, 1977. Social Forces. 1991;69:1011–1036.
    1. Bonastia Christopher. Low-Hanging Fruit: The Impoverished History of Housing and School Desegregation. Sociological Forum. 2015;30:SI.
    1. Bush-Baskette Stephanie R, Robinson Kelly, Simmons Peter. Residential and Social Outcomes for Residents Living in Housing Certified by the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing. Rutgers Law Review. 2011;63(3):879–904.

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