Gentrification and Fair Housing: A Local Story

Gentrification and Fair Housing:  A Local Story

By Jo Becker, Education/Outreach Specialist, Fair Housing Council
Serving Oregon and SW Washington

In 2008, FHCO launched a tour of Portland’s hidden history of discrimination.  The 2.5-hour coach bus trip explores a multitude of the Northwest’s “equity skeletons” hiding in our communal closet, some of which pre-date the Fair Housing Act (FHA)1.  Others are recent enough you may remember hearing of in the news.

On the tour we address inequities and injustices aimed at each protected class but this article will focus mainly on the protected classes of race, color, and national origin.  Within that context a lot of different incidents and policies targeted toward a broad spectrum of ethnicities is reviewed.  Among them is the public policy of urban renewal – oft referred to as “urban removal” – that has been perpetrated against a variety of groups over many decades, most notably African Americans.  The devastating consequences – whether intentional or accidental – of urban renewal are not only a national trend but also a local story.  It is a story that continues to affect us in terms of public policies and current neighborhood demographics to this day.

I recently reread an August 09, 2011 article in The Skanner by Lisa Loving2.  The article does an excellent job of detailing the gentrification3 Portlanders experienced in the 1950s and 1960s.

The article first sets the stage by illustrating how vibrant and productive the Albina community was in the mid-50s.  Due to accepted steering and redlining practices, Albina had become an openly segregated Black community.  In fact, in 1950 more than half of Oregon’s African American population (about 11,000) lived in two census tracts in Albina. They were concentrated into a single square mile east of the river in an area that had a density six times greater than the city as a whole.  The remaining African Americans, about 2,000, were scattered in other areas around the state.

The Skanner article goes on to describe how, in three consecutive waves spanning 15-20 years, city officials developed and passed plans to bulldoze a community located in what was becoming vital land within the city center as Portland grew.  The first incident demolished over 450 homes and businesses to make way for the Memorial Coliseum in 1956.  The same year Portland secured federal funding to, as Lisa Loving says, “pave Interstates 5 and 99 right through hundreds of homes and storefronts, destroying more than 1,100 housing units in South Albina.”  Then, in ’66 Portland applied for federal funds to expand Emanuel Hospital.  This proposed project would flatten still more homes and businesses in the same area.

At this point Albina residents picketed, but to no avail.  Demolition began in the late ‘60s in order to make way for the Emanuel expansion; and was soon finished.  In a cruel twist of fate, the federal dollars counted on dried up within a few years and construction on the hospital expansion never came to pass.  If you drive the streets of Albina today, the expansive open lots that still surround the Hospital are a result of this failed development effort.  Precisely on those plots were some of the homes and businesses that were ruthlessly expelled 50 years ago.

You might wonder if this was a blighted community wrought with problems, making it a target for government-sanctioned improvements.  Here’s what Lisa Loving has to say about it in the section of her article subtitled “Cause and Effect:”

Contrary to popular belief, ghetto neighborhoods are not a chance occurrence, nor are they the natural evolution of “old housing stock” that hasn’t been properly maintained by its owners.

In her ground-breaking study, “Bleeding Albina: A History of Community Disinvestment, 1940-2000,” Portland State Urban Studies Adjunct Professor Karen J. Gibson detailed how municipal development policies, coupled with racism in the real estate and banking industries, left Portland’s Black community segregated, ghettoized and, finally, scattered.

In cities across the nation, urban power brokers, with the help of the federal government, eagerly engaged in central-city revitalization after World War II.  …“The whole transition has been racial,” Gibson told The Skanner News this week. “People paid taxes in Albina – what did they get for their taxes?  …The whole thing has to do with race, and it has to do with real estate.  White privilege means something – it means a difference in wealth and the fact that you could just come in and take over the boulevard,” Gibson said.

Neither the residents nor the business owners were given time to prepare nor were they reasonably compensated.  The housing stock was not replaced, nor much improved, and former residents were not provided assistance in relocating…  Again, quoting The Skanner article:

<When the plans for> …tearing down Albina homes and businesses for Emanuel’s expansion in 1971 <was rolled out>, many local residents did not realize the plans had been laid years before, according to “History of Portland’s African American Community.”

The Emanuel Displaced Person’s Association was founded by Mrs. Leo Warren in 1970 after locals “were abruptly confronted with the expansion plans.” The city required residents to move out within 90 days, offering homeowners a maximum $15,000 payment and renters a maximum $4,000.

A much-hyped agreement signed by the hospital, the <Portland Development Commission> and the Housing Authority of Portland mandated they would use “maximum energy and enthusiasm” in replacing the lost housing… none of which happened.”

Mrs. Warren’s response:  “Didn’t they have a long-range plan? After all, if your life’s investment was smashed to splinters by a bulldozer to make room for a hospital, you could at least feel decent and perhaps tolerable about it; but to have it all done for nothing?”

The sad thing (among a number of one sad things) about this story is that it is only one example.  The same thing was happening in communities all across the country – always disproportionately impacting “relatively powerless residents in central cities, whether in immigrant White ethnic, Black, or skid row neighborhoods,” as PSU professor, Karen Gibson put it.

Another sad reality is that these government initiatives, along side legalized discrimination, and following in the wake of Oregon’s prominent Ku Klux Klan movement (reportedly the largest Klan west of the Rockies in the 1920s) has resulted in a lack of ethnic diversity and a history of segregated neighborhoods that continues to this day.  In terms of segregated neighborhoods, think of Alberta prior to market-based gentrification; think of SE Portland and Gresham today, to name just three examples.  As for our relative lack of diversity, many are surprised to learn that despite the Northwest’s reputation for being progressive, liberal, and welcoming, it’s no accident that Oregon’s history has produced among the smallest African American populations in the entire country.  According to data from the US Census Bureau, we rank 37th with a 2% Black population when the nation as a whole averages 12%.  Washington state ranks only slightly better with 3.7%.  One might think that with our proximity to the Pacific Ocean we would have high percentages of Asians and other immigrants.  Again looking at data from the Census Bureau, the United States is made up of, on average, 22% non-Caucasians.  Oregon is 12% non-Caucasian; Washington is 18%.  In fact, Oregon ranks lower than the national average for each ethic group counted in the Census with the exception of indigenous populations native to America, Alaska, Hawaii and other Pacific islands.  All of this helps explain why we, at the Fair Housing Council, continue to see ethnicity-based housing discrimination as the second largest area of complaints we deal with.

To expand on this historical perspective, I encourage you to check out The Skanner article2 to learn more about this part of Oregon’s history.  I would also recommend reading about the discriminatory experiences of Dr. DeNorval Unthank, a noted African-American civil rights leader in Portland.  If you’re unfamiliar with the Dr. Unthank’s all too typical story the Oregon Historical Society’s site details it at http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/historical_records/dspDocument.cfm?doc_ID=b69f9218-1c23-b9d3-68aaccca8b57606b.  Another, and comprehensive, read on current inequity in neighborhoods and the housing market borne out of longstanding policies and prejudice can be found in The Oregonian’s summer 2012 series entitled “Locked Out” by Brad Schmidt (http://projects.oregonlive.com/housing).

As Winston Churchill once wrote, “The further back you look, the further forward you can see.”  Bringing history full circle to the present helps us see how our past colors our present and can influence our future.

Please consider joining us on one of our “Fasten Your Seat Belt: It’s Been A Bumpy Ride” bus tours.  Many of the individuals who have participated in our tours have shared their opinions that the tour helps provide a visual connection to Portland’s history.  Visit www.FHCO.org/tours.htm for pricing and other details.

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This article brought to you by the Fair Housing Council; a nonprofit serving the state of Oregon and SW Washington.  Learn more and / or sign up for our free, periodic newsletter at www.FHCO.org.

Qs about your rights and responsibilities under fair housing laws?

Visit www.FHCO.org or call 1-800-424-3247 Ext. 2.

Qs about this article?  Want to schedule an in-office fair housing training program or speaker for corporate or association functions?

Contact Sandy Stienecker, Education / Outreach Specialist at sstienecker@FHCO.org or 503/23-8197 Ext. 109

[1] Federally protected classes under the Fair Housing Act include:  race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status (children), and disability.  Oregon law also protects marital status, source of income, sexual orientation, and domestic violence survivors.  Washington law covers martial status, sexual orientation, and domestic violence survivors, and honorably discharged veterans / military status. Additional protected classes have been added in particular geographic areas; visit FHCO.org/mission.htm and read the section entitled “View Local Protected Classes” for more information.
2 “Portland Gentrification:  The North Williams Avenue That Was – 1956;” http://theskanner.com/article/Portland-Gentrification-The-North-Williams-Avenue-That-Was–1956-2011-08-09
3http://dictionary.reference.com defines gentrification as the buying and renovation of houses and stores in deteriorated urban neighborhoods by upper- or middle-income families or individuals, thus improving property values but often displacing low-income families and small businesses.  Lisa Loving quotes Portland State University (PSU) professor, Karen Gibson (author of “Bleeding Albina:  A History of Community Disinvestment, 1940-2000) in The Skanner article, “Luxury apartments, convention centers, sports arenas, hospitals, universities, and freeways were the land uses that reclaimed space occupied by relatively powerless residents in central cities, whether in immigrant White ethnic, Black, or skid row neighborhoods.”
Part Two: Fair Housing is as Easy as ABC! (N – Z)

Part Two: Fair Housing is as Easy as ABC! (N – Z)

Guest Post Provided By Jo Becker, Education/Outreach Specialist, Fair Housing Council of Oregon

Last month, we posted a poem provided by the Fair Housing Council of Oregon that described fair housing topics using the letters of the alphabet. The poem was broken up into two parts. Here is the second (and final) installment to the poem, Fair Housing is as Easy as ABC, Let’s Do it With Some Poetry!

Click here to read the poem: Fair Housing Poetry Part 2 (N – Z)

Part Two: Fair Housing is as Easy as ABC! (N – Z)

Fair Housing Is As Easy As ABC, Let’s Do It With Some Poetry! (Part One)

Guest Post Written By Jo Becker, Education/Outreach Specialist, Fair Housing Council of Oregon

In typical Nadeen Green-style, following is a spirited take on the legalities of fair housing law in poetic form. Ms. Green is an attorney who has spoken on fair housing topics to residential rental audiences across the country since the Fair Housing Amendments Act’s inception in 1989.

Here at the Fair Housing Council (FHCO) we make ourselves available to those who feel their fair housing rights have been violated, as well as to those with fair housing questions, including housing providers! If you have a question about your rights or responsibilities under federal, state, and local fair housing laws, please visit us at www.FHCO.org or call our free Hotline at 800/424-3247 Ext. 2.

Click here to read the poem: Fair Housing Poetry Part 1 (A – M)

Spread the Word Contest Winners Announced

Spread the Word Contest Winners Announced

Congratulations to our winners and to the three schools that will receive gift certificates for art supplies!

A $100 gift certificate from RMLS™ is currently on its way to three schools in Oregon and SW Washington. Winners of our Spread the Word Contest were able to choose the school that would receive one of three gift certificates, which is to be used to purchase art supplies for students.

The Fair Housing Council of Oregon’s annual Fair Housing Poster Contest is underway, with submissions due March 17th. RMLS™ encouraged our subscribers to submit a plan for how they were helping to spread word of this contest for children. The first two subscribers who emailed us their “Spread the Word” plan won a $100 gift certificate for art supplies to donate to the school of their choice! However, we had three great plans emailed to us within a short period of time and decided to award three winners instead of just two!

Congratulations to our winners:
Sheila Done, Century 21 Wright & Assoc.
Wendy Wampach, RE/MAX Equity Group
Joy Hurley, Coldwell Banker Professional Group

Sheila Done chose Ladd Acres Elementary School in Hillsboro as the recipient of her $100 gift certificate for art supplies. Sheila has two children (in first and fifth grade) who attend this school and was happy to help get the word out about the poster contest. Her plan consisted of emailing teachers and parents of students at the school, in addition to posting the contest flyer on the school’s front doors. Below is a picture of students from Ladd Acres Elementary who will benefit from these art supplies!

Wendy Wampach chose to donate her gift certificate to Mill Plain Elementary in Vancouver, Washington, where she is the current Art Discovery Coordinator. She also teaches art classes to students at Mill Plain Elementary. Wendy sent the Fair Housing contest flyer to the District Coordinator and to the other Art Coordinators for the Evergreen School district. With a total of 21 elementary schools in the district and more than 300 art volunteers, this plan surely helped spread awareness of the poster contest. Here is a photo of some Mill Plain Elementary students engaged in artistic activities:

 

Joy Hurley serves as a Board Member for Yamhelas Community Resource Center (YCRC). YCRC is a local 501c-3 that organizes a preschool and after-school programs for at-risk youth in the communities of Yamhill and Washington Counties. The organization collaborates not only with the school district, but also with other local non-profits to provide resources for children. To help get the word out about the Fair Housing Poster Contest, Joy’s plan included distributing copies of the flyer to the YCRC art class and the local Girl Scout Troop. She also requested that the school district place the flyer on their website. Joy is excited to have won the gift certificate for YCRC, as she says its art program is in need of funds and will find this donation very useful. Here is an example of art done by some of the students:

Again, congratulations to our winners who took time out of their schedules to help spread awareness of the Fair Housing Poster Contest. They should also be commended for submitting plans to RMLS™ in an effort to win $100 for a school in need of art funds. Let’s also congratulate those who did not win, but who are helping to spread the word anyway. This poster contest is a great way to get kids involved in a fun community project. Hopefully the Fair Housing Council will see an outstanding turnout of poster submissions to their contest!

For more information on the poster contest, visit the Fair Housing Council of Oregon’s website. Or, click here for a copy of the contest brochure!

The List

The List

Written by Jo Becker, Education and Outreach Specialist for Fair Housing Council of Oregon

It’s the stuff of urban legends. It always comes up in fair housing trainings–be it classes I attended years ago as a sales agent or in classes I conduct for the Fair Housing Council now. Everyone’s heard of it; everyone wants to know how to get his/her hands on it. Some call it the “Red Light/Green Light” list; others have dubbed it with the classy moniker of the “No-No” List. That infamous, non-existent list of words one should never utter; a list that if ardently avoided would keep one safe from fair housing complaints or violations. I’ve got news for you folks; “THE LIST” is a myth!

HUD, the federal regulatory body with the power to enforce the Fair Housing Act, does not have such a list. We at the Fair Housing Council (FHCO), the authority on fair housing across Oregon and SW Washington, have never had such a list. What most people probably recall are lists that newspapers have published for advertisers to help ensure protection against a fair housing violation that would name them as well as the sales agent placing the ad. These media lists are often more conservative than we at the FHCO are, essentially because these publications are very sensitive to being slapped with a fine or lawsuit.

Realtors® have, no doubt, experienced multiple listing service computer programming that scans newly input listings for verbiage that may violate fair housing laws. Please don’t be intimated or put off by these electronic programs; they don’t know if you typed “white picket fence” or “whites only.” When you’re asked to review your listing, simply double check it and know that a living, breathing human will follow up to review it as well.

Now, the myth of the list has spawned many urban legends, which I would like to debunk and/or explain here.

Walk-in Closet — This is a common feature in many homes and is commonly understood to refer to such. So long as you don’t go on to imply that (or limit access to) someone who isn’t ambulatory can’t use the closet or live in the home, you’re fine!

View Property — Same as above. So long as you don’t limit access to the view property to sighted individuals, there’s nothing wrong with using the word “view” to describe a property with such an amenity. That is opposed to a case in which a landlord refused to tour an available unit with a blind applicant saying, “Why should I bother; you can’t see it anyway!” That, my friends, is discriminatory and illegal.

Mother-in-law Suite — Guess what, it’s fine so long as you don’t really mean that only a mother-in-law can live in the unit.

What about “near?” — Now, we’re getting into a more complex issue. It’s not uncommon to see promotional verbiage indicating close to shopping, transit, etc. This is fine. However, you begin to cross the line with fair housing law if you say “near the ABC mosque,” or “close to the XYZ church.”  Referencing religious or cultural sites—even though they are valid landmarks—may have what we call a “chilling effect” and can be illegal. Let’s say a synagogue or Jewish community center is referenced and the housing consumer reading it isn’t of that faith or ethnic background. They may feel that they’re not welcome there and this chilling effect can have an illegally discriminatory impact whether it was intended to or not.

Another touchy issue is referencing local schools.  National sales tests have found that schools are sometimes used as a proxy for where to buy a home. That is, some agents encourage buyers to look at and buy homes in school districts whose demographics are consistent with that of the buyer. White testers were told the virtues of predominately white schools (and by association, their neighborhoods); while minority testers were directed to predominately minority schools (and their neighborhoods); the exact schools agents told white testers to avoid. Simply listing the school district and schools that serve the area is fine so long as you do this with all of your properties.  Referring housing consumers to the district’s office or website for school stats and other information from which they can develop their own opinion in is a safe strategy so long as it is applied neutrally and consistently. Touting certain schools over others is less so, and we don’t recommend it.

Of course, any good list (if we were to create one) would include the following blatantly discriminatory statements:

  • “No minorities”
  • “African Americans and Arabians tend to clash with me so that won’t work out”
  • “Ladies please rent from me”
  • “Requirements: Clean Godly Christian Male”
  • “Will allow only single occupancy”
  • “No children”

All of these illegal statements (and many more) have been posted on the online service Craigslist. Housing providers that use illegally discriminatory statements such as these—and potentially the hosting website—are liable for having violated the Fair Housing Act. As is the landlord who told one of our staff that she had advertised “Christians only” for 20 years. It doesn’t matter where you advertise—newspapers, flyers, yard signs, verbal statements you may make to another agent or prospect, and yes even advertising online (even if it’s free!)—fair housing laws apply!

For questions about your rights and responsibilities under fair housing laws, visit http://fhco.org/ or call 503-223-8197 or 1-800-424-3247 Ext. 108. To schedule an in-office fair housing training program or speaker for corporate or association functions, contact me at JBecker@FHCO.org.

This article brought to you by the Fair Housing Council or Oregon; a nonprofit serving the state of Oregon and SW Washington.  Learn more and/or sign up for our free, periodic newsletter at www.FHCO.org.

Questions about your rights and responsibilities under fair housing laws?
Visit http://fhco.org/ or call 800-424-3247 ext. 2.

Questions about this article or want to schedule an in-office fair housing training program or speaker for corporate or association functions? Contact Jo Becker at jbecker@FHCO.org or 503-453-4016.