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 Abstract

Excerpted From: Parisa Ijadi-Maghsoodi, Eradicating Race-based Health Disparities by Effectuating the Fair Housing Act's De-segregation Intent, 58 San Diego Law Review 903 (November-December, 2021) (207 Footnotes) (Full Document)

 

ParisaIjadi MaghsoodiCurrent levels of segregation are startling because, when it comes to predicting residence near environmental hazards, race is more predictive than poverty. Today, a child's zip code is the greatest determinant of their long-term outcomes and lifespan--especially for Black children, who are seven times more likely to live in a high-poverty neighborhood than white children.

These segregated living patterns were not created by accident. Throughout the twentieth century, with almost surgical precision, the federal government used taxpayer dollars to segregate communities. Working in partnership with private entities, government-sponsored segregation utilized race-based zoning maps and low-interest federal loans for developing white-only subdivisions. Fortunately, the Fair Housing Act (FHA)--adopted a half century ago-- prohibits the perpetuation of racial segregation.

This Article illustrates how Congress did not adopt this anti-segregation legislation in a vacuum. Rather, as the Supreme Court recently acknowledged, the FHA was a response to racial segregation. Congress enacted the legislation days after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination and on the heels of the Kerner Commission's report, which identified segregation as the cause of unprecedented nationwide civil unrest.

Part II of this Article demonstrates how housing is a major determinant of health, identifies the extent to which our nation is segregated, and illustrates how segregation exacerbates health inequities among racial and ethnic lines. Part III presents the historical landscape during which the FHA was adopted to demonstrate its primary purpose of dismantling segregation, by detailing the Kerner Commission, housing justice work spearheaded by Dr. King before his assassination, and the Supreme Court's early FHA decisions. Part IV sets forth the FHA's statutory framework and presents the perpetuation-of-segregation theory of disparate-impact liability, focusing on claims against government entities. This Article concludes by arguing the time is ripe for this nation to wage a war on segregation. Such an effort is not only possible within the current legal landscape, but also necessary to effectuate the FHA's purpose at a time when the nation is at risk of deepening segregation and widening disparities due to the COVID-19 public health crisis.

[. . .]

At a time when the COVID-19 public health crisis threatens to exacerbate inequality and segregation, dismantling segregation is critical for ensuring health equity for all. The time is ripe for the nation to use the FHA to wage a war on segregation through disparate impact and segregative effect claims. Such an effort is possible within the FHA's framework and necessary to effectuate its primary intent and purpose.


Parisa Ijadi-Maghsoodi. Attorney at Pease Law, APC, a public interest law firm, and Adjunct Law Professor (Poverty Law) at University of San Diego School of Law.


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