Current Federal, state and local laws including the Federal Fair Housing Act prohibit housing discrimination based on race. Yet, despite these protections, two thirds of Long Island's cities, towns and villages remain less than 1% African American. Ninety percent of Long Island's African American residents live in just 20% of its communities.

Long Island's segregated housing patterns have deep structural and institutional roots. The 1934 National Housing Act, which created the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), promulgated policies that created racially homogenous neighborhoods through various devices: deeds with racially restrictive covenants, the manual of home appraisal standards for private home mortgage lending, the underwriting manual for FHA mortgage lending, and other policies. Local housing developers, the banking industry and local governments willingly embraced these devices. The real estate industry on Long Island, as elsewhere, was an active partner in perpetuating racial segregation in housing. In 1950, despite the United States Supreme Court prohibition against enforcement of restrictive covenants in deeds, William Levitt, the famous post-World War II developer who made Long Island this Nation's first suburb, continued to refuse to lease or sell his affordable homes to African Americans. Sadly, the history of Levittown epitomizes the customary housing development patterns on Long Island, which continue to be fueled by racial steering and blockbusting.