Sept 28, 2024
Everyone agrees it’s a problem, but no one’s doing anything about it: Article 34 of the California Constitution is widely viewed today as a stain on the state’s history, and for good reason — the ballot measure was championed by the real estate industry in 1950 as a tool to “combat socialism” at the height of McCarthyism and approved by voters fearful of racial integration.
Article 34 banned the use of public funds to construct “low-rent housing” without the consent of city voters in an attempt to stop people of color and poor people from moving into white neighborhoods. Media outlets have reported that no other state constitution in the country requires the same voter approval for public housing.