Race for Profit : the Political Economy of Black Urban Housing in the 1970s
This dissertation looks at the federal government's promotion and subsidization of single-family homeownership in the urban environment in the aftermath of urban rebellions in the 1960s in the United States. Several federal inquiries into the causes of urban rebellion identified substandard housing and housing discrimination as a key factor. There was a dual housing market in the United States, one for African Americans and one for whites and its existence degraded the quality of Black housing while simultaneously making it more expensive than white housing. As a remedy, politicians across the political spectrum supported legislation to improve the urban housing stock. The centerpiece of the new housing legislation was a federal homeownership program for low-income urban dwellers. The presidential administration of Lyndon Johnson enlisted the services of real estate agents, mortgage bankers, and the home-building industry to usher in an unprecedented era of low-income housing production and homeownership. The Johnson Administration encouraged private-sector participation by offering generous subsidies and tax relief. The dissertation questions whether the private housing industry which had played a central role in creating the dual housing market and, as a result, the poor quality housing in Black communities, could create affordable and decent housing for the low-income urban dwellers. Moreover, the dissertation raises a broader question about the feasibility of "public-private partnerships." I argue that those partnerships are conceptually flawed because they have two distinct goals. The role of the public sector is to protect and defend the public's welfare and the role of private enterprise is to create profit. I review the viability of these partnerships through the lens of the nation's first publicly subsidized homeownership program. I question whether or not the partnership allows for the kind of monitoring, regulating and policing that may be needed in order to protect the public's interest. I examine these questions by reviewing presidential papers, mainstream media sources, multiple archives of policy makers, and dozens of federal investigatory reports and audits and the transcripts of public hearings
Thesis, Dissertation, English, 2013