A Regional Analysis of Discrimination Complaints in America
37 Pages Posted: 1 Aug 2011 Last revised: 24 Mar 2015
Date Written: 2011
Abstract
Racial sensitivity pervades American society and politics. However, even though the entire nation is sensitive to racial issues, this may be especially true in the South, given its racial history. This paper formulates and tests a theory of racial sensitivity in civil rights enforcement. We compare favorable outcomes in race-based fair housing complaints by southern civil rights agencies to favorable outcomes in non-racial discrimination complaints in the South. We also explore regional differences in racial sensitivity by comparing favorable outcomes in the South in non-racial fair housing complaints to favorable outcomes in those complaints by non-southern civil rights agencies and by HUD. We conclude that southern civil rights agencies decide racial discrimination claims more favorably than other types of fair housing claims primarily because of racial sensitivity.
Keywords: fair housing, civil rights
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