Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have long faced discrimination in the United States. While this discrimination didn’t start with the COVID-19 pandemic, the hateful and xenophobic rhetoric that has circulated over the past two years certainly hasn’t helped. One area that we have seen an increase in discrimination against the AAPI community is in housing. The encouraging news is that The Fair Housing Act makes this type of discrimination illegal, and fair housing advocates are available in every state to help victims of discrimination. This Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, let’s honor the AAPI community by working to support expanded fair housing protections.
Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, studies showed that housing discrimination against the AAPI community was happening in the U.S., and that AAPIs were often treated less favorably than white people when searching for housing. However, with the start of the pandemic came an influx of anti-Asian hate, acts of violence, and discrimination. 82 percent of Asian Americans agree that, as a group, Asian Americans have faced discrimination as a result of the coronavirus pandemic in this country. There’s data to back that belief up, too. Between 2019 and 2020, the FBI documented a 77 percent increase in hate crimes against Asian people living in the U.S. Another report found that hate crimes against Asian Americans in major U.S. cities surged by nearly 150 percent in 2020 — even as the number of overall hate crimes fell. These statistics are a sobering reminder that protecting and expanding civil rights is crucial for the AAPI community.
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits housing discrimination on the basis of seven protected classes: race, color, national origin, religion, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), familial status, and disability. The State of Ohio also offers protections from discrimination based on ancestry and military status, and local fair housing ordinances may offer additional protections. No matter where you live in the United States, the law protects you from housing discrimination.
Recently, intentional efforts have been taken to further protect the AAPI community from violence and discrimination. In 2021, The Biden Administration announced new actions to respond to the increase in acts of anti-Asian violence, and to advance safety, inclusion, and belonging for all Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. These actions included:
- Reinstating and reinvigorating the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, with initial focus on anti-Asian bias and violence,
- Funding for AAPI survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault,
- Establishing a COVID-19 Equity Task Force committee on addressing and ending xenophobia against Asian Americans,
- Establishment of a Department of Justice cross-agency initiative to address anti-Asian violence,
- Launching a new virtual bookshelf of federally-funded projects that explore and celebrate Asian Americans’ contributions to the United States, and
- Funding critical research to prevent and address bias and xenophobia against Asian American communities.
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month is an important time to recommit to honoring and standing in solidarity with the AAPI community. The Fair Housing Center remains committed year-round to advancing fairness, equity, and inclusion for all. If you believe you have faced housing discrimination because of your race, national origin, or another protected class, contact your local fair housing agency right away. No matter who you are or where you’re from, all people should have the right to fair housing.