Housing discrimination and segregation are prohibited not only by U.S. civil rights laws – they are also barred by the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD),^[318] a legally binding treaty signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson and ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1994.

Like the Fair Housing Act, the CERD treaty goes beyond the prohibition of intentional discrimination; it requires the member states to "review governmental, national and local policies, and to amend, rescind or nullify any laws and regulations which," regardless of intent, "have the effect of creating or perpetuating racial discrimination wherever it exists."^[319] CERD also requires member states to "particularly condemn racial segregation" and "undertake to prevent, prohibit and eradicate all practices of this nature in territories under their jurisdiction."^[320]

In 1995, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination issued a detailed interpretation of CERD explaining that the duty to eradicate segregation includes not only the obligation to cease active discrimination, but also the obligation to take affirmative steps to eliminate the lingering effects of past discrimination.^[321] It recognized that, although conditions of complete or partial racial segregation may in some countries have been created by governmental policies, a condition of partial segregation may also arise as an intended or unintended consequence of the actions of private parties.

This past spring in Geneva, a United Nations Committee conducted extensive factfinding and a two-day hearing to consider the U.S.’s compliance with its obligations under the CERD treaty. Numerous U.S. "Nongovernmental Organizations" (including the sponsors of this Commission) were active in monitoring the proceedings and submitting written testimony.^[322] The CERD Committee issued the following conclusions regarding United States housing policy:

The Committee is deeply concerned that racial, ethnic and national minorities, especially Latino and African American persons, are disproportionately concentrated in poor residential areas characterized by sub-standard housing conditions, limited employment opportunities, inadequate access to health care facilities, under-resourced schools and high exposure to crime and violence. (Article 3)

The Committee urges the State party to intensify its efforts aimed at reducing the phenomenon of residential segregation based on racial, ethnic and national origin, as well as its negative consequences for the affected individuals and groups. In particular, the Committee recommends that the State party:

1. support the development of public housing complexes outside poor, racially segregated areas;
2. eliminate the obstacles that limit affordable housing choice and mobility for beneficiaries of Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program; and
3. ensure the effective implementation of legislation adopted at the federal and state levels to combat discrimination in housing, including the phenomenon of "steering" and other discriminatory practices carried out by private actors.^[323]

The U.S. is required to respond affirmatively to these findings, and to show progress in meeting the goals of CERD prior to the next periodic review of our compliance with the treaty.

Next Section: Appendix C1: Letter to Congressional Leaders

Footnotes

[318] International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), Dec. 21, 1965, 660 U.N.T.S. 195.

[319] Id. at art. 2 § (1)(c).

[320] Id. at art. 3.

[321] U.N. Comm. on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Aug. 18, 1995, General Recommendation 19, Racial segregation and apartheid (Forty-seventh session, 1995), ¶ 140, U.N. Doc. A/50/18, reprinted in Compilation of General Comments and General Recommendations Adopted by Human Rights Treaty Bodies, U.N. Doc. HRI\GEN\1\Rev.6 at 208 (2003), available at http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/gencomm/genrexix.htm.

[322] See, e.g., Residential Segregation and Housing Discrimination in the United States: Violations of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination: A Response to the 2007 Periodic Report of the United States of America (2008) (Chicago exhibit).

[323] U.N. Comm. on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, U.N. Doc. CERD/C/USA/CO/6 (Feb. 2008), available at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/co/CERD-C-USA-CO-6.pdf.