Are we really doing something? An examination of mitigation strategies by policy

The purpose of this chapter is to assess the effectiveness of current policy to mitigate segregation. The research of Massey and Denton (1993), Dreier, Mollenkopf, and Swanstrom (2001), Sharkey (2013), Desmond (2017) and Rothstein (2017) inform this focus group agenda. There was a consensus in the conversation that the goal of the 1968 Fair Housing Act of eliminating segregation in America had not been even remotely achieved. The continuation of racially biased real estate and banking practices, unchecked suburban growth, and the use of low income tax credits were reinforcing de jure pre-1968 segregationist policies further entrenching segregation. The participants argued the development of affordable housing in high opportunity areas with easy access to employment, education and other basic services was necessary to break the cycle of segregation. In the accompanying essay, “Separate and Unequal: The Lasting Legacy of Segregation and the Problem with Integration,” Daffney Moore mantains that the alleged embracing of integration as a policy objective has only excused white America from adopting policies and programs that would address the social and economic disparities that segregation has produced. She argues that city, state, and federal governments need to make a fiscal commitment to ensure equity for black Americans.