Bernice King Warns of Rising Housing Discrimination
- Portland Observer
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
Reflecting on the Fair Housing Act law made after her father’s killing
Bernice King warned that decades of progress toward fair and equitable housing in the United States are at risk as the Trump administration moves to cut funding for housing-related programs and nonprofits that investigate discrimination complaints. King, CEO of The King Center and the youngest daughter of civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, said the rollback could embolden discriminatory practices that past generations fought hard to dismantle.
“There’s still a lot of residential segregation,” King told The Associated Press. While she acknowledged that conditions have improved since her father’s lifetime, she expressed concern that weakening enforcement could reverse that progress. “People will feel very emboldened to discriminate because they know there’s nothing there to stop it,” she said, warning the country could drift back toward the inequities of the 1950s and 1960s.
In February 2025, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development canceled millions of dollars in grants to nonprofits that handle housing discrimination complaints. Although a judge temporarily blocked the terminations, the move raised alarm among civil rights advocates. HUD officials said the department would continue to uphold the Fair Housing Act, noting that no staffing changes had been announced. However, the canceled grants reportedly included programs that referenced diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, language.
King said these attacks on DEI are not new. She described them as familiar “divide-and-conquer” tactics that maintain social hierarchies by keeping people separated and in conflict. In response, she continues to highlight her father’s legacy of fighting not just racial injustice, but also economic inequality.
That legacy was on display during her visit to Seattle, where she spoke at the Northwest African American Museum. Nearby, Habitat for Humanity of Seattle–King & Kittitas Counties is constructing a new condominium building named after Martin Luther King Jr. The 58-unit building, located on Martin Luther King Jr. Way in King County, will eventually offer homes at affordable prices. Habitat CEO Brett D’Antonio said naming the building after King was an opportunity to connect his legacy to ongoing efforts to address racial equity in housing.
Bernice King also reflected on her family’s personal experiences with housing discrimination. In 1966, her father moved the family to a cramped, unheated apartment in Chicago to draw attention to the poor conditions Black residents faced. At the time, many Black tenants paid higher rents for worse housing than white tenants. Martin Luther King Jr. organized marches and rallies across Chicago to protest these injustices. One week after his assassination in 1968, the Fair Housing Act was signed into law, outlawing housing discrimination and creating systems to address complaints.
Despite that landmark legislation, King said the promise of fair housing remains unfulfilled. Weakening the law’s enforcement, she argued, dishonors the sacrifices made to achieve it. Today, major gaps in homeownership persist between Black, Hispanic, and white Americans. Housing discrimination complaints reached a record 34,000 in 2023, according to the National Fair Housing Alliance, with many involving rental housing and disability discrimination.
Housing researcher Diane Levy of the Urban Institute expressed concern about who will handle future complaints if nonprofit funding is significantly reduced. She noted that discrimination—whether obvious or hidden—limits where people can live, work, and attend school.
King said the current moment requires perseverance and creativity. While discrimination may feel increasingly normalized, she emphasized that those committed to justice and equality must continue the work. “It just means we have even more to do,” she said.