Interestingly, the NY Times Editorial Board forgets to mention which political Party is currently in charge of most Big Cities, and has been for most of the time since the 1960’s.
Housing Apartheid, American Style
The riots that erupted in Baltimore last month were reminiscent of those that consumed cities all over the country during the 1960s. This rage and unrest was thoroughly explained five decades ago by President Lyndon Johnson’s National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, also known as the Kerner Commission. The commission’s report was released in 1968 — the year that the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. touched off riots in 125 cities — and contains the most candid indictment of racism and segregation seen in such a document, before or since.
The commission told white Americans what black citizens already knew: that the country was “moving toward two societies, one black, one white — separate and unequal.†It linked the devastating riots that consumed Detroit and Newark in 1967 to residential segregation that had been sustained and made worse by federal policies that concentrated poor black citizens in ghettos. It also said that discrimination and segregation had become a threat to “the future of every American.â€
Say, I wonder if anyone took photos of people looting toilet paper, feminine hygiene products, and sneakers back in those riots from the 60’s?
As part of the remedy, the commission called on the government to outlaw housing discrimination in both the sale and rental markets and to “reorient†federal policy so that housing for low- and moderate-income families would be built in integrated, mixed-income neighborhoods, where residents would have better access to jobs and decent schools.
They go on to point out that laws were passed, such as the Fair Housing Act, which outlawed any of those discrimination. Of course, history has shown that when The Government builds housing projects in “mixed-income” neighborhoods, they pretty much become low to virtually no income neighborhoods, with rising levels of crime, violence, drug use and drug dealing, urban blight sets in, housing values and education standards/achievement plummet, and those who can escape do. Witness “Detroit”. And “Baltimore”.
A growing body of evidence suggests that America would be a different country today had the government taken its responsibility seriously. For example, a Harvard study released earlier this month found that young children whose families had been given housing vouchers that allowed them to move to better neighborhoods were more likely to attend college — and to attend better colleges — than those whose families had not received the vouchers. The voucher group also had significantly higher incomes as adults.
I thought liberals hated vouchers? Oh, right, only when it comes to educational choice (see: Teacher’s unions). Of course, what we’ve often seen with the vouchers programs is that the users tend to bring the same crime, violence, poor educational standards, a failure to maintain the homes, etc, to the new neighborhoods (see: Atlanta).
Really, though, this is a big whine about things that happened decades ago, without mentioning who, exactly, has been in charge of these cities, in order to perpetuate a racial meme, whipping people up, rather than bringing people together. Also, as a way to Blamestorm current affairs on The Past, giving an excuse for the lawless and violent behavior.
Even so, this is no excuse to riot. Something we see all too often, and something that seems to be happening more and more. It’s the mob mentality, and the ultimate result of creating a moocher class. You may not like the term, but you can’t dispute it. It is what it is, and it is what we are seeing
The Obama administration has proposed new fair housing enforcement rules, which should be finalized soon, that make states, cities and housing agencies more accountable for furthering fair housing.
But for these rules to be meaningful, the federal government will have to restructure its own programs so that more affordable housing is built in low-poverty, high opportunity neighborhoods. Federal officials must also be willing to do what they have generally been afraid to do in the past — withhold money from communities that perpetuate housing apartheid.
Given what we now know about the pervasive harm that flows from segregation, the country needs to get on with this crucial mission.
So, Obama has failed? Huh.
Interestingly, when those whose ancestors fled the increasingly poor social values in (liberal) big cities move back and create pockets of increased social, economic, and housing capital, we hear about the evils of “gentrification” (see: downtown Detroit). Perhaps the NY Times can tell us why the existing low income housing areas are utter failures, with unbelievably low social, economic, and housing capital? What the Times, and Democrats in general, want to do is export those low values out to the suburbs (especially see: Atlanta, Detroit, which had riots over their voucher programs), rather than fixing the problems in these areas, creating social, economic, and housing capital. They tolerate, even create, the poor quality of life in these areas, and continue to perpetuate these poor conditions with more and more poorly designed programs.
And that’s how we end up with the Baltimore riots, where people loot drug and shoe stores, torch cars, homes, and community centers, throw rocks and stuff at police, drag people out to the street and beat them, and the government not only stands around, but actively encourages this behavior.
Crossed at Right Wing News.
Read: NY Times Is Very Concerned Over The Housing Apartheid In Big Cities »
