Asian and Pacific Islanders Face Housing Discrimination
Feature Story by Civilrights.org staff - 7/1/2003
Asian and Pacific Islanders experience similar levels of housing discrimination as other minority groups, according to a new study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
While housing discrimination against African-American and Hispanic populations is fairly well documented, bias experienced by Asians and Pacific Islanders is often less clear. The report, "Discrimination in Metropolitan Housing Markets: Phase 2 ? Asians and Pacific Islanders," issued by HUD's office of Policy Development and Research helps illuminate conditions faced by these growing population groups.
The report found that Asian and Pacific Islander prospective renters experienced consistent adverse treatment relative to whites in 21.5 percent of tests; about the same level as the level for African-American and Hispanic renters. In addition, Asian and Pacific Islander prospective homebuyers experienced consistent adverse treatment relative to whites 20.4 percent of the time, with systematic discrimination occurring in housing availability, inspections, financing assistance, and agent encouragement.
This report, the second phase of the national Housing Discrimination Study, is one of five that will ultimately be produced to help measure the extent of housing discrimination in the United States against persons because of their race or color.
