The Trump administration last week rescinded a Obama-era rule that asked HUD recipients to measure and consider fixes to racial segregation in their communities.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 government’s top infectious disease expert has told a House committee he believes "it will be when and not if" there will be a COVID-19 vaccine.
Cheddar's Need2Know Podcast for Tues., June 23, 2020.
On Monday, every driver and their crews joined Bubba Wallace in a show of solidarity before the race that was postponed a day by rain.
Alarming surges in coronavirus cases across the South and West are raising fears that the outbreak is spiraling out of control.
Cheddar's Need2Know Podcast for Mon., June 22, 2020.
Apple is closing 11 stores in Arizona, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina that it had reopening just a few weeks ago.
Also called Emancipation Day, or Juneteenth Independence Day, Juneteenth is a holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States But this second independence day is not a national holiday and most Americans have never even heard of it. Years of systematic racism, segregation, and the oppression of Black Americans have diminished and stamped out efforts to make what should undoubtedly be an American National Holiday.
The director of "Selma,""13th," and "When They See Us," Ava DuVernay, is working to empower other artists to create works to keep law enforcement accountable as police brutality protests have gathered steam throughout the world.
In the midst of a national protest movement calling for an end to systemic racism in the criminal justice system, the idea of celebrating the end of slavery as a national holiday is gaining momentum among political leaders, activists, and corporate head-honchos alike.
NBA Executive, Michele Roberts joins Cheddar to talk discuss being the first woman and person of color to join Cresco Labs' board of directors. Roberts has also been instrumental in the return of the NBA season amid the coronavirus pandemic.
