The Trump administration last week rescinded a Obama-era rule that asked HUD recipients to measure and consider fixes to racial segregation in their communities.
President Donald Trump then followed up the decision with a tweet that critics say was an explicit appeal to white, suburban voters.
"His tweet was aimed at a strategy of appealing to racial resentment and really people's worst ideas about how our communities should be structured," David Sanchez, director of research and development for the National Community Stabilization Trust, told Cheddar. "Attitudes like that are a big reason why we have such severe segregation by race, class, and opportunity in this country, and unfortunately the president is trying to use those fears to benefit himself politically."
The loss of the rule itself has gotten less attention, in part due to its low profile as more of a regulatory tweak than an aggressive federal policy.
The Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule that Trump's HUD eliminated asked municipalities and housing authorities to account for racial bias in their communities by writing a report and issuing recommendations, but it did not force municipalities to address segregation directly.
"It was about gathering data," Sanchez said. "It was about getting people talking about segregation. But it wasn't about forcing communities to do anything."
In the long-term, though, he added that cutting the rule will only contribute to the ongoing economic divide between the suburbs and cities.
"It's going to continue to concentrate economic resources, social privilege in certain people who can afford to live in high-opportunity communities," Sanchez said. "In the same way the COVID crisis has supercharged inequality in this country, this is just another step in that direction."
The truck blockade at the U.S. border by Canadians protesting the country’s COVID-19 restrictions is tightening the screws on the auto industry, forcing Ford, Toyota and General Motors to shut down plants or otherwise curtail production.
Inflation was hotter than expected in January, but the debate over what this means for the economy is getting even hotter as markets brace for a flurry of Fed rate hikes in 2022.
Inflation soared over the past year at its highest rate in four decades, hammering America’s consumers, wiping out pay raises and reinforcing the Federal Reserve’s decision to begin raising borrowing rates.
A rapidly growing list of Canadian provinces moved to lift their COVID-19 restrictions as protesters decrying vaccine mandates and other precautions kept up the pressure with truck blockades.
The House has approved legislation financing federal agencies for another month. It's the latest emblem of Congress’ inability to finish its budget work on time.
The IRS said Monday it will suspend the use of facial recognition technology to authenticate people who create online accounts after the practice was criticized by privacy advocates and lawmakers.
The first lady says real people often are caught in the middle. She spoke Monday in Washington about a now-stalled proposal for tuition-free community college, which she's pushed for a long time as a community college professor.
In a flurry of diplomacy across two continents, President Joe Biden emerged from a meeting with Germany’s new leader to vow the crucial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in Europe would be blocked if Russia further invades Ukraine.
Kristin Myers, Editor-in-Chief at The Balance, joined Cheddar News to preview the January jobs report, and to break down the racial disparity in employment numbers in the U.S.
