Session Details: Intersections 2018

The Fair Housing Act turned 50 years old in April and we are so far from achieving the goal of desegregating communities and creating racially inclusive neighborhoods. The racial wealth gap—driven in part by drastically lower homeownership rates among households of color—is growing. Racial segregation is as entrenched today as it was during overt red lining. And, in light of all of these serious challenges, HUD has removed references to fair housing and housing discrimination from its mission statement.

This keynote address will challenge conference attendees to think about their role in promoting racially just housing policies and programs that affirmatively desegregate our communities and close the racial wealth gap. It will argue that as policy makers and program staff committed to long-term affordability, conference attendees are uniquely positioned to lead in these efforts to ensure that communities more integrated today and for generations to come.