| Part 1:
On Discrimination
Looking over what I said 15 years ago, except for a bad joke there is not
one sentence that would not be appropriated for tonight…
(So) first, let me briefly summarize two points I made 15 years ago
because they are so essential as to what needs to be done in the future.
1) Discrimination can be reduced quickly if the law is enforced and
those who break the law are punished. But these cannot be done
half-heartedly. Because discrimination often is done in a way that cannot
be detected except by controlled audits, enforcement of the law requires
auditing followed up by legal action against those breaking the law. And
the sanctions against those who break the law, damages to the victim of
discrimination or to a fair housing group such as HOME whose mission is to
prevent discrimination, must be large enough.
2) The
perception of discrimination is as important as the reality – and when it
comes to perception a little discrimination goes a long way. The
price people of color pay for discrimination is far greater than what is
denied to them directly. Because they perceive they live in a racist
society, many are blinded to their opportunities and crippled in achieving
their potential.
That is what
makes so tragic the extent of housing discrimination which exists in the
United States today. In the year 2000, 4,600 carefully controlled audits
financed by H.U.D. found that black renters received consistently
unfavorable treatment 22% of the time and Hispanic renters encountered
discrimination 26% of the time.
For homebuyers, the
numbers were 17% for blacks and 20% for Hispanics…
While in 2000
the levels of discrimination were lower than in a similar study in 1989,
they were not a great deal lower. If we extrapolate the data, it would
take until about 2030 for discrimination levels to decrease to 10%. And
that still is too high for people of color not to consider the U. S. a
racist country. Clearly, the pace at which discrimination is decreasing is
unacceptable…
We need to
greatly increase how effectively we enforce fair housing laws. Although
racial division represents a real threat to our nation, fair housing
efforts in the United States currently receive only about $20 million a
year in government support. Military spending is 20,000 times greater.
Support for agriculture, mostly going to large businesses, is almost 500
times greater.
It also is
essential that the awards given by judges and juries in discrimination
cases be sufficient to act as a deterrent.
When illegal housing
discrimination occurs the damage is far greater than not obtaining housing
-- just as in the theft the feeling of violation often is far worse than
the actual loss of goods.
Coming next
issue: Part 2 |
