LIVING JUST ENOUGH FOR THE CITY

HOUSING INEQUITIES ABOUND FOR NATIVE & BLACK FAMILIES IN ALBUQUERQUE

Last October, the City of Albuquerque released an 86-page report on “Housing and Entrepreneurship” which addressed the housing gap for Native and Black Burqueños. An “affordable housing gap” means the demand for affordable housing exceeds the availability. The report was part of Living Cities’ Closing the Gap initiative where city leaders commit to building an anti-racist society through transformative government policies. Civic representatives from six participating cities—Albuquerque, Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Austin, Memphis, and Rochester—underwent “deep racial equity competency training.”

The report’s assessments intended to “increase awareness of the role [Albuquerque] has historically played in determining the position of Black and Native communities.” It also identified broad actions the City can take to remedy unconscionable existing housing circumstances.

But while government websites keep touting the anniversary of President Johnson’s crucial 1968 Fair Housing Act, clearly something got lost in the mix these last 55 years. The report, for example, offered “breaking down barriers to creating housing, and strengthening relationships between housing agencies, developers, and communities of color.” But clearly, the Powers That Be instead have repressed BIPOC buyers’ opportunities and suppressed the legislation that would’ve advocated for BIPOC home buyers and renters (see page 7’s “Roundhouse Roundup Revisited”).

If the City Council can’t pass a simple bill reducing prohibitive rental application fees and the Roundhouse is packed with landlords posing as legislators, then no report—however detailed with recommendations—will move the needle in favor of Native and Black families trying to rent or own homes that reflect their culture.