While my agency is in the business of fair
housing, it should be recognized that fair housing is an all encompassing
field. Some may think that the point of fair
housing is only to ensure that all persons are given equal opportunities to
housing, but it’s more than that. Where
one lives determines so much more about their life.
A person’s place of residence
determines where their children go to school.
If minorities are unfairly segregated into neighborhoods with poor
performing school districts, then those children will unfairly receive a subpar
education. Meanwhile, children who are
privileged to live in better performing school districts receive a better
education.
Additionally, fair housing serves
as a way to protect consumers from being swindled into unscrupulous loans and
purchases from not entirely trustworthy agents.
The recent settlement Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler and
Wells Fargo reached is an example of that.
Utilizing fair housing principles, the Attorney General held Wells Fargo
accountable for its mortgages practices that unfairly discriminated in prices and
terms against minority populations in Maryland .
My agency also serves as a platform for
grassroots organizing. My agency regularly
works with other organizations across the state and the nation to ensure that
the voice of the people is heard. My agency recognizes that people are still unfairly steered into areas that they would
rather not live because of their source of income, or their sexual orientation. Together with other like-minded
organizations, my agency will work to change that.
Last but not least, my agency is a civil
rights organization. It is impossible to
be an advocate for fair housing without being an advocate for civil
rights. After all, the fight for justice
in housing rose out of the civil rights movement. One of the most famous examples of fair
housing testing is during the campaign for civil rights Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. held in Chicago . During that time, multiple black and white
activists went to various real estate agencies and compared their results. Their results showed the true discrepancies
that black and white home-seekers face.
Because of the actions of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., city leaders
supported the Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities, an organization
created to promote fair housing throughout Chicago .
In reality, a fair housing agency
like my agency does much more than promote equal opportunities to housing for all.
Instead, my agency is an organization that supports civil rights, grassroots
organizing, consumer protection, and promotes equal opportunities in education.
