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Gregory D. Squires

Professor Emeritus of Sociology and of Public Policy and Public Administration, George Washington University

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About Gregory

Squires' research focuses on racial inequality; uneven metropolitan development; and community organizing; Overarching themes in Squires' writings include equitable development; advocacy; and the right to the city. Squires serves on the Advisory Board of the Poverty & Race Research Action Council; the Fair Housing Task Force of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; and the Board of Directors of Shelterforce.

Contributions

How Environmental Toxins Reduce Life Expectancy in Many American Neighborhoods

  • John I. Gilderbloom

In the News

Opinion: "There Is a Bias Controlling Colleges and Universities, but It’s Not What You Think," Gregory D. Squires, Social Policy, Spring 2024.
Opinion: "America’s Ambivalent Approach to Fair Housing," Gregory D. Squires, Social Policy, Winter 2023.
Opinion: "Supreme Court’s Pursuit of ‘Colorblindness’ Will Perpetuate Racial Inequality," Gregory D. Squires, The Baltimore Sun, July 11, 2023.
Opinion: "How To Attack Racial Bias in Home Appraisals," Gregory D. Squires (with Ira Goldstein), New York Daily News, August 30, 2022.
Opinion: "Home Appraisals Are Biased. Here’s How To Tackle This Problem in Philly.," Gregory D. Squires (with Cherelle L. Parker and Ira Goldstein), The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 3, 2022.
Opinion: "The Urgent Public Health Need to Extend Eviction Moratoria and Mortgage Forbearance Programs," Gregory D. Squires (with Ira Goldstein), Poverty and Race Research Action Council, September-October 2020.
Opinion: "How Many More Children Must Be Hurt by Pollution?," Gregory D. Squires (with John I. Gilderbloom and Isaiah Kingsberry), Center for Primary Care Harvard Medical School, March 3, 2021.
Opinion: "Home Appraisals Drive America’s Racial Wealth Gap — 95% of Philly’s Appraisers Are White," Gregory D. Squires (with Cherelle L. Parker and Ira Goldstein), WHYY PBS, February 25, 2021.
Opinion: "BankThink Data Needed on Racial Makeup of Banks’ Workforces," Gregory D. Squires, American Banker, February 1, 2021.
Opinion: "Pollution Is a Form of Racial Injustice Crippling Western Louisville," Gregory D. Squires (with John I. Gilderbloom, LaGlenda Reed, Dwan Turner, and Michael Brazley), Courier Journal, January 28, 2021.
Opinion: "BankThink HUD’s Disparate Impact Rule Is a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ Card," Gregory D. Squires, American Banker, October 2, 2020.
Opinion: "Affordable Housing, HUD and Local Zoning," Gregory D. Squires (with Chuck Fowke, Priscilla Almodovar, and Marlene Zarfes), The Wall Street Journal, August 24, 2020.
Opinion: "Just How Many Cops Are ‘Bad Apples’?," Gregory D. Squires, The Crime Report, August 11, 2020.
Opinion: "BankThink Trump’s Attempt To Weaken Fair Housing Rules Is Beyond Tone Deaf," Gregory D. Squires, American Banker, July 20, 2020.
Opinion: "Pollution in Black Neighborhoods Part of Louisville’s Systemic Racism," Gregory D. Squires (with John I. Gilderbloom, Robert P. Friedland, and Dwan Turner), Courier Journal, June 25, 2020.
Quoted by Heather Graf in "Petition Calls on Cities to Refuse Tax Breaks for Amazon HQ2," WJLA, February 1, 2018.
Opinion: "Watchdog or Lapdog: The Future of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is in Doubt," Gregory D. Squires, The Hill, December 5, 2017.
Opinion: "Harvey is Not a Natural Disaster ," Gregory D. Squires, The American Prospect , September 6, 2017.
Opinion: "The ‘Startling’ Link between Low Interest Rates and Low Crime," Gregory D. Squires (with James Austin), Crime Report, December 2016.
Opinion: "The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Past, Present, And Future," Gregory D. Squires, Huffington Post, February 2017.
Opinion: "Phil Ochs, Voice of a Generation," Gregory D. Squires, The Washington Post, February 2017.
Opinion: "All the Fury Over CFPB Ignores Its Modest Mission," Gregory D. Squires, Rooflines: The Shelterforce Blog, December 15, 2016.
Opinion: "All the Fury Over CFPB Ignores its Modest Mission," Gregory D. Squires, American Banker, November 2016.
Opinion: "Does Consumer Protection Have a Future?," Gregory D. Squires, The Hill, November 2016.
Opinion: "Ferguson: Nobody Should be Surprised," Gregory D. Squires, St. Louis Post Dispatch, October 8, 2014.
Opinion: "Too Much Fuss about a Losing Sports Team," Gregory D. Squires, Washington Post, January 2, 2014.
Opinion: "A New Wave of Fair-Lending Activism," Gregory D. Squires (with Chester Hartman), American Banker, August 15, 2013.

Publications

"Mortgage Possessions, Spatial Inequality, and Obesity in Large US Metropolitan Areas" (with A. Jones and H. M. Mamudu). Public Health 181 (2020): 86-93.

Highlights how racial segregation contributes to the link between mortgage possessions and obesity rates. Mentions that metropolitan educational levels, not poverty levels, are predictive of foreclosure. Discusses that healthcare and mortgage counseling organizational partnerships should be considered.

"The Fight for Fair Housing: Causes, Consequences, and Future Implications of the 1968 Federal Fair Housing Act" Housing and Society 46, no. 3 (2018): 338.

Shares expertise and perspectives in public policy, politics, laws, civil rights, urban sociology, community development, race and ethnicity. Agrees that there has been significant progress in fair housing practices while noting that housing descrimination and redlining have remained.

"Is Collaborative, Community-Engaged Scholarship More Rigorous Than Traditional Scholarship? On Advocacy, Bias, and Social Science Researc" (with Mark R. Warren, Jose Calderon, Luke Aubry Kupscznk, and Celina Su). Urban Education 53, no. 4 (2018).

Argues that collaborative, community-engaged scholarship (CCES) must meet high standards of rigor if it is to be useful to support equity-oriented, social justice agendas. Discusses the importance or relationship building and trust in addressing the tensions that can arise between the demands of knowledge production and action-oriented social change.

"Perceptions of Home Insurance and Policy Directions: Comparing Mexican Americans and Non‐Hispanic White Americans" (with Mohammadali Zolfagharian, Fuad Hasan, and Golnaz B. Motie). Journal of Consumer Affairs 54, no. 2 (2020): 417-455.

Demonstrates that, despite seemingly more equitable industry practices, ethnic homeowners (Mexican Americans in this study), relative to the majority White population, have a greater tendency to view home insurance as a cost burden (as opposed to coverage against potential damages and injuries) and, hence, are more vulnerable to living with minimal or no home insurance coverage.

"Inequality, Advocacy, and the Foreclosure Crisis" Journal of Applied Social Science 8, no. 2 (2014): 85-95.
Argues that there are several ways that economic inequality has shaped the foreclosure and related financial crises of recent years; offers several recommendations for reforming banking practices and ameliorating the trajectories of inequality that contributed to these problems. Winner of the Lester F. Ward Distinguished Contribution to Applied and Clinical Sociology Award from the Association of Applied and Clinical Sociology.
From Foreclosure to Fair Lending: Advocacy, Organizing, Occupy, and the Pursuit of Equitable Credit (edited with Chester Hartman) (New Village Press, 2013).
Examines the implications of the Occupy movement for fair housing and fair lending advocacy; includes contributions by lawyers, activist scholars, and community organizers.
Warfare Welfare: The Not-So-Hidden Costs of America’s Permanent War Economy (edited with Marcus Raskin) (Potomac Books, 2012).
A collection of classic essays, court decisions, and executive orders that examines the domestic and international costs of the permanent war economy in the U.S.
"Beyond the Mobility versus Place Debate" Journal of Urban Affairs 34, no. 1 (2012): 29-33.
Identifies the potential benefits of mobility and place policies, and the shortcomings of criticisms of mobility efforts.
"Demobilization of the Individualistic Bias: Housing Market Discrimination as a Contributor to Labor Market and Economic Inequality" The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 609, no. 1 (2007): 200-214.
Examines how the dynamics of the housing market, and individualistic ideological biases in the study of inequality generally, impact labor market outcomes.
"Privileged Places: Race, Residence and the Structure of Opportunity" (with Charis Kubrin) (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2006).
Examines the impact of place on the opportunity structure facing various demographic groups focusing on housing and the criminal justice system.