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President Richard Nixon promises to enforce federal laws prohibiting racial discrimination in housing but would not force low cost housing for Blacks or whites into suburban communities that did not want it.
1971 (Jun 11)
President Richard Nixon promised to enforce federal laws prohibiting racial discrimination in housing but said the government would not force introduction of low cost housing for Blacks or whites into suburban communities that did not want it. The president's fifteen-page report sharply distinguished between economic segregation and racial segregation, and the government's authority to deal with each situation. Nixon said that his administration would seek to carry out all requirements of federal law and judicial decisions involving housing but that it would take no action to go beyond them. "Racial discrimination in housing is illegal and will not be tolerated," the president affirmed, but the issue of public housing projects for the poor was another matter. Although predominantly white and affluent suburbs would be encouraged to accept them, the ultimate decision about the location of the housing projects would be made at the local level.
References:
- • Hornsby, Alton. Chronology of African-American History: Significant Events and People from 1619 to the Present. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995.