Video of American Constitution Society panel on race and housing

Earlier this month, I participated in a panel on "Race and Space" at the American Constitution Society national convention. The panel focused on the causes and consequences of housing segregation in the United States. ACS has now made a video of the panel available on Youtube and at the ACS website. I have also posted it here:

The other participants in the panel were Sheryll Cashin (Georgetown), Justin Hansford (Georgetown), Richard Rothstein (Economic Policy Institute), and Allison Bethel (John Marshall Law School, serving as moderator). ACS is the left of center counterpart to the Federalist Society.

My talk focused on how restrictive zoning and eminent domain abuse greatly diminish housing and job opportunities for minorities. I also noted how these policies have similar negative effects on lower-income whites. This is actually an area where the minority poor and the white working class have an important common interest, albeit one that has gone largely unrecognized in the political arena. There is also substantial cross-ideological agreement among experts on these issues, as was evident from the considerable areas of agreement between the left of center panelists at the ACS event and myself.

I have previously written about the impact of zoning on housing and job opportunities here and here, and the effects of eminent domain on minorities in various publications, including my book The Grasping Hand.

I would like to thank ACS for organizing this panel, and for including me.

Last year, I participated in an ACS national convention panel on "We the People? Law and the Politics of Inclusion and Exclusion."