Maintaining Residential Integration: Municipal Practices and Law

Suburban integration following the passage of the Federal Fair Housing Law in 1968 presented an unprecedented challenge to those communities. Residential integration was not the desire of the majority of homeowners then and racial discrimination was deeply imbedded in the business of selling and buying homes. Integration was usually presumed to be the interval between the first black family moving into a neighborhood and the last white family leaving. But not for everyone. Some communities made a determination to embrace and maintain residential integration. Municipal governments were pressed by both their constituents and federal policies tied to federal funds to affirmatively further fair housing. To many, that meant furthering stable integration. This articles delves into how integration and its maintenance was sought in public law and municipal practices.