PI: James Elliott, Jeannie Haubert Institution: Tulane University
Recent research shows that on average, Latinos are discriminated against in one in four attempts to acquire rental housing in U.S. cities as compared to one in five attempts for African Americans, yet relatively little research in this area has focused on Latinos. While discrimination against African Americans continues to be an important topic worthy of scholarly investigation, it is important that researchers also give due attention to the fastest growing and largest minority group in the U.S. In this area, those studies of Latinos that do exist are limited in important ways. They do not include any cities in the Southeast, the region of the country with the fastest growing Latino population; they do not include cities in which Latino in-migration is a relatively new phenomenon; they do not address the issue of linguistic profiling and the possibility for phone-based housing discrimination; and they do not include any analyses of the targets' perspectives or lived experiences. This research addresses these important gaps with an in-depth analysis of the Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula housing market, the area of Mississippi most intensely affected by hurricane Katrina. Three questions drive this research. First, do local market and neighborhood characteristics make discrimination more likely in some areas? Second, are some Latinos more vulnerable to housing discrimination and are some types of housing agents more likely to discriminate? Third, how do Latinos interpret their experiences in the housing market? This study is based on two data sources: one, phone audits intended to test local rental agents' compliance with Fair Housing laws in 2004 and 2006; and two, in-depth interviews with Latinos living on the Gulf Coast after hurricane Katrina. In contrast to the variable-oriented approach of the audits, the interviews will provide insight into the lived experiences and perspectives of Latinos in the area giving voice to an often-underrepresented group, Latino migrants. Broader Impacts: Improved understanding of which social forces systematically affect the likelihood of discrimination and how Latinos interpret their experiences in the housing market can both inform local and federal policy and help improve enforcement and education efforts by governmental and non-profit organizations concerned with Fair Housing legislation. More generally, this analysis will provide important insights into how Latino migrants are incorporated into a new destination, power dynamics between minority and majority group members, and whether group relations change in a U.S. housing market after a disaster.
