http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/23/upshot/how-ben-carson-at-housing-could-undo-a-desegregation-effort.html?action=click&contentCollection=Politics&module=RelatedCoverage®ion=Marginalia&pgtype=articleThroughout the Obama Presidency, there have been active efforts to promote oversight of the 1968 Fair Housing Act, which attempts to allow equal housing opportunities to all people across the country. Nearing the end of his second term, the initiative is still working to turn out success reports of desegregation in American cities and suburbs. "In 2015, his administration rolled out a rule requiring local communities to assess their own patterns of racial and income segregation and make genuine plans to address them." Until this action, the 1968 law had gone relatively unrecognized and disrespected by urban planners in functional cities looking to avoid connotations with racial violence and inevitable poverty. Just as the Obama Administration started to make headway in the civil rights matter, a new, ignorant shadow looks to be ominously threatening any and all progress made thus far.
As Ben Carson was just nominated by President-Elect Donald Trump as the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), some predict that his inexperience and misunderstanding of the necessity to uphold laws will lead to a demise of the progress made to reverse the entrenched American segregated housing. As many of us know, Ben Carson grew up impoverished, but ended up as a successful surgeon and recent Republican Presidential candidate. He has absolutely no professional ties or experience in the field of urban development and housing, which is the specialty of the department he is expected to head up in January (pending Congressional approval). This immediately raises red flags in the eyes of any Americans who had hopes for the desegregation initiative, and has them hoping that the first round's success can miraculously sway the opinions of the Republican dominated government before the inauguration of the next President.
1. Do you think that the Trump Administration will continue the work to desegregate American housing? Will Congress defund the project?
2. Do you think that housing segregation is inevitable? Is it unnatural to place people and families in inorganic communities or is it time to force integration?
3. Will Ben Carson be very effective if he is confirmed for the HUD position? Why or why not?
I don't think Ben Carson will be very effective if he is elected as the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Like many people's concerns, Carson is inexperienced and it will lead to demise of the progress the government has made to reverse the entrenched US segregated housing. I think Trump administration will unlikely to continue the work to desegregate housing and since Republicans will control the Congress, it will also be unlikely for them to fund the project. Because I think Trump will be focusing more on funding other areas to have extra funds for the housing segregsation.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that Congress will completely defund the project, as, if Ben Carson is approved, the HUD and his actions will be more in the public eye than before. If they were to stop all funding, they would likely face backlash from those who either believe in this initiative or those who simply just don't support Trump. Rather, I think they will just stop working on it, not continuing Obama's efforts, and will decrease funding. I do not believe that Ben Carson will be very effective, because he has very little experience in this area (except for the fact that he grew up impoverished). His expertise in the medical field will not be useful in his new role as the Secretary of HUD.
ReplyDeleteBen Carson will not be very effective as the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development because he is inexperienced and he will damage the progress the government has made to help US housing. Since the republicans run congress and the presidency, there will be no help to fund the desegregation in US housing.
ReplyDeleteI think that the Trump administration will not make any advances in desegregating housing, but also not regress anything in any large way. In my opinion, Trump’s nomination of Carson to a position for which he is so unqualified signifies Trump’s lack of intention to pay any attention to housing and urban development at all. However, before Trump ran for president, he was a business man, specializing in real estate. He has a history with ripping people off, especially low income, disadvantaged workers. I strongly believe that Trump will not make any effort to continue Obama’s desegregation initiative, and, if anything, reverse the progress that Obama has made.
ReplyDeleteFor fair-housing advocates, disregarding the rule would be a major blow. It would take away a process that many saw as a major step in desegregating cities and counties, and revert back to how things used to be. Before the new rule, there was little incentive provided by the federal government for cities to assess whether they were becoming more or less segregated, and to do something about it. A Trump administration could also decide to scale down enforcement of the Fair Housing Act more generally, both through HUD actions and through the Department of Justice.
ReplyDeleteOur country should not focus on race, the focus should be on helping the poorer communities gain jobs and add more people from the lower class to the middle class. If Trump goes through with his infrastructure project, we can provide jobs to thousands of Americans and help struggling communities.
ReplyDeleteHousing segregation is inevitable if we continue ignoring the racial patterns among our current housing market. The Fair Housing Act's requirement for communities to assess these racial patterns within their communities is something that should have been implemented decades ago, when the law was passed.
ReplyDeleteSadly I believe that the Trump administration will not push for the housing desegregation we so desperately need. However Housing desegregation will eventually decrease but its a question of when. Despite his experience of living in projects, he himself has stated on multiple occasions that he is not fit for the position. He lacks any experience that will actually help him combat the issue of housing segregation.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Ben Carson will be very effective because he is inexperienced, but I think he'll do a good job of BSing his way through and make people believe he's doing a good job. In terms of desegregation, I don't think Trump's administration will do anything drastic to improve the circumstances because I think Trump will continue to ignore that there is a problem.
ReplyDeleteI hope that the Trump presidency will continue to desegregate the school system and cities. But it is hard to tell especially with Ben Carson in charge. Which leads me to believe that Carson will do anything to help this cause. I do not believe segregated communities are inevitable, they could easily be stopped if the proper legislation is put in place. However, this will be hard to achieve due to party polarization. Ben Carson will not be that effective as the HUD, simply due to his lack of experience.
ReplyDeleteI think that housing segregation is a changeable aspect of society, however this change will likely not occur very suddenly. To force people into housing desegregation would only incite more racial tensions, and only cause to worsen the situation. If individuals were incentivized, either by better living conditions or some sort of payment, people could begin to desegregate these living conditions, bringing people to a state where they would want to remove desegregation, as opposed to supporting it.
ReplyDelete3. Will Ben Carson be very effective if he is confirmed for the HUD position? Why or why not? I do not believe that Ben Carson will be very effective when he is confirmed. Carson has no prior experience in one of these positions to warrant his selection. Trump is simply awarding those who supported him early on in the election.
ReplyDeleteSince Congress is majority Republican most work to desegregate will be halted, and lose significant funding. The Trump administration will prove that it cares little about segregation, and has no intention of righting the situation. Ben Carson is completely unsuited for the job. Trump suggesting he be appointed to HUD is evidence of the spoils system in action. Carson will accomplish next to nothing, as his background as a surgeon will be of no use to him.
ReplyDeleteIt is very likely that the majority Republican congress will defund any desegregation initiative in favor of other programs. Also, Ben Carson's complete inexperience in the field of housing and urban development makes it very unlikely that any progress that has been made during Obama's administration will continue to occur.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Ben Carson will be effective if he is confirmed for the HUD position. My reasoning for this is that Ben Carson has no experience in housing and urban development. Living in public housing doesn't make you an expert on it, just like how I use a laptop everyday, but I'm not an expert on how to repair laptops. You can't expect Carson to be effective due to his inexperience in the housing and urban development field.
ReplyDeleteI think that the Trump Administration will not continue the work to desegregate American Housing as he is a conservative and his administration wants to lower government funding. Plus Ben Carson is unqualified.
ReplyDeleteI do not think Ben Carson will be effective in the position of Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He is inexperienced in the field of housing and is not the best fit for the position. Just because he grew up impoverish does not mean he understand how to fix and treat those problems in our country.
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