Troutt — Volume 65, Issue 1

Fair housing law's scope encompasses far more than commonly understood, addressing not merely discrimination but the structural residential segregation perpetuating economic inequality and unequal opportunity. Troutt analyzes the Fair Housing Act's dual prongs—anti-discrimination and anti-segregation—arguing both aim at reducing economic inequality through residential integration and equitable resource distribution. The article illustrates this through a contemporary example of two South Missouri school districts separated by thirty miles, racially homogeneous, with stark achievement gaps. When state law temporarily allowed black students from the lower-performing district to attend school in the majority-white, high-achieving district, white parents expressed fury couched in concerns about school safety and resource diversion—revealing underlying resistance to racial integration. This case exemplifies how fair housing encompasses education, policing, and municipal finance as interconnected spheres affecting opportunity. Troutt argues that housing policy is school policy: residential location determines educational access and economic mobility. The Federal Fair Housing Act should be measured by principles of fairness, integration for shared resources, and equal opportunity. Recent HUD affirmatively furthering fair housing rules and housing choice voucher jurisprudence suggest courts and policymakers are expanding the Act's reach beyond antidiscrimination toward affirmative integration and equitable resource sharing across metropolitan regions.

Topics: Civil Rights · Property · Federalism

Keywords: Fair Housing Act · residential segregation · anti-segregation · metropolitan equity · school integration · economic opportunity · housing discrimination · affirmatively furthering fair housing