Federal Subsidized Housing - Essay Example

1 Federal Subsidized Housing The initial goal of public housing was to provide decent housing for poor and low- income households. Historically, there have been two types of public housing in Chicago: for families and for the elderly. The Chicago Housing Authority is a municipal not for profit corporation, which was founded in 1937, with the responsibility to oversee all public housing in the City of Chicago. The CHA is governed by commissioners who are appointed by the mayor. The first Executive Director of the CHA was Elizabeth Wood. Who served for 17 years. During the Wood years the CHA became immersed in perpetuating an obvious pattern of institutional racism: The federal Housing Act of 1937 in conjunction with the Chicago Public Works Administration were successful in completing four low-rise (two to four story building prior to World War II. Three of these projects were opened in 1938: Jane Adams House, on the near west side, comprising of 32 buildings which housed 1,027 families; Julia C, Lanthrop Homes on the north side housed 925 families and Trumbull Park Homes on the far south side for 426 families. These three complexes were built primarily for whites (although 2.5 per cent or 60 units were set aside for African Americans). In 1940 The CHA embarked on a pattern which would later be challenged as a social, moral and legal travesty. In 1941 the CHA completed construction of its first public housing project exclusive for African Americans and situated it in the heart of an African American (Ghetto) neighborhood. The Ida B. Wells House was considerably larger than the CHA's previous projects, and it accommodated 1,662 families. The exclusivity and neighborhood placement of these projects in Chicago began to perpetuate 2 a myth which permeated every (white) neighborhood in Chicago. Not only did the CHA promote its promulgation on the local level, the federal government under the "Neighborhood Composition Rule", gave tacit approval for the furtherance of institutional racism, when it stipulated: that the tenants of a housing development be of the same race as the people in the area in which it was situated. (Hilliard1966) Many northerners took a special type of "white" pride in decrying the antics and overt racism of their southern brothers, while declaring that they (northern whites) were all liberals, who believed in the absolute provisions of the Declaration of Independence, The Bill of Rights and the Constitution, which provides human and civil rights for all men, regardless of their race or skin color. In his pre World War II study of the race situation in America, Gunnar Myrdal presented his findings on the heightened hypocrisy which existed in the souls and minds of most white Americans in general and in this instance of Chicagoans in particular; Another form of discrimination in the North against Negroes is in the market for Houses and apartments; whites try to keep Negroes out of white neighborhoods by Restrictive covenants. The legality of these covenants is open to dispute, but in so Far as the local courts uphold them, the discrimination is in the legal principle, not In the individual cases brought to court. (Myrdal 527) This study by Myrdal is required reading (at least passages and excerpts) in every constitutional law class in the country and has been reprinted several times. In this 1964 edition he goes on to present the scope of this shortsighted dilemma. When the court's opposition to segregation laws passed by public bodies became Manifest, and there was more migration of Negroes to cities, organized activities 3 on the part of interested whites became more widespread. The restrictive covenant an agreement by property owners in a neighborhood not to sell or rent their property to colored people for a definite period-has been popular, especially in the north. The exact extent of the use of the restrictive covenants has not been ascertained. (Myrdal 528) In a study conducted by Richard Sterner and Associates in 1943, entitled Iron Ring In Housing, The Negro Share, they conclude that "In Chicago, it has been estimated that 80 per cent of the city (was) covered by such agreements"(Sterner And Associates, 1943) On whether the authorities knew of this practice, and whether any one cares, Myrdal said: "This technique has come up several times for court review, but, because of the technicalities, the Supreme Court has as yet avoided the principle issue of the general legal status of the covenants". In footnote Myrdal writes: [Some have mistakenly thought that the Supreme Court's decision in the recent (1940) case of Hansberry v. Lee, made restrictive covenants illegal. Actually nothing was decided except that Negroes could move into the West Woodlawn area of Chicago. The case was so decided because 95 per cent of the white property owners of that area had not signed the restrictive covenant, which-by its own terms-called for 95 per cent of the signatures. (Myrdal 1214)] Of course, there were numerous other factors which contributed to low-income African Americans being relegated to living in high density, high crime urban areas, but the most debilitating was the absence of choice, which presented itself in the form of the restrictive racial covenants. Most reasonable and well-meaning and forward thinking men of the time had definitive feelings about this form of institutional racism, and Robert C. 4 Weaver was in 1945 the Director of Community services for the Council on Race Relations.He used his position and his credibility to speak about the injustices which besieged his fellow African Americans and offered these comments and suggestions to what appeared to be a benign white audience. He would persistently beseech them to transform their positive nods into direct positive action, towards a people who had endured enough indignities at the hands of intransigent white neglect. Wagner wrote a very enlightening piece titled Hemmed In: The ABC's of Race Restrictive Housing Covenants, in 1946. Robert Weaver believe that nothing short of an all out assault would be needed to shame the practitioners into abandoning their mythological fears would be necessary before mind sets would adjust to the idea that the African American also aspired to experience the American Dream. It is only that it has been more difficult for the average African American to fall asleep; because his mind is burdened with whether or not his menial job (where his dignity is constantly challenged) will it still be available tomorrow, enabling him to pay the rent on his low-income overcrowded dwelling, which is in need or repair, especially the door and the windows. He can not sleep because he must keep on eye on alert, because of the possibility that his dwelling might be breached by one of the notoriously bad elements from the neighborhood. He can not actualize the American dream because he does not have the choice of a safe, decent and sanitary dwelling in which to even entertain the thought of a dream. Weaver expressed his thoughts on the far reaching affects of the racism thusly: There would be little use to discuss residential segregation and its principle instrument, race restrictive covenants, if all we could say about them is that, like sin, they are bad. Nor does it do much good to explain to a man who is fearful of 5 what might happen to his neighborhood if Negroes enter it that the possible result is due to social and economic and not racial factors. He fears a result and in the present situation, that result will probably follow. He has seen what has happened too other areas taken over by the colored tenants; he is easily convinced that the entrance of any colored families will bring in many, many more and that the neighborhood will deteriorate. Even if he is a low-income person, living in a congested slum, he has imaginary vested interest in maintaining his neighborhood for white occupancy. What is needed therefore, is such planning as will reduce the possibility of the result he envisions. Such planning is possible. It will require an attack on race restrictive covenants, the development of certain neighborhood controls, and the creation of more housing and more space available to monitories. In order to accomplish these highly important objectives, there must be action on several fronts involving the courts, the legislatures, the media of publicity, and direct economic action. (Weaver) It is clear that Robert Weaver had a very clear understanding of all of the elements and the characters involved in the problem. Almost two decades later, his beseeching paid dividends when President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him as the first African American to hold a cabinet post in the capacity of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. It was unfortunate that President Johnson did not seek a second term and Secretary Weaver only served two years in his post. However, he did leave his footprint at HUD, which will be highlighted later in this piece. Between 1954 and 1967, the Chicago Housing Authority constructed more than 10,300 public housing units. Only 63 of them were built outside of poor, racially 6 segregated neighborhoods. It was obvious that the CHA, with the acquiescence of HUD, had become an active contributor in the further perpetuation of institutionalized racism. Chicago public housing residents were the first to gain meaningful headway in the quest to revolutionize the thought process of policy makers on how low-income housing and their occupants should be approached and accommodated. In 1966, Dorothy Gautreaux, community organizer and activist, along with Chicago Housing Authority residents - All African Americans - contended that it was unconstitutional that they were not being provided with choice on the location of their residences. They challenged the legality of existing policy which restricted them to live in high-poverty neighborhoods. Gautreaux and the plaintiffs asserted that the "take it or leave it" posture of the Chicago Housing Authority and HUD violated the US Constitution (which guarantees all citizens equal protection of the laws), and since the CHA (albeit an autonomous entity) received federal funds for the construction of the 10,000 units, CHA was in violation of the federal statue which discourages discrimination on the part of any recipient of federal funds, and they further named HUD as a co-conspirator in the complicity for allowing the CHA to proceed as they did in the first instance. Three years after Dorothy Gautreaux and other plaintiffs filed the lawsuit a federal judge agreed with them. He issued a judgment prohibiting the CHA from constructing any new public housing in areas of the city that were predominately African American, unless CHA also constructed similar housing in other areas of the city which did not have a predominance of low-income residents. Additionally, the judges order restricted CHA from constructing high-rise public housing for families and made it clear that the CHA 7 was not to construct "dense concentrations" of public housing in any Chicago neighborhood. Two years subsequent to the federal judges decision restricting rigid neighborhood selection and density restrictions, the U.S. Court of appeals ruled on the second part of the Gautreaux suit, citing HUD for its complicity, and the court accepted the plaintiffs argument that HUD should be compelled to correct the wrongs of past discrimination practices in the Chicago area public housing stock. Moreover, that HUD should remedy the segregated pattern it had tolerated even beyond the city limits of Chicago. Needless to say, HUD challenged the view of the plantiffs and when the case before the U.S. Supreme Court, it ruled unanimously that HUD would work throughout the Metropolitan Chicago area to right the wrongs of past discrimination.(Gautreaux) There is much to be said about the effectiveness of grass-roots organizing and active participation at this level. The lawsuit initiated by Dorothy Gautreaux and her fellow residents of low-income housing was instrumental in dismantling the covert racial practices which had permeated most of Chicago's white neighborhoods. As previously mentioned by Gunnar Myrdal, when he spoke on the importance of the court applying reasonableness to an examination of the covenants, he said. If the courts should follow up its action of declaring all local laws to segregate Negroes unconstitutional by declaring illegal also the private restrictive covenants, segregation in the north would be nearly doomed, and segregation in the south would be set back slightly. (Myrdal624). On a similar note, Robert Weaver was aware of what needed to be done, but irrespective of his tenure as secretary of HUD, he was not able to effectuate the change, as did members of the grass roots. In all fairness to Secretary Weaver, one must bear in mind that it is the reasonableness (of the time) which may 8 influence the way the court will and does rule. This ruling of the court made it feasible for the founding of the Gautreaux assisted Housing Program. The program comprised much of the Wagner reasoning in its purpose and implementation: If, instead of restrictions on account of race, creed, and color, there were agreements binding property owners not to sell or lease except to single families, barring excessive roomers, and otherwise dealing with they types of occupancy, properties would be better protected during both white and Negro occupancy. This would protect the integrity of the neighborhood and afford an opportunity for the member of the minority group who has the means and the urge to live in a desirable neighborhood. It would also prevent, or at least lessen, the exodus of all whites upon the entrance of a few Negroes-and this is what depresses property values. But it would do more; it would become an important factor in removing racial covenants and other restrictive devices in improved and vacant areas. Such action would permit areas to open up to minority group occupancy more normally. It would provide more space and housing units for colored people. This, in turn, would lessen pressure upon other neighborhoods (ill adapted from the economic point of view), permit selective infiltration of minorities into such areas, and reinforce the type of protection mentioned above. (Weaver 1945) It is apparent to me that Secretary Weaver at least left his notes at HUD after his tenure. The Section 8 program which was prepared by HUD and initially implemented in Chicago by the Gautreaux Assisted Housing Program participants embodied much of 9 Wagner's' postulates. The section 8 rent certificates which they used to pay for private rental apartments in neighborhood in which no more than 30 per cent of the residents were African American. And the participants received assistance from the leadership council for metropolitian open communities in finding housing in diverse city neighborhoods or in the suburbs. Between 1976 and 1998, the Gautreaux Assisted Housing Program helped more than 25,000 voluntary participants move to more than 100 communities throughout the metropolitan area, roughly half to integrated suburbs and half to integrated neighborhoods in the city. Upon completion of its court ordered "righting of past wrongs", by providing desecrated housing to 7,100 families, HUD no longer assumed sponsorship of the Gautreaux program, so in 1984 the program came to an end. However, the Gautreaux model of proving assistance to those CHA residents who are desirous of participating in the Section 8 voluntary program has been adopted by the CHA and the newly functional Leadership Council. Another successful program which was borne out of the Guatreaux activism is the HUD scattered site program. Public housing has been built on a small scale, and dispersed in different communities throughout the city. These houses are usually of the same type currently present in the neighborhoods where they are found. It was not easy to get the scattered site program in Chicago up and running. After the Supreme Court restricted the CHA from doing business as usual, it has not been actively involved in construction. The CHA pouted and massaged its ego for more than fifteen years and the court finally stepped in and appointed The Habitat Company as receiver in 1987. Since becoming receiver the Habitat company has either rehabilitated or constructed more than 10 2000 scattered site homes in over 57 Chicago communities. Unfortunately the company has not been able to keep up with demand, as the CHA waiting list has accumulated more than 40,000 applications for scattered site housing. There is no doubt that scattered site housing is now the new fair-headed boy on the block. These units are attractive for a number of reasons; it removes the tenant from an environment of negativity, and places them in a stable neighborhood setting, and once residing in the unit, the public housing stigma is no longer prevalent. Absent also are a myriad of negative social, economic, and educational barriers. The Institute of Policy Research has conducted an extensive study on the effects of low-income blacks of moving from segregated housing projects to middle class white suburbs. All of these findings were done on Chicago participants from the Gautreaux section 8 and scattered site locations. Researchers have found that when low-income black program participants moved from the inner city to private subsidized housing in the suburbs, their children's attitudes toward school improved and their grades did not drop, despite some racial discrimination and harassment. They found that the black adults got more and better jobs in the suburbs, and in the latest phase of their work, that more children go to college or are employed than among the groups that remained in the city. (Rosenbaum) A brief look at some of the actual finding which were recorded over an extended period are as follows: The impact of the Suburban move on educational outcomes presents a complex picture. Mothers reported that schools were safer, class size smaller, standards 11 much higher, and dropout levels much lower. For youth past the age of 17, 47 per cent of the suburban sample was enrolled in college and 27 per cent in four year colleges vs. 21 percent in college and 4 per cent in four-year institutions for the city movers. A seven year follow-up study found that city and suburban children continued to receive similar grades, despite the higher suburban standards they had to meet. (Rosenbaum and Rubinowitz) From an administrative stand point, it has presented an acceptable alternative when the masses are decrying the construction of high rise buildings, particularly in their specific neighborhood. The issue of affordable housing location presents an oxymoron for many communities, as was recently pointed out in a Northside News article." Many communities encourage job creation but paradoxically, they seem to shun the creation of multi-unit rental housing. Without affordable housing nearby, area businesses will find it difficult to recruit local workers. (Northside) Chicago has a total population of 2,896,016 persons. 1, 215,315 are white and comprise 41.9 percent of the total. African Americans number 1,065,009 persons and comprise 36.77 percent of the total population. There are 526,171 or 49.5 per cent of the total households are white, and 363,480 or 34.2 per cent are African American. These households and individuals share the 1,061,928 or 92.1 per cent of the occupied housing units within the city of Chicago. More than 597,063 or 56.2 per cent of the units are renter occupied units. Of these renter occupied units 50,296 units are public housing, including Section8 and scattered sites. These 50,296 units are occupied by 139,155 low- income and elderly persons. Of these persons 67 per cent or 93,397 are recipients of 12 Section 8, while 25 percent or 38,343 are residing in family housing and 5 per cent or 6,975 are situated in senior housing. Slightly more than 5 per cent of the city's total population are the beneficiaries of public housing. In spite of this, the demand for housing, specifically affordable public housing is still very high. By modest estimates, the city of Chicago is in need of at least another 50,000 affordable housing units. This need has sparked the Mayor and City Council to resort to quasi- extreme measures in an attempt to cope up. The North side News reports that; "the Chicago City Council approved the city's new zoning code that includes the density bonuses for developments which include units of affordable housing."(Northside) One would suspect that the developers who avail of this new code will provide the 25% set aside in their developments and these set aside units will be absorbed by senior citizens. The Main thrust for the passage of the density bonus for development is to smooth the way for the Plan for transformation. It is a $1.6 Billion dollar blue print that includes the demolition of 14,000 public housing units and the displacement of 20,000 people. Not unlike the urban rewal master plans of past decades, The Plan For Transformation has linked motives. It is pushing poor people out of the new coveted inner city neighborhoods and increasing the exchange value of existing public land through privatization. There are undoubtly big changes happening with public housing in Chicago, including organizational restructuring within CHA and the tearing down of all high-rise public housing buildings. The current state of the CHA is that many people are questioning whether the CHA has a positive motive for implementing its current urban renewal displacement and dispersal program or whether money and a total disregard for the low-income persons 13 who currently need housing and those who will need housing, along with those the CHA will render homeless in the process of implementing its new Plan of Transformation. The manner in which the program is being handled equates to a continuing Katrina for those low-income families and elderly persons who are affected. It seems that the CHA has reverted to its pre 1970 style and there is no regard for the people it is established to serve, without whom they would have no existence. In a paper by Deirdre Pfeiffer the CHA she notes that the CHA is less than 300 units away from satisfying its 14,000 unit demolition goal. But they give no consideration to the collateral damage and hardship, which they have brought upon the tens of thousands of poor African American women and their children who have been unceremoniously ushered out of their units. Pfiffer presents some strong numbers which go against the judges' order in the Guartreauxs' decision: Only 24 percent of the new units to be constructed will be in mixed-income communities. A recent Hope VI report estimates that only 11.4 percent of public housing residents will be eligible to relocate into these developments. Although some residents will be allowed to return to new, mixed-income communities or rehab buildings, there will be a net loss of 13, 629 units. More than half way into the Plan for Transformation, only 1200 family units have been built, and the source of funding to create more units is rapidly disappearing from the federal budget. Even though there are 60,000 households on the waiting list for Section 8 vouchers in Chicago, the CHA seeks to relocate 6,000 residents through this program many voucher recipients are unable to find apartments in the private market. Of those who find housing, more than 90 per cent wind up in low-income minority 14 communities instead of moving into mixed-income communities. CHA and HUD decisions have the effect of being a policy of resegregation. (Pfeffer) It appears that the Chicago Housing Authority and HUD have little regard for the many advances made through the scattered site housing program in mixed-income neighborhoods. An explaination by CHA on what its scope for its Transformation plan indicates that they have after more than 30 years of observing a program progress successfully, they are still missing the point. This is what they say their plan for mixed - income residences will be: In replacing the high-rises, the Chicago Housing Authority is rebuilding on the same land. We are creating new mixed-income communities with contemporary townhouses and low-rise buildings, where public housing residents will live in the neighborhood with people who purchase market rate and affordable housing.(CHA) Works Cited Business and Professional People For the Public Interest, Public Housing Transformation Gautreaux. On line-bpichicago.org Chaos In the News, CHA Transformation Plan. On line-deadchaos.afraid.org Chicago Housing Authority,Transformation Plan, Home Page Hilliard, Richard Center 1966 on line-newhorizons.org/strategies Myrdal, Gunnar, An American Dilemma vol 2, The Negro Social Structure, New York, Mcgraw Hill, 1964 NorthSide News, December 29, 2004 - January 4, 2005. Pfeffer, Deirdre, Displacement Through Discourse: Implementing and Contesting Public Housing Redevelopment in Cabrini Green Rosenbaum, Richard and Rubinowitz, Geography of Opportunity for Public Housing, Institute of Policy Research, Summer 2000, vol,21 number 1 Rosenbaum James, Research on the Gautreaux Program,Institute of Public Policy Weaver, Robert C., Hemmed In: The Abc's of Race Restrictive Codes Read More