Fair Housing Month

Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream

By Yardi Blog Staff on Apr 17, 2012 in News

April is Fair Housing Month. Created in the aftermath of the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., the 1968 Fair Housing Act aimed to eliminate housing discrimination in every neighborhood.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) sponsors a month long celebration that began on April 4 – the 44^th anniversary of King’s death –  with a wreath-laying ceremony at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall.

Speakers such as Xernona Clayton, humanitarian, Ruth Martin, National Campaign Director for MomsRising, and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes-Norton, Congresswoman, evoked King’s fight for the rights of all Americans to live where they please and have equal protection of Constitutional privileges.

According to John Trasvina, Assistant Secretary for the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) and HUD, more than 10,000 Americans alleged that they have been a victim of housing discrimination based on disability, race, gender identity and other factors last year.

Trasvina detailed the extensive efforts of HUD to provide fair housing protections, end discrimination, and defend those who have been discriminated again in a post on The HUDdle, HUD’s official blog. Despite the lengthy passage of time, heightened education efforts and much legislation, there is still much to be done to achieve King’s dream.

The theme for this year is “Live Free: Creating Equal Opportunity in Every Community.”  It speaks to the commitment to ensure that everyone in America can live where they choose regardless of factors such as race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability.

Throughout the month, there will be fair housing events across the country with speakers sharing the Fair Housing message and revealing the fair housing challenges that affect our nation today.

What do you think the Fair Housing Act has accomplished? What actions can we take in our own lives and businesses to eradicate discriminatory housing practices?