Title: Systemic Inequality: Displacement, Exclusion, and Segregation - National Association of Real Estate Brokers
Headings: Systemic Inequality: Displacement, Exclusion, and Segregation
Systemic Inequality: Displacement, Exclusion, and Segregation
Introduction and summary
American public policy systematically removes people of color from their homes and communities
Displaced centuries ago, Native American communities continue to face disparities
Centuries of displacement have destabilized Black communities and undermined their access to opportunity
Federal, state, and local policies have fortified housing discrimination
Exclusion from federal homeownership programs undermined Black families’ wealth accumulation in the 20th century
Lawmakers have abdicated their responsibility to enact and fully enforce civil rights protections
Racial segregation is the direct result of intentional government policy, not individual choice
Conclusion

Content: For example, in the early 1850s, New York City lawmakers used eminent domain to destroy a thriving predominantly Black community in Manhattan, displacing thousands of residents in order to create the public space known today as Central Park. And just 30 years ago, Atlanta lawmakers demolished the United States’ oldest federally subsidized affordable housing project, displacing more than 30,000 predominantly Black families to create Centennial Olympic Park. These are just two examples of the countless policies that have displaced Black communities for the so-called benefit of the greater population. But there is scant evidence that Black Americans see long-term benefits from these revitalization efforts. For much of the 20th century, federal, state, and local policies subsidized the development of prosperous white suburbs in metropolitan areas across the country. They also constructed new highway systems—often through communities of color—to ensure access to job opportunities in urban centers for primarily white commuters. Over time, however, changing tastes and growing displeasure with congested roadways have resulted in middle-class and wealthy white households’ relocation to cities. As lawmakers rush to redevelop previously neglected urban neighborhoods, many of the same communities of color that were denied access to suburban homeownership and displaced by highway projects are again being forced from their homes to make room. Indeed, although lawmakers could construct more affordable housing units and create programs to insulate longtime city residents from the disruptive effects of gentrification, many appear to draw heavily from the ideology of manifest destiny—that white settlement and expansion are inevitable—in their responses to such rapid redevelopment. Merriam-Webster defines gentrification as “the process of repairing and rebuilding homes and businesses in a deteriorating area … accompanied by an influx of middle-class or affluent people and that often results in the displacement of earlier, usually poorer residents.”