Prospects for Racial Justice in America's Neighborhoods
Edited by Justin P. Steil, Nicholas F. Kelly, Lawrence J. Vale, and Maia S. WoluchemThe 2015 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule was the most significant federal effort to increase equality of access to place-based resources and opportunities, such as high-performing schools or access to jobs, since the 1968 Fair Housing Act. However, in an effort to appeal to suburban voters, the Trump administration repealed the rule in 2020, leaving its future in doubt.
Furthering Fair Housing
The editors and contributors to this volume—a mix of civil rights advocates, policymakers, and public officials—provide critical perspectives and identify promising new directions for future policies and practices. Placing the history of fair housing in the context of the centuries-long struggle for racial equity, Furthering Fair Housing shows how this policy can be revived and enhanced to advance racial equity in America’s neighborhoods.
Contributors: Vicki Been, Raphael Bostic, Edward G. Goetz, Megan Haberle, Howard Husock, Reed Jordan, Michael C. Lens, Katherine O’Regan, Patrick Pontius, Alexander von Hoffman, and the editors
“When civil rights leaders fought for fair housing in the 1960s, they knew that where you live affects how you live—and that your zip code can often predict your access to opportunity and chances for success. As Furthering Fair Housing details, the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule was a major step in completing the unfinished work of the 1960s to end housing discrimination and segregation, and to ensure every American has a safe, decent, and affordable place to live.”
— Julián Castro, Former Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development
"Furthering Fair Housing provides a history of the Fair Housing Act and an insider’s account of battles within the Obama administration over the shaping of the AFFH rule. It also includes suggestions of how the rule could be improved. The volume, which includes contributions from both liberals and conservatives, offers a helpful primer for the new administration.... Furthering Fair Housing’s sound guidance should be read by all public officials seeking to navigate this difficult terrain."
—Washington Monthly
“ This book tells the AFFH (Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule) story quite well and provides guidance for future efforts to create the communities called for by the Fair Housing Act."
—Journal of Urban Affairs
" The book offers timely and informative perspectives on the history and future of the AFFH and the competing place-based community development and fair housing spatial strategies. It is a worthwhile investment of time for anyone interested in the relationship of development, housing, racial justice, and household and community success."
—Urban Land
"Furthering Fair Housing offers, undeniably, the most comprehensive account yet of the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule—its origins, its limitations, its successes, and its lessons for the still urgent task ahead of ensuring racial equity in access to place-based opportunities.... Overall, then, this book raises a whole host of questions about what 'fair housing' means and how it might best be pursued. Its publication couldn’t be more timely.... This book ought to be read by all involved in those efforts."
—Contemporary Sociology
"The contributors and editors to this collection are academics and policy makers who provide background on such topics as housing segregation issues, efforts to draft the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule, and the impact of the assessment data gathered. They provide extensive background on the missteps and steps forward for the AFFH legislation, as well as the issues it sought to address.... Summing Up: Recommended."
—Choice