In honor of Black History Month, we recognize Black advocates who championed fair housing in the United States. Our Honoring Housing Heroes series starts in California with Byron Rumford who authored the Rumford Fair Housing Act, which was passed in September 1963, five years before the federal government passed the Fair Housing Act. The Rumford Act prohibited discrimination in financing, housing, leasing, rentals, or sales on the basis of ancestry, color, national origin, race, or religion.
Rumford was a graduate of UC San Francisco School of Pharmacy and was a certified pharmacist. He also earned a BA in Political Science and MA in Public Administration, both from UC Berkeley. Rumford was elected to his first term in the California State Assembly the same year he received his political science degree. He was then instrumental in the passage of the California Fair Employment Practices Act while earning his master’s degree. The Fair Employment Act was the first of two seminal civil rights laws he spearheaded. The second law was the 1963 Rumford Fair Housing Act.
This Act was replaced by Proposition 14 in 1964. Among the supporters of Proposition 14 included the California Real Estate Association, now known as the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.). Since then, C.A.R. has formally apologized for its past actions and is actively working to address the legacy of discriminatory policies.
Although the Fair Housing Act of 1968 was passed by Congress, litigation and advocacy for enforcement continues to this day.
