Fair Housing Act

"You can't just rent or sell to white people." That was more or less the gist of the Fair Housing Act.

Through the 1960s in America, restricted sales targets were a Thing. CC&Rs (covenants, codes, and restrictions) existed, such that zoned neighborhoods were required to sell only to a given demographic. Like: No Catholics. No Jews. No blacks. No Asians. No Martians. Very tight rules as to who could buy.

How did this set of rules and regs pass for so long?

Well, for a long time, claimants claimed that being forced to sell homes at "market prices" actually destroyed neighborhoods. As myriad transactions were...transacted, a given minority purchased a home in a neighborhood and the value per square foot of housing in that neighborhood subsequently went down. There was the predilication that white-only living areas were and would be sold at a premium, and that diversity harmed values.

Have we come a long way, baby?