ABSTRACT
The suburbanization of blacks is being accompanied by the increasing territorial differentiation of suburbia along racial lines—and not by integration. The mechanisms in place to enforce and reproduce a structural pattern based on race mean that at the individual level, suburbanization for blacks connotes constrained residential choice, a restricted and less efficient housing search process, and limited opportunities for housing equity and wealth accumulation. This chapter presents a brief summary of findings on these issues, examines the shortcomings of present federal legislation designed to counter discrimination in housing, and considers new policy directions suggested by the research findings. Federal legislation is required to provide for direct housing and urban development (HUD) funding of local fair housing councils. Direct Federal funding is imperative to free fair housing councils from local political influence. HUD should allocate sufficient funding for fair housing councils to establish housing information centers as one of their primary activities.
