The Trump Administration has recently become engaged with anti-housing segregation laws and regulations on multiple fronts. | Shutterstock

Critics argue the proposed changes will weaken protections against housing discrimination One of the most pernicious ways that segregation and racism have manifested themselves in U.S. society is via laws and regulations about where people can live. Decades of racially motivated housing covenants and redlining have created unequal neighborhoods in many cities, often divided along racial and ethnic lines.
While landmark legislation during the civil rights era, most significantly the Fair Housing Act of 1968, sought to outlaw discrimination and end racial bias in the housing market, the law has yet to achieve its aim. A recent report by the National Fair Housing Alliance found that housing discrimination complaints were on the rise, increasing 8 percent last year; wide racial gaps exist in homeownership rates; and discrimination is still endemic in many ways, as demonstrated by an extensive Newsday investigation last year revealing widespread evidence that realtors were treating people of color unfairly. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson and other officials have repeatedly pushed to change and in some cases roll back anti-segregation regulations, often arguing that these rules inhibit the construction of much-needed affordable housing. Critics of the administration say Carson and others are gutting much-needed...