The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has begun an investigation into the City of Boston’s housing policies to determine whether it discriminated against low-income white residents.
The New York Times reports Craig Trainor HUD’s assistant secretary for fair housing and equal opportunity, sent a letter to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu stating the city favored nonwhites in its housing strategy and advocated for banks and real estate developers to work with those communities instead of all low-income households.
“As you are aware, the Trump administration is dedicated to protecting the civil rights of all Americans,” said Trainor in his letter. “At your office’s direction, however, city officials have set out to smuggle ‘racial equity into every layer of operations in city government.’” The latter quote cited by Trainor came from the city’s website on racial justice initiatives.
Trainor added that his office is studying whether Boston ran afoul of federal fair housing laws, noting HUD could use the results of its investigation to file charges against the city. This is the Trump administration’s first investigation of alleged racial discrimination in a city’s housing practices under the Civil Rights Act.
Wu’s office did not immediately respond to Trainor’s letter
