Question

Explain how housing discrimination can keep people from achieving the American Dream.

Answer 1

Housing discrimination undermines the American Dream by restricting minority access to neighborhoods with better schools and job prospects, thus perpetuating economic disparities and limiting opportunities for upward mobility.

Step-by-step explanation:

Housing discrimination actively contributes to the systemic inequality experienced by minority groups, which directly interferes with their pursuit of economic stability and the American Dream. The unfair practices in the housing market, such as showing black homebuyers and Asian homebuyers fewer homes, increase the difficulty for these individuals to access neighborhoods with better resources, including higher-rated schools and employment opportunities. Furthermore, Hispanic renters face more scrutiny during the rental process, which not only creates barriers to housing but can also indirectly impact employment opportunities, as a stable home address is often required when applying for jobs.

The interconnectedness of housing discrimination with the job market is evident. Communities with good schools often lead to better employment options in the future. Being denied access to such communities due to discriminatory housing practices can stunt professional prospects for individuals within minority groups. Past practices, such as redlining and racially restrictive covenants, have historically undermined the financial well-being of minority communities, perpetuating a cycle of poverty and denying minorities fair chances at the American Dream. These ongoing issues counteract the essence of equality and opportunity that is at the heart of the American Dream.

Milwaukee exemplifies the enduring effects of this issue, as despite legislative efforts to combat segregation, like the 1968 Civil Rights Act's open housing measure, it remains a highly segregated city. This segregation exacerbates social and economic disparities and remains an obstacle to achieving equal opportunity for all.

Answer 2

The United States is in the midst of a racial reckoning as protests that began in the wake of George Floyd's death in Minneapolis police custody, as well as high Black unemployment due to the coronavirus pandemic, have prompted some Americans to contemplate the ways institutionalized racism and discrimination have constrained Black lives for centuries. Advocates, scholars, and officials say one of the clearest examples of that ongoing discrimination exists in the housing market, where the gap in homeownership rates between Black and white Americans is wider than before the Civil Rights movement. Seventy-six percent of white households owned their homes at the end of the second quarter of 2020, compared to just 47 percent of Black households, according to the Census Bureau. That 29-percentage-point gap, perpetuated by decades of housing and economic policies favorable toward white buyers and designed to exclude Black buyers, has only been exacerbated by the pandemic and the 2008 financial crisis before it. Homeownership is the prime driver of America's ongoing wealth gap.