Thread by @whstancil

Okay, important HOUSING CIVIL RIGHTS ALERT: Trump is currently trying to shoot a bunch of holes in the Fair Housing Act. They're trying to insert a huge carveout, especially for financial institutions, in the part of the Act that bars racial segregation and discrimination.

There's actually something you can do it about sitting that'll only take a minute and doesn't require you to leave your computer - yes, you, random Twitter person - but I'm going to do a little thread about why it's important so folks have context.

So, right now, the Fair Housing Act makes it illegal to create racial disparities in access to housing - including by creating housing segregation. It doesn't matter if you're a public or private entity, and it doesn't matter if the discrimination was unintentional!

It took fair housing advocates 47 years after the passage of the Act - i.e., until 2015 - to get the Supreme Court to admit the existence of this part of the law. It was a huge win for civil rights...

and now, after only 4 years, Trump's HUD is trying to dispose of it.

(Here is where I note that Trump's first act in public life was facing a fair housing complaint for barring black people from his buildings.)

HUD is undercutting the Fair Housing Act by redrafting the rule that lays out disparate impact liability, to add a bunch of conditions and exemptions. They claim to be following the 2015 Supreme Court case, but they've added a bunch of stuff that has nothing to do with the case.

There are many problems with the new rule, but the worst part is probably a giant carveout for algorithms, which would essentially exempt all financial institutions from having to worry about discrimination or segregation AT ALL. It's bonkers.

Even if Dems win in 2020, to reverse this they'd have to go through the whole rulemaking process again. That can be blocked and takes years (which is why Trump has only gotten around to doing it in late 2019). So it's MUCH better to stop the new rule now than to fix it later.

Here's the thing: HUD has to read and address comments it receives on the rule. Civil rights organizations have set up an online portal to submit those comments. You can go here and tell HUD to abandon the rule right now. It'll take less than a minute. defendcivilrights.org/make-a-comment

There's a form letter if you're not sure what to say, and that's totally fine, but if you've got more thoughts, that's even better. You don't have to be an expert, at all.

If you want to see some specific problems and language to complain about, here's a thread talking about the awful algorithmic exclusion. Again, they have to address your comments, regardless of whether you're an expert:

And here's an article giving an overview of the whole mess: citylab.com/equity/2019/08…

If you're even slightly concerned about housing discrimination or segregation I also recommend following @NAACP_LDF and @PRRAC_DC, diehard civil rights orgs that have been fighting racism for decades and haven't given an inch to the Trump administration.