Specifically, he’s calling for more stringent enforcement of the Fair Housing Act, a law passed as part of Lyndon Johnson’s sweeping Great Society initiative, to combat poverty and inequality in the United States.
 
The law has been sporadically enforced since it’s passage nearly 50 years ago.
 
Obama says its time to change that, and his administration is moving forward with a new rule to require communities to regularly review the racial and socio-economic makeup of neighborhoods and regularly report the results.
 
The thinking behind it is that local governments will come under pressure to adopt policies to mix the compositions of neighborhoods when stark differences emerge.   
 
“In some cities, kids living just blocks apart lead incredibly different lives.  They go to different schools, play in different parks, shop in different stores, and walk down different streets,” Obama said in his weekly Saturday address.