Take a minute now to thank Congress for passing the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

ADD YOUR NAME NOW

Pittsburgh Community Commemorates Fair Housing Act

Local REALTORS® co-host panel discussion about fair housing at the August Wilson Center in Pittsburgh.

By Anthony SanFilippo
Pittsburgh

The first fair housing law established in the United States was in New York City in the mid-1950s – years before the Fair Housing Act existed.

Following suit, in 1958 was Pittsburgh with the second law.

So, when the city of Pittsburgh partnered with the REALTORS® Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh (RAMP) to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Fair Housing Act in April, you could excuse the steel city if it was quietly celebrating its own 60th anniversary – for being a city ahead of its time.

“Fair Housing makes our communities stronger. It makes our industries stronger. It lifts up not only the REALTOR® communities but the communities we work, play and celebrate in every day,” said RAMP President David Dean. “It not only makes us stronger, but it makes us better. It makes us diverse. And here in Pittsburgh it has been going on longer than almost anywhere.”

As part of the commemoration, RAMP along with the City and the Pittsburgh office of the Human Relations Commission (HRC) and the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh co-hosted a panel discussion about fair housing at the August Wilson Center in Pittsburgh.

A capacity crowd was on hand for the event, which had a panel featuring Dean as well as representatives of the Pittsburgh HRC, the National Low Income Housing Coalition, The Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Urban League of Pittsburgh.

The keynote speaker at the event was F. Alvin Pearman, Ph.D, Assistant Professor of Urban Education, University of Pittsburgh.

“We had been working on a celebration we wanted to do on April 11th because that’s the date President Johnson signed the legislation in 1968,” said RAMP Executive Vice President John Petrack. “We had come up with a lot of ideas. But with David being on the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing in the City of Pittsburgh Committee –  a Mayoral-appointed task force –  along with the president of the Pittsburgh HRC, they said, ‘why don’t we work together to have an event with a panel structure and keynote speaker?’

“That’s how this all came together. And when they decided they were looking for an opening act of sorts, we suggested sharing the video created by the National Association of REALTORS® commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act.”

During the panel discussion, there were three very important questions asked:

  • Now that 50 years have passed, are we better off, or worse off than we were when we passed the Fair Housing Act?
  • In 50 years what will fair housing look like in Pittsburgh?
  • How have we, or our group had an impact on fair housing both nationally and locally?

“This really gave us a chance to talk, among ourselves, as if the room full of people wasn’t there,” Dean said. “It was almost magic, and in the end, we all decided we would meet semi-regularly, because we felt we could impact the city and fair housing even more after that discussion.”

Each member of the panel had a specific forte that was shared and at the end of the discussion, the audience got to ask questions, and a significant number of questions were directed toward Dean.

“REALTORS® get a bad rap when discussing fair housing,” he said. “When I was appointed to the Committee, there were people who were uneasy about a REALTOR® being on a fair housing-oriented task force. But, in the end, people were saying to me that they didn’t realize how much of a true partner they have in REALTORS® -both in the local and national associations.

“REALTORS® are committed to fair housing and in multiple ways. People were asking me questions because they wanted to know what REALTORS® do to support fair housing and if they work with a REALTOR® what they should expect.”

Pearman’s presentation focused on the economic and social impact that fair housing has had on disparate communities – African-Americans, Hispanics, the disabled – and he showed how fair housing impacts educational opportunities to families.

Using census information and other data, Pearman honed it in to make it a local issue to Pittsburgh. He pointed to the challenges fair housing has faced in Pittsburgh. He showed a map the banks used to use when determining how to give out loans.

“Redlining” was a process instituted by the federal government in an effort to try to revive the housing market following the Great Depression.

Rather than foster the concept of integrated neighborhoods, the government encouraged mortgage lenders to withhold credit from certain urban neighborhoods and immigrant communities.

Banks and federal agencies marked maps of the neighborhoods where mortgages should be withheld with red ink.

Later, as part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, The Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) prevented many foreclosures by refinancing hundreds of thousands of existing mortgages.

However, the HOLC took redlining to a whole new level.

It created “Residential Security Maps” that graded neighborhoods based on investment risk and credit worthiness. Areas thought to carry the least risk of defaulting on a mortgage got graded “A” and were colored in green on the map, while those neighborhoods considered “hazardous” and more high-risk got a “D” grade and were colored red.

Appraisers at the time, let cultural biases dictate the rating of certain neighborhoods. Communities that were predominantly African-American were given a “D” grade regardless of the condition of the homes in the neighborhood, essentially quarantining those neighborhoods and creating housing segregation.

“Many people had never seen one of these [maps] before,” Dean said. “But this was how redlining occurred. [Pearman] took the audience on a journey – showing that there were huge strides taken forward, but that there still were impediments that remain and that they are systemic.”

But the most interesting moments of the event occurred prior to the panel discussion, when a press conference was held to unveil a project that the Committee has working on for four years – a comprehensive fair housing package the mayor and city can use to address fair housing in the future.

“With the unveiling of that document and the Mayor’s remarks, we were excited about the positions the city would undertake to address fair housing holistically,” Dean said. “The economic, social and environmental concerns of fair housing.”


Time to Focus on Affordable Housing

Taxes on real estate are not the answer. Sign the petition calling on Congress to address our country’s housing shortage.

Sign It Now



RELATED STORIES

National Association of REALTORS®
The Critical Connections Between Housing and Health
October 23, 2018

Where we live has an enormous impact on our health and well-being. Recent research has demonstrated that the neighborhood in which a person lives can be a more important predictor of health than his or her genetic makeup.



National Association of REALTORS®
After 50 Years, How Much Has Changed?
September 17, 2018

Research and demographic reports provide a window into how the housing market has grown more and more diverse because of the Fair Housing Act.



National Association of REALTORS®
Housing Opportunity and Educational Achievement
August 27, 2018

Access to good schools is essential for supporting positive educational and economic outcomes for children.



National Association of REALTORS®
Building Stronger, Healthier Communities for All Through Fair Housing and Equal Opportunities
July 25, 2018

It’s not just the residence that matters when we discuss housing opportunity and equality, but the quality of the neighborhood, too.



National Association of REALTORS®
Despite the Law’s Original Intent, Not All Groups Are Covered by the Fair Housing Act
June 7, 2018

As he signed the Fair Housing Act into law in April 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson explained the significance of the new law and the changes it sought to bring.



National Association of REALTORS®
Is 50 Years Enough? Why the Fight for Fair Housing Continues, and REALTORS®’ Role in Ensuring Its Success
May 10, 2018

Signed into law on April 11, 1968, the Fair Housing Act is vital to ensuring that everyone in America has equal access to housing.



National Association of REALTORS®
“The First Step in a 1000-mile Journey”: How the Dream of a Fair Housing Act Became Reality
April 6, 2018

One hundred years after the last shots were fired in the Civil War, African Americans were still struggling against unfair treatment and discrimination in practically all aspects of society.



National Association of REALTORS®
From One Voice to Many: Despite Setbacks and Opposition, How a Growing Chorus Paved the Way to Fair Housing
March 21, 2018

Looking back on the fifty years since the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968…



National Association of REALTORS®
You Can’t Live Here: The Enduring Impacts of Restrictive Covenants
February 9, 2018

The 50th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act represents an opportunity to remind ourselves not only of the importance of the law in shaping the real estate landscape today…



National Association of REALTORS®
Fair Housing: Promises of a Century
January 15, 2018

For REALTORS®, the Fair Housing Act is one of our nation’s most significant laws guiding the real estate industry today.