ABSTRACT
The Supreme Court overlooked the fact that something was lost in choosing private owners rather than local governments as Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) partner in desegregation. Many well meaning Americans have expressed the opinion that if only blacks and whites could experience more contact with each other, the nation's racial difficulties would solve themselves. A suburban locality will be able to find more than enough recruits among its blue-collar, white-collar, and retired residents without having to resort to Chicago's public-housing residents. To retain some public housing for poor whites, the Chicago Housing Authority designated several older projects that had been built in white areas as suitable for whites only. As to administrative absurdity, in Chicago, the fair market rent for a new two-bedroom unit in an elevator apartment is approximately $500. As for economic and political insanity, so far HUD has been lucky, because its housing programs have reached but a tiny percentage of those who are eligible.
