To the editor: Since June 2020, I have begun to question every long-standing practice that our society thinks is the way it should continue. One topic that is front and center in my mission is the housing changes initiated by the Arlington County government.
Single-family zoning has historical roots in redlining and segregation. Zoning laws are a “quieter” way of perpetuating inequality. There were “louder” ways by covenants written into deeds of homes that expressly said that homes could not be sold to non-white or non-Christian people. This “loud” voice was able to be easily quieted because of the outwardly discriminatory wording. What continues to persist is the “quiet” discrimination.
I so appreciate the Arlington government trying to think of ways to expand housing diversity. If we don’t allow more diversity in our northern neighborhoods, then it continues to get pushed to the south of the county or in certain corridors. This is not equitable, and it perpetuates historically unequal practices.
One of the biggest ways this creates inequities is by hindering generational wealth. By not providing opportunities for more home/condo/townhome ownership, we are perpetuating inequality. We all should have the focus of helping others to start building their own generational wealth and help rethink our historical wrongs, and allow more housing especially in areas that are fighting so hard to keep these changes “quieted.”
We are not the only community that is beginning to reckon with this topic and wrestle with dismantling historic practices. I’m excited to know that we have the opportunity to change our community for the future. I hope to see more written information about this, so that more Arlington neighborhoods can work to dismantle this inequality.
To learn more, please consider these podcasts, books and interviews.
Consider listening to the July 19, 2022, Ezra Klein podcast from the New York Times about why housing is so expensive; the City Cast DC Sept. 1, 2022, podcast on housing policy in the D.C. area; the Daily by NYT Oct. 11, 2022, podcast on the rise of single-family homes; The Weeds podcast of Jan. 31, 2023, about housing policy; and The Grey Area podcast on Jan. 19, 2023, about roots of houselessness.
For a comprehensive history of redlining, please read “The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America” by Richard Rothstein. You can also listen to his Fresh Air interview from May 3, 2017, or watch his C-SPAN book interview from May 11, 2017.
I urge all of us who have benefited from these past policies to take the time to learn from the past to help better serve our future.
Cris Thomas, Arlington
