Raymond Mohl's Article: Race And Housing

The United States’ government had always had a hand on our country’s housing market. From requiring land ownership to vote, to providing public housing to impoverished families, our government had become an irremovable part of the housing market. The effects of these housing policies can affect American residents in ways they might not even recognize.
In his article, “Race and Housing in the Postwar City: An Explosive History,” Raymond Mohl focuses on suburbanization and racial segregation in post-World War II America. Due to discriminatory practices in the housing market, Mohl believes there were actually two housing markets in America, one for white people and one for black people. Many African American families were unable to find their

Instead of focusing on the relationship between federal housing policy and segregation, as does Mohl, DiPasquale explores how rental housing and federal policies affect each other. In her article, “Rental Housing: Current Market Conditions and the Role of Federal Policy,” DiPasquale challenges the federal policies that were in place at the time she wrote her article. She brings to attention her belief that in the past, government policies have given much of their focus to homeowners and little to the renter. Through her research, DiPasquale had found that rental housing had become increasingly less affordable, especially to poorer tenants, who are spending a greater portion of their income on rent. This not only poses a problem to the renters, but also to the landlords, for if the renters cannot pay the rent, the landlords get a vacancy and no income from their property. She also asserts her belief that homeownership is not for everyone, and uses evidence from the recent housing crisis to support her claim. Her article calls for a revamping of current federal policies to level the playing field between home owning and renting. By doing so, households will have more choices available to them when it comes to choosing suitable housing for them

She then goes into her case study of the city of New Orleans. In the eyes of Gonzalez-Perez, even in New Orleans, public housing was hindered by political war. After the assassination of Senator Huey Long, Gonzalez-Perez brings us to the end of the political war between the Louisiana State Government and the federal government, and New Orleans receives funds for slum clearance and public housing. Gonzalez-Perez argues that this was the turning point for the New Orleanian public’s view of public housing, stating that public housing proceeded with little opposition (455). However, even with little opposition, Gonzalez-Perez implies that public housing still could not escape the grasp of political hinderance. She acknowledges the fact that although New Orleans had historically mixed residences, public housing increased the racial segregation in the city, due to there being separate projects for whites and blacks. Gonzalez-Perez notes that the white projects maintained higher vacancy rates than the black projects, and through her research, feels this was due to white residents having better employment opportunities as well as white projects having a more desirable location. Overall, Gonzalez-Perez concludes that due to the