Trump Repeals Obama-Era Fair Housing Regulation

The Los Angeles Times reports:

With President Trump facing sagging support in the suburbs, his administration on Thursday targeted an Obama-era affordable housing regulation, the latest in a series of appeals to white voters’ fears of crime and declining property values.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that it would scrap a regulation known as Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing, which was implemented by President Obama in an attempt to promote more integrated communities. Under the rule, cities receiving some federal housing aid had to develop plans to address patterns of segregation or risk losing money.

The new regulation from the Trump administration would allow local governments much broader latitude in deciding if their policies were racially discriminatory. “Washington has no business dictating what is best to meet your local community’s unique needs,” Ben Carson, Trump’s housing secretary, said in a statement.

President Trump is repealing an Obama-era rule intended to combat historic racial discrimination in housing.

Recently, Trump has referenced the rule heavily in his push to win suburban voters.https://t.co/VK2G04Hjfc

— NPR (@NPR) July 23, 2020

For Trump, “suburbs” is code for “whites.”

But his crude appeals — stoking white fears about integration — rest on a caricature of the already diversified suburbs that is decades out of date.

New story w/ @ChrisMegerian@dillonliam >https://t.co/xz7kjCGikW

— Eli Stokols (@EliStokols) July 23, 2020

The Suburban Housewives of America must read this article. Biden will destroy your neighborhood and your American Dream. I will preserve it, and make it even better! https://t.co/1NzbR57Oe6

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2020

This article urges suburban “women” to reconsider their opposition to Trump. The president chose the word “housewives.” pic.twitter.com/Ryu6w09JFT

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) July 23, 2020