PATERSON, NJ – Today, U.S. Representative Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) sent a letter to Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson seeking clarification to a report that found HUD is slow-walking or halting entirely efforts to combat housing discrimination against minority Americans.

“I read with grave concern a recent New York Times article detailing the ways in which the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is de-emphasizing enforcement of fair housing laws and actively seeking to undo the efforts of your predecessors to combat discrimination,” Rep. Pascrell writes.

“In interviews with current and former members of your staff, the article finds that HUD is systematically ‘sidelining officials who have aggressively pursued civil rights cases,’ with a half-dozen priority fair housing investigations being halted.”

Begun in the 1930s, the practice of redlining blocked minorities from access to mortgages and financial services, keeping generations of families from enjoying home ownership.

The government tacitly supported these racist schemes as maps were used by the Veterans Administration and Federal Housing Administration to determine who should qualify for home loans.

Redlined maps thus became self-fulfilling prophecies, keeping generations of minorities mired in poverty.

“Racial disparities persist in the United States because of past failures of policy and imagination, and their lasting legacy is a shameful stain on this nation,” Rep. Pascrell writes. 

“Now is not the time to turn backward, but I fear that your decisions as HUD Secretary are doing just that. I ask for an immediate explanation and course correction from your office.”