The Fair Housing Act: A Latino Perspective

The 30th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act is a bittersweet occasion for Hispanics.1 It represents an important milestone in the Nation’s journey toward the ideal of equal oppor-tunity for all. However, a review of the legislation’s history reveals that, for too long, housing discrimination against the Hispanic community has been unjustifiably ignored. In this article, we review briefly the importance of fair housing to the Hispanic commu-nity, discuss emerging research documenting the scope and degree of housing discrimina-tion against Latinos, describe recent developments in Federal enforcement of the Act on behalf of Hispanics, and conclude with a few recommendations. Many working-class and low-income Latinos face severe problems in obtaining “safe, sanitary, and decent ” housing. Recent research shows that Hispanics are more likely than other Americans to live in substandard housing and to experience overcrowding. The percentage of Latinos with “worst case housing needs”2 has risen dramatically in recent years. The link between low income and housing deprivation is well-established. Indeed, Hispanics now have the dubious distinction of being the poorest of Americans. Thirty percent of Latinos live below the Federal poverty level compared with 29 percent o