Scott Turner, former state legislator, NFL player and pastor from Plano, Texas, will take over as the new Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Given that the history of HUD is about everything that Donald Trump wants to change in Washington, Turner has a great challenge and opportunity.
That is, HUD is all about government.
Turner has many great ideas, and among these he's thinking about changing the name of the department.
My vote would be changing the name to HCD, Housing and Community Development.
Community Development would emphasize programs to remove government barriers to investment and growth and foster market-based solutions for fighting poverty. This effort could include programs such as opportunity zones, which were in the process of getting launched in Trump's first term, which target distressed ZIP codes for tax forgiveness to attract business investment.
Let's recall that President Lyndon Johnson signed the legislation in September 1965 establishing the Department of Housing and Urban Development as the 11th department in the federal government.
It was part of Johnson's Great Society and War on Poverty to make our society more just and fair by dramatically increasing the size and scope of government.
Regarding housing, did it work?
Edward Pinto of the American Enterprise Institute, in an essay on housing in "The State of Black Progress," published by my organization CURE, reports:
In 1970, the White homeownership rate was 66% and the Black rate was 42%, with the Black rate at 64% of the White rate. Through the second quarter of 2022, the White homeownership rate was 74% and the Black rate was 45%, with the Black rate at 61% of the White rate.
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Over these years we have seen vast expansion of government programs to allegedly help "minorities" afford housing and get mortgages to finance home purchases.
We see from Pinto's data that, overall, the impact has been effectively a net zero.
But worse than not helping, in many instances, damage was done. Government programs encouraged lenders to make loans that borrowers could not afford.
According to real estate research firm Zillow, after the real estate crash in 2007, "homes in Black and Hispanic communities were 2 and 2.5 times as likely, respectively, to experience foreclosure than homes in white communities nationwide between January 2007 and December 15."
Beyond the failure of government programs to advance home ownership in Black communities, vast damage was done through public housing and housing assistance programs, again allegedly to help minority Americans.
Howard Husock, also of the American Enterprise Institute, reports in "The State of Black Progress" the destructive history of government public housing programs.
The failure of public housing might be placed under the overall headline of what happens when government bureaucrats use their power to decide what problems exist in Black communities and then go in and "solve" them.
Husock describes, tragically, how, in the name of "slum" clearance, vibrant Black communities were destroyed -- communities with homeowners, churches and businesses -- and replaced by public housing, which are essentially government-run and -controlled ghettos.
Per Husock, "Even as African Americans comprise 13% of the US population, they are 48% of public and subsidized housing." Public housing is notoriously dysfunctional and has fostered the growth of broken, poverty- and crime-ridden communities.
I think of the title of the book by The Wall Street Journal's Jason Riley, "Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed."
Knowing our new Secretary of HUD Scott Turner, I'm sure he is aware of the often-quoted observation that insanity is doing the same thing but expecting different results.
For sure, with regard to housing and communities, it is time for something entirely new by bringing back something entirely old: the truths that lie in real community, private property and ownership, personal responsibility and family.
Star Parker is founder of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education. Her recent book, "What Is the CURE for America?" is available now. To find out more about Star Parker and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
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