Race Forward

Solving the housing crisis requires exposing and changing policies, practices, systems, and structures that currently worsen long-standing racial disparities and harm us all.

The Housing and Land Justice Initiative at Race Forward brings our systemic approach toward racial justice to the housing and land development sector. We envision a housing system in which racial hierarchies have been eliminated, housing is a public good and a human right, and therefore, everyone, regardless of their race, has affordable and dignified housing.

This vision is grounded in our deep understanding of our country’s long history of racist exclusion, expropriation and exploitation through policy, practice, and its racialized housing system. It centers on the lived experiences of Black, Indigenous, Latin(o/a/x/e), Asian, Pacific Islander and all people of color and our ability to possess the resources, power, and self-determination to ensure our neighbors and communities thrive.

We believe a new societal relationship to housing and land is needed in which “neighboring” is a tangible expression of love for the people in our communities and guarantees them a basic standard of living. We must all play a role in restoring our neighborhoods and making them safe, inclusive, climate-resilient, and healthy through truth-telling, relationship-building, trust, and solidarity. As an abundant nation, we have everything we need to realize housing justice for all in our lifetime.

We believe an accountable and democratic government is a steward of the public good and housing is one of our most essential public goods. Historical and present-day housing public policies and governance are at the root of today’s increasingly corporatized housing market, concentrated poverty, residential segregation, land speculation, disinvestment, and displacement of communities of color. So, government must play a major role in advancing community-identified root solutions that lead to transformation and de-commodification of our housing system.