Housing Discrimination: Policy Research, Methods and Results

• Author: Juliet Saltman
• Published date: 01 January 1979
• Date: 01 January 1979
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/000271627944100114
• Subject Matter: Articles

186

Housing

Discrimination:

Policy

Research,

Methods

and

Results

BY

JULIET

SALTMAN

ABSTRACT:

Ten

years

ago,

competent

scholars

thought

it

was

impossible

to

measure

racial

discrimination

directly.

In

1977,

HUD

spent

$1

million

to

measure

the

nature

and

extent

of

racial

discrimination

in

housing.

This

nationwide

Audit

was

the

culmination

of

seven

years

of

prior

auditing

conducted

by

local

volunteer

community

organizations

across

the

country.

The

Audit

is

a

quasi-experimental

field

survey,

which

is

used

not

only

as

a

baseline

for

measuring

changes

in

the

extent

and

nature

of

housing

discrimintion,

but

also

as

a

means

of

implementing

social

change

on

local

and

national

levels.

Four

action

approaches

have

used

Audit

find-

ings

to

expand

equal

housing

opportunities

for

blacks:

Legislation,

Negotiation,

Remuneration,

and

Litigation.

These

are

illustrated

in

six

local

case

studies.

The

nationwide

Audit

differed

from

prior

community

Audits

in

five

ways,

indicating

rigorous

controls

and

standardization.

Results

of

the

HUD

Audit,

though

incomplete,

reveal

persistent

mas-

sive

racial

discrimination

in

housing,

with

some

geographi-

cal

variations.

Policy

changes

are

sought

to

strengthen

enforcement

of

federal

fair

housing

laws

on

national

and

local

levels.

Juliet

Saltman is

Professor

of Sociology

at

Kent

State

University,

and

a

consultant

on

urban

programs

jbr

government

and

private

agencies.

Educated

at

the

University

of

Chicago,

Case

Western

Reserve

University,

and

Rutgers

University

(Douglass

College),

she

is

the

author

of

OPEN

HOUSING

AS

A

SOCIAL

MOVEMENT,

INTEGRATED

NEIGHBORHOODS

IN

ACTION,

OPEN

HOUS-

This

paper

is

based

on

preliminary

analyses

of

the

Housing

Market

Practices

Survey,

com-

missioned

by

the

Department

of

Housing

and

Urban

Development,

and

does

not

represent

final

analysis

or

interpretation.

The

HMPS

revealed

instances

of

discriminatory

practices

which

are

currently

under

investigation

by

the

Department

of Justice.

So

that

such

litigation

will

not

be

compromised,

further

release

of

HMPS

data

by

HUD

will

be

postponed,

probably

until

some

time

in

1979.

, __

ANNALS,

AAPSS,

441,

Jan.

1979