Forced Integration

Abstract

Because race and poverty often overlapped in the United States, discussions about housing policies often became discussions about race and class. In an effort to maintain a White, middle class base, Richard Nixon often attempted to make the urban housing issue a problem of class and not race which subverted the racial integration agenda of the George Romney-led HUD. The implementation of color-blind discourse prevented the creation of policies that addressed the racial component of the urban housing crisis. As Romney pushed for integration in the suburbs, White suburbans and conservatives in government (most importantly Richard Nixon) decried what they considered to be forced integration.