SouthTalks: “‘Pigs in the Parlor’: The Legacy of Racial Zoning and Its Impact on Land Use Policies in the South”

“‘Pigs in the Parlor’: The Legacy of Racial Zoning and Its Impact on Land Use Policies in the South” by Jade A. Craig

Racial zoning was the preferred method of establishing residential segregation in the South in the early twentieth century until the US Supreme Court formally struck it down in 1917. In this SouthTalk, Jade A. Craig argues that racial zoning should be understood not merely as a historical moment in land-use policy but as an enduring logic and metaphor. The logic of racial zoning exemplifies anti-Black land-use policies that confine African Americans to specific areas, perpetuating the degradation of these spaces. Craig’s talk will focus on the impact of zoning and discriminatory land-use policies within and around small, low-income, rural communities, specifically in the southeastern United States. It will also address the role of fair-housing laws in challenging these policies, including both its potential and its limitations.

Jade A. Craig is an assistant professor in the University of Mississippi School of Law. He teaches political and civil rights, constitutional law, real estate law, and fair housing law. In 2014, the Obama Administration appointed Craig as a special policy advisor to the assistant secretary in the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

SouthTalks is a series of events, including lectures, performances, film screenings and panel discussions, exploring the interdisciplinary nature of Southern Studies, sponsored by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture. All events are free and open to the public.