Arguments Against Racial Zoning Laws

Growing up in the 20th century, leaves my childhood looking very similar to those around me. As a hispanic I have been very fortunate to grow up the way I did. Sadly, some other people are not that lucky. My working thesis, which is “Although racial zoning laws prevent cities and states to separate those of color and lower income, the previous “red tape” laws have long lasting effects in people’s residency and education that are evident in society today,” defines and explores different way people of color and lower income have to struggle due to centuries of segregation and inequality, placed on by the generations before them. Needless to say, there are a lot of people who disagree with my working thesis. While these antithetical positions
are important, I believe that they can be answered.
Some critics say that there are no long lasting effects, if anything we have come far enough that there is not a single trace of inequality. Many believe since regulations and legislations have been placed, the problem has been solved. The reality is, the problem has only just been re named, and slightly fixed. The previous laws placed in 1940’s known as the “Red Tape laws” prevented those of low income and color to integrate into white communities throughout the country. Luckily the racial zoning laws placed in the 1950’s allow people to house in any community, area, and city they would like (our town). Legislation even placed affordable housing laws, mandating a certain number of affordable houses that has to be available to those in areas to make the migration easier.
Many opposers will say that this legislation should be more than enough to fix and prevent the wrongdoings of the generations prior to them.
Unfortunately, these regulations were only looked to as guidelines and usually did not allow those who need the affordable housing to actually get them. According to the Rutgers University Center for Urban Policy Research “ by 1985 a dozen of towns had sued to avoid building prescribed units, particularly after a report concluded that 300,000 units of low-income housing would be required under the decision by the year 2000. The town of Cranbury, with 2,000 residents and fewer than 800 households, tried to block construction of the 816 units it had been assigned, using claims of historic preservation” (Fergerson, 32). This is a good example of how till this century some towns and their law officials are trying to make it harder if not avoid people of low-income and color to migrate to their
towns.
Another argument made against my thesis is the fact that they believe everyone has the access to an equal level of education.
This can be easily disproven by the testing and grading of schools done by the government itself. Academic Performance Index or more commonly know as API score is “the cornerstone of California's Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999; measures the academic performance and growth of schools on a variety of academic measures for 1999-2013” is a good example of how one can identify the level of academics found by regions and school districts (California Department of Education). The difference in academic level can easily be seen by area of residency. An example of this can be seen in two distinctive regions of California; a school in Santa Clara county where it is highly populated and known for its high level education compared to a school in the Imperial Valley where it is also highly populated and known for its high level of education. Los Gatos High school is one of the distinguished high school found in the suburban area of Santa Clara County, it has a 8.95% of attendance of hispanic, latino, and other raced students, has an API score of 886. In comparison Imperial High School also a distinguished high school found in the suburban area of the Imperial Valley has a 80.31% of attendance of hispanic, latino, and other raced students, has an API score of 821 (California Department of Education). These statistics show that in areas like the Imperial
Valley where they are booming with low-income residents and people of color have significantly lower test scores which has a direct correlation with the education they have access to.