Article by Michelle Adams
The history of racial discrimination and inequality in the federally subsidized housing program is extensive and well-documented. For a number of years, commentators have sought to identify types of systemic housing discrimination and determine appropriate remedies for it. Advocates of two commonly discussed methods of remediation—spatial equality and housing-mobility programs—agree that any remedy must be creative, far-reaching, and responsive to the needs of the black community. In this Article, Professor Adams looks in detail at the specific kinds of harm wrought by pervasive housing discrimination and indicates the importance of identifying a unifying theme to these two very different approaches. In focusing upon housing choice as such a theme, Professor Adams argues that victims of systemic housing discrimination should have both the freedom to leave racially impacted areas and the freedom to remain in a majority-black, enriched environment. The Article explores both the theoretical rationales and the constitutional and statutory vehicles that might promote that choice.
About the Author
Michelle Adams. Michelle Adams, Assistant Professor, Seton Hall University School of Law. B.A. 1985, Brown University; J.D. 1989, City University of New York School of Law; LL.M. 1994, Harvard Law School.
Citation
71 Tul. L. Rev. 413 (1996)