April is Fair Housing Month

National Fair Housing Month celebrates the passage of the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, and familial status in the sale or rental of housing. This Act was subsequently amended and revised by legislation in 1974 and 1988 to produce what is the Fair Housing Law of the United States.

The image to the right is of President Lyndon Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act of 1968, Title VIII, also known as the Fair Housing Act. Learn more and see the full image.

Most agree discrimination in housing is much subtler today than in decades past, but it does persist. Every April, the nation celebrates the strides we've made, and the work that remains to be done.  In honor of Fair Housing Month, we, in partnership with the Office of Community Development, are highlighting a selection of books for adults, teens and children that highlight issues of fair housing and discrimination.

The Office of Community Development is sharing lists of fiction and nonfiction books that deal with issues related to fair housing. See these titles in the WCCLS catalog:

• Books for adults
• Books for teens
• Books for kids

They have also compiled a list of films that relate to the topic of fair housing. Titles that are in the WCCLS catalog are linked.

• Brick by Brick: A Civil Rights Story - A 2007 film documentary directed and produced by Bill Kavanagh details the long-running Yonkers housing drama.
• A Raisin in the Sun (film)
• A Raisin in the Sun (TV movie)
• Ghosts of Mississippi
• Lost (Season 5, Episode 13)
• To Kill a Mockingbird

Fair Housing Month 2012

For a more comprehensive list of titles relating to the issue of fair housing, visit the Fair Housing Council of Oregon's website. If you are interested in a title that is not in a WCCLS member library, you can use our interlibrary loan service to borrow it.