The Evolution Of Fair Housing Act: A Historical Perspective

The Fair Housing Act of 1968 was signed into law on April 11, 1968, by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The Act prohibited discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, and disability. It was a response to a long history of discriminatory housing practices in the United States, which saw African Americans and other minorities excluded from certain sections of cities and blocked from accessing housing in their desired neighbourhoods. The bill was the subject of a contentious debate in the Senate, but the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, prompted Congress to pass the Act as a memorial to him.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s influence

The Fair Housing Act was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on April 11, 1968. The Act prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, and sex. It also prohibited discrimination based on handicap and family status.

Martin Luther King Jr. played a significant role in the fight for fair housing and influenced the passing of the Fair Housing Act. Here is an overview of his influence:

During the early 20th century, Black Americans faced systematic discrimination in housing. They were excluded from living in certain areas, leading to segregation and relegating them to low-income areas with poor-quality housing. As a Civil Rights leader, Dr. King recognized that housing discrimination was a core component of racial injustice in the United States and decided to take action.

From 1965 to 1966, Dr. King co-led the Chicago Freedom Movement, which advocated for "open housing"—the right for Black Americans to buy homes anywhere they wished. The movement organized tenants' unions, shared demands with city government leaders, and marched through majority-white neighborhoods to challenge housing discrimination in Chicago, one of the most residentially segregated cities in the country at the time.

One of the methods employed by Dr. King and his fellow civil rights advocates was "testing," where individuals would covertly engage in transactions to uncover discrimination in housing. An example of this is sending Black and white individuals to real estate offices to determine if they were treated differently based on their race.

In August 1966, after a year of campaigning and facing violence, the Chicago Freedom Movement achieved important victories. The Chicago Housing Authority agreed to build public housing in white middle-class areas, and the Mortgage Bankers Association promised to end discriminatory lending policies. However, the most far-reaching outcome of these efforts was the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968.

The assassination of Dr. King on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, played a pivotal role in the Act's passage. President Johnson used this national tragedy to urge Congress to approve the bill quickly. The Act was signed into law a week after Dr. King's assassination, and President Johnson considered it a fitting memorial to Dr. King's life work.

Lyndon B. Johnson's role

The Fair Housing Act of 1968 was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on April 11, 1968, a week after the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Johnson played a significant role in the passing of the Act, which was the final great legislative achievement of the civil rights era.

Johnson had a personal connection to the bill, as he had worked with King on the fight for fair housing since 1966. After King's assassination, Johnson argued that the bill would be a fitting testament to the civil rights leader and his legacy. Johnson increased pressure on Congress to pass the bill, and wanted it passed before King's funeral in Atlanta.

On April 5, Johnson wrote a letter to the House of Representatives urging the passage of the Fair Housing Act. The bill was passed by the House on April 10 and signed into law by Johnson the following day.

The Fair Housing Act prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, and, since 1974, sex. It was intended as a follow-up to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed discrimination on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex, and national origin.

The bill's passage in the House of Representatives

The bill's passage was also influenced by the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4, 1968. King had been a strong supporter of the bill and had participated in marches in Chicago calling for open housing in the city. Following his assassination, President Lyndon B. Johnson increased pressure on Congress to pass the bill as a memorial to King before his funeral. Johnson argued that the bill would be a fitting tribute to the slain civil rights leader and his legacy.

Despite the conservative nature of the House, which had grown more conservative due to urban unrest and the increasing strength of the Black Power movement, the bill passed the House on April 10, 1968, just six days after King's assassination. The bill's quick passage in the House was due to the emotional wave sweeping the nation, including riots, burning, and looting in over 100 cities. The bill was signed into law by President Johnson the following day, on April 11, 1968.

The Fair Housing Act of 1968 was a significant achievement in the civil rights movement, prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, and sex. However, despite this legislative achievement, housing remained segregated in many areas of the United States in the years that followed.

The bill's passage in the Senate

In the early winter of 1968, Senators Walter Mondale and Edward Brooke, the lone African American in the Senate at the time, co-authored a fair housing amendment and introduced it as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. However, it seemed that this attempt would also fail until two significant events motivated Congressional action. The first was the release of the Kerner Commission Report, which identified residential segregation as one of the central inequalities leading to the widespread urban riots of 1967. The second event was the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, which shocked the nation and led to a new wave of riots.

With the country in turmoil, President Lyndon B. Johnson urged Congress to pass the Fair Housing Act as a tribute to the slain civil rights leader. On April 11, 1968, just one week after Dr. King's assassination, Congress finally passed the bill, and President Johnson signed it into law. The Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibited discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, colour, religion, or national origin. While this was a significant victory for civil rights, the Act was not without its compromises and weaknesses, and it became clear over time that stronger enforcement provisions were needed to combat deeply entrenched discrimination in the housing market.

The bill's signing into law

The bill that would become the Fair Housing Act was first introduced to Congress in 1966, but it failed to gain the support necessary for passage. The bill was intended to address issues of racial discrimination in the rental and sales of housing.

In 1966, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. joined local civil rights leaders in Chicago for a major nonviolent protest against institutionalised housing discrimination. King's association with the Chicago Open Housing Movement helped shift national attention to civil rights struggles in the North and raised the issue of housing discrimination to national attention.

In response to growing pressure, President Lyndon B. Johnson asked Congress to consider fair housing legislation in 1966 and 1967. However, supporters of fair housing legislation, including the seven African Americans in Congress at the time, failed to secure a strong enough majority to pass a fair housing bill.

In early 1968, Senators Walter Mondale and Edward W Brooke co-authored a fair housing amendment and introduced it as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, a larger bill to provide protections for civil rights workers. Once again, failure looked imminent. However, two events motivated congressional action: the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorder's landmark report, and the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968.

In the report, Senator Brooke and the other members of the commission identified residential segregation as one of the central inequalities that prompted the widespread urban disorders that shocked the country in 1967. The report became a best-seller and was often cited in congressional fair housing debates.

Following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., President Johnson urged Congress to respond by passing the Fair Housing Act as a tribute to the slain leader. Days later, on April 10, 1968, the House passed the Fair Housing Act, and President Johnson signed it into law the following day, on April 11, 1968.

The Fair Housing Act prohibited discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, and sex. It also directed the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to oversee the enforcement of the Act.

While the Fair Housing Act was a great civil rights achievement, it required several compromises that restricted and weakened the bill. Over time, it became clear that the law's limited enforcement provisions lacked the strength to combat deeply entrenched discrimination in the housing market. Residential segregation rates remained high, and discriminatory practices persisted.

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