Read a PDF of our statement here.

Today, Lisa Cylar Barrett, Director of Policy at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), issued the following statement regarding the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s announcement eliminating the 2015 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule:

“The Trump administration’s decision to eradicate the 2015 affirmatively furthering fair housing rule is an unacceptable affront to civil rights. The president’s recent racist, fear-mongering rhetoric about AFFH makes it clear that he has chosen to sow divisiveness in his targeted dismantling of this rule.

“After years of intensive research and development, the 2015 AFFH rule was established to clarify the AFFH mandate included in the Fair Housing Act of 1968.  The rule was specifically designed to better equip communities to address barriers to fair housing — and to provide a framework and resources to empower them to remedy discriminatory housing practices, address the legacies of housing segregation, and create diverse and prosperous communities.

“The Trump administration’s elimination of this rule constitutes a reprehensible regression for fair housing in this country. Today’s announcement is particularly egregious amid an ongoing pandemic that disproportionately impacts Black people’s socioeconomic security and during a period with staggeringly low Black homeownership rates. HUD’s termination of the 2015 AFFH rule represents the exact opposite of the type of housing policy needed at this moment.

“LDF will not be deterred by the Trump administration’s announcement today. Along with our allies, we will take every measure available to fight this administration’s deplorable action, and continue to work tirelessly to eliminate the structural inequalities stemming from decades of discriminatory housing practices across the United States.”

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Founded in 1940, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is the nation’s first civil and human rights law organization. LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957—although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the NAACP Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Follow LDF on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

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