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In the years that
followed World War II, many Americans decided to leave heavily populated
urban areas and move to the flourishing new suburban areas. In most of
these areas, the minority population was minimal at best.
Western New York was no
different. According to data from the 1960 census, of the 79,245
African-Americans living in Erie County, 73,388 lived within the city
limits of Buffalo. And of the 162 census tracts within Erie County, only
17 had an African-American population of greater than 1%, meaning that
89.5% of all Erie County census tracts were virtually all white. So while
some Americans enjoyed the fruits of economic prosperity, those of color
were often left out.
This segregation was no
accident. In response to the discriminatory practices that led to these
housing patterns, the Council of Churches brought together a group of
clergy and laity to strategize about how to fight racism and enable
African-American families to move outside of the inner city. In 1962, this
group got an official name--the Niagara Frontier Council for Freedom of
Choice in Housing.
A year later, the group
changed its name to Housing Opportunities Made Equal, and moved its
headquarters to the Buffalo Friends’ Meeting House. The effort put forth
by the HOME volunteers was a grassroots, one-on-one effort aimed at
helping those who wanted to move out of “the ghetto.”
Families who sought
help from HOME were given a contact person who acted as a liaison between
the family and the organization. That person would provide the family with
information about housing, would go with the family when they went to
visit a home, and would contact friendly people in the new neighborhood
once housing was secured. This was important because it insured that a
family moving into a new neighborhood would receive a warm welcome from
their new neighbors and dissuade any that might not welcome them with open
arms from acting on their displeasure.
HOME also took a very
public stance in an effort to get the state government to enforce its own
laws. In September 1963, the Metcalf-Baker amendment was added to the Law
Against Discrimination, which was part of New York State Executive Law.
This new amendment outlawed discrimination in the sale and rental of
property on the basis of race, creed, color or national origin. Despite
the change in the law, many instances of discrimination still occurred,
because the New York State Commission for Human Rights, the state agency
responsible for enforcing the law, was not prompt in their enforcement
actions.
In 1965, HOME’s Board
of Directors wrote a well-publicized letter to then Governor Nelson
Rockefeller, which stated “It is our opinion that your administration has
failed or refused to enforce the New York State laws against
discrimination in housing… In the past two months at least seven different
complaints against realtors in Erie County have been filed with the State
Commission for Human Rights…In our judgment this situation exists because
of the failure of your administration to punish those who break the
law...” After that letter, the Attorney General took a more active role
in enforcement of the law, and many realtors faced the reality that there
would be serious consequences for their discriminatory actions.
Another way HOME was
able to fight discrimination was to show that there was strong support for
fair housing among the residents of the area. In 1968, HOME organized a
successful demonstration of fair housing support called Project Good
Neighbor. Its goal was to obtain as many signatures as possible of Buffalo
residents who pledged their support for fair housing.
A similar project, SIGN
(Signatures for Interest in Good Neighbors) was attempted in the Buffalo
suburbs with successful results. In June 1968, over 19,000 names and
addresses of fair housing supporters were published in the Buffalo
Evening News and the Courier Express. Alongside the names and
addresses was a picture of a young boy, staring up from the newspaper page
and asking the question “is your name here Dad?”
By its ten-year
anniversary, HOME’s membership had grown to 1155 and it had helped to
eliminate the most blatant forms of housing discrimination in many
neighborhoods and in the real estate business. Indeed the foundation of
this HOME was strong. |
