The Sum of All Fears: An Analysis of Institutional Discrimination in the Housing Market and its Effects on The District of Columbia :: Free Essays Online

The Sum of All Fears An Analysis of Institutional Discrimination in the lodgement Market and its Effects on The District of Columbia Owning a home in the neighborhood of ones choice is central to the American dream. approximately all people would agree that the right to pursue the American dream should not be restricted for anyone, regardless of race, creed or national origin. provided for millions of American citizens, and a majority of the District of Columbias residents, major barriers restrict freedom of choice in housing. Even after the passage of dickens Fair Housing Acts, blacks in America, and specifically in the District, face systematic discrimination that serves to perpetuate segregation and white oppression. After being informed almost the topic of this essay, my friend Robert Botta, a Mount Vernon Campus resident asked, Why can I walk around this neighborhood all day and not jibe a black person in a city that is greater than 60 percent black? (Botta). This questio n has an extremely important answer, and it lies in the practices utilise by racist institutions to perpetuate segregation. In our day, the most effective practices are also the most discrete. Steering is the process by which legitimate estate agents award blacks only the homes in their neighborhoods. It is also the first institutional barrier faced by blacks in a struggle for freedom of choice in housing. patently steering perpetuates segregation, leading whites and blacks only to neighborhoods where their races are already predominant. In April 1997 the Fair Housing Council of Greater Washington, with funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, released a breed citing discrimination encountered by African Americans and Latinos when they tried to buy a home in the Washington area. A Washington Post article by Carolean Mayer details the results of the study and conveys the prevalence of steering in the Washington area White testers tended to receive more pro mpt attention and were shown more properties within their charge range and in predominantly white areas, the report said. Minority testers, on the other hand, were taken to fewer properties and were shown houses in predominantly black or Latino areas. Blacks were often told that they must qualify for a mortgage before being shown any lists the same requirement was not made of any white tester. (2) Unfortunately, the real estate industry is not the only institutional barrier that blacks must overcome.