How to Overcome a Legacy of Racist Housing Policy

"It would be refreshing if more Houstonians considered decades of public segregation as worthy of outrage and organized opposition," according to an editorial by John Henneberger. Instead, examples like the current controversy surrounding a proposed public and subsidized housing project by the Houston Housing Authority in the area around the Galleria, show how residents "frame the debate around the potential impact the development could have on local school overcrowding and traffic congestion."

According to Hennenberg, such "neighborhood inconveniences…pale in comparison to the real issue: systemic, widespread racial segregation." While Houston's history with public housing shows evidence of institutional racism, the Galleria development offers a new path.

Here, Hennenberger summarizes the thinking behind building public housing in more affluent areas:

Decades of research make it clear that moving from a low-opportunity area to a high-opportunity area vastly improves the chance that a low-income child succeeds in life, particularly if their family moves while they are still in elementary school. Growing up in a high opportunity neighborhood can mean hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional future income. Minority students achieve better educational outcomes at schools with diverse populations and are much more likely to attend college. Children are happier and healthier, due to lower stress levels, when living in safer environments.