The Supreme Court May Soon Disarm the Single Best Weapon for Desegregating U.S. Housing

Washington Post
Wednesday, January 21, 2015

The Supreme Court will rule on housing discrimination protections in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. The Inclusive Communities Project. The court will decide whether the 1968 Fair Housing Act prohibits only intentional discrimination or also applies to seemingly race-neutral policies that harm minorities. The second form could include the policy at question, in which the housing agency's system allocated low-income housing tax credits for the construction of affordable housing such that new low-income housing was built almost exclusively in high-poverty minority neighborhoods. Civil rights groups argue the policy, while not explicitly discriminatory, harmed minorities by denying access to better schools and opportunities.