California YIMBY Statement Upon the Anniversary of Signing of the Fair Housing Act

Enacted on April 11, 1968, Title VIII and Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, commonly known as the Fair Housing Act, remains one of the most significant housing rights laws in the United States. Passed in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, the Fair Housing Act enacted some of the first and most powerful laws against discrimination against people of color in private housing. On the anniversary of its enactment, California YIMBY wishes to celebrate its continued importance. 

But the dream of fair housing is far from realized. In California, recent research from the University of California, Los Angeles finds that, for some, segregation today has never been worse, especially California’s latino population. Similarly, research from the University of California, Berkeley finds that the Bay Area today is more segregated than it was in 1970. California must and can do more to advance the cause of fair housing, which is core to and concomitant with ending California’s unprecedented housing shortage. 

Leading experts agree that rising prices, in part due to exclusionary zoning, are one of the most powerful forces driving both segregation and the lack of affordable housing. For more on the policies California YIMBY pursues to make housing more affordable and achieve fair housing, check out our policy positions here: cayimby.org/policy