Desegregation in the United States
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact on the settlement patterns of various groups.[1] This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American civil rights movement, both before and after the US Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education, particularly desegregation of the school systems and the military. Racial integration of society was a closely related goal.
US housing law[edit]
The practice of housing segregation and racial discrimination has had a long history in the United States. Until the American civil rights movement in the 1960s, segregated neighborhoods were enforceable by law. The Fair Housing Act ended discrimination in the sale, rental and financing of housing based on race, color, religion, and national origin. This was the first housing law against discrimination. The passage of this act was contentious. It was meant to be a direct follow up to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, from 1966 to 1967, it failed to garner enough political support for its passage in the United States Congress. At that time, several states had passed their own fair housing laws and Congress was not convinced that a federal law was necessary.
It was only after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on 4 April 1968 and the ensuing riots that the bill was finally passed. It was signed into law on 11 April 1968 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, a strong proponent. Johnson called the new law one of the "promises of a century … It proclaims that fair housing for all — all human beings who live in this country — is now a part of the American way of life." Since the act's passage in 1968, it has been amended to include sex, familial status, and disability. The Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity within the US Department of Housing and Urban Development is charged with administering and enforcing this law.