Restrictive covenants and African-American housing discrimination in Chicago

African-American Housing: Chicago Study

Chicago Housing Study

African-American Housing Disparities

Historical Chicago Housing Facts

Covenants

The Gautreaux Case

Recent Studies and Their Findings

Chicago Housing Study

African-American Housing Disparities

The objective of this work is to examine the status and condition of African-Americans as compared to whites in the area of housing specifically in the city of Chicago, Illinois both historically and presently relating to access to and cost of affordable housing with statistical information included relating to the proportion and number of both groups that occupy public and privately own housing, the median/average monthly payment for housing. Finally this work will review how these facts relate to the overall lives of African-American living in the United States.

Historical Chicago Housing Facts

The work of Wendy Plotkin (1997) entitled "Deeds of Mistrust Shelley v. Kraemer (1948) and Restrictive Covenants in Chicago, 1927-1950" states that "Racial restrictive covenants were first used in the U.S. In the 1890s and adopted in Chicago in 1927. As a new instrument of discrimination aimed primarily at African-Americans, they gained the early attention of African-American and other authors inside and outside of academia, for the purpose of documenting their existence, evaluating their effectiveness, and in some instances advocating their elimination." (Plotkin, 1997)

Plotkin relates that" The Housing of Negroes In Washington, D.C.: A Study in Human Ecology" was conducted in 1929. In one section of this study "The Covenant" by William Henry Jones notes that "In Washington, the 'covenant' seems to be the most widely employed method for keeping Negroes out of 'exclusively white' residential district." (Plotkin, 1997)

Covenants

Covenants were important in the agenda of the Civil Rights Organization during the depression.In a study of Chicago's black neighborhoods by Horace Cayton, a sociologist and anthropologist in the work entitled "Black Metropolis" states that the two primary barriers to progress by African-Americans was:

1) The job ceiling; and 2) The black ghetto.

Cayton holds that the job ceiling subordinates but does not segregate blacks. Restrictive covenants "confine Negroes to the Black Belt, and they limit the Black Belt to the most rundown areas of the city." Horace Cayton (1940) is cited as claiming that 80% of Chicago's land area was at that time covered by covenants, although African-American sociologist of the day contested that figure. Stated in the work of Plotkin (1997) is:

In the years from 1917 through 1921, during the unstable war and post-War years, there were fifty eight bombings associated with black movement into white areas in Chicago, with two fatalities and several injuries Other forms of harassment included actions by neighborhood associations, who organized boycotts against realtors who sold or rented to African-Americans. These associations also offered to buy properties from African-Americans in their midst, and aimed antagonistic verbal and written expressions at the African-American community, in meetings, newspapers, threatening letters, and flyers spread throughout the neighborhood. Neighborhood associations were formed and flourished to achieve a variety of purposes from the late 19th century on. Some existing associations in Chicago adopted racial restriction as a goal after an African-American threat was perceived; others were created specifically to address this threat." (Plotkin, (1997)

In the "The Standard Form, Chicago Restrictive Covenant, 1927) written by Nathan William MacChesney, it is stated that the restriction, covenants and agreement that are stated to go along with the land or as stated: "This legal instrument solely targeted African-Americans, whom it defined as any persons having "1/8 part or more negro blood" OR "having any appreciable admixture of Negro blood," OR who "is what is commonly known as a colored person." It prohibited the signers from renting, selling, or conveying for occupancy property to African-Americans, excepting only janitors, chauffeurs and house servants who lived with their employers." (Plotkin, 1997)

Senior housing is 35% African-American (Ranney & White, 2000)

In the work entitled "The Perpetuation of Residential Racial Segregation in America: Historical Discrimination, Modern Forms of Exclusion, and Inclusionary Remedies" Seitles (1996) states that one outcome of the segregation practices of HUD is the "...notable isolation of minority communities..." (Seitles, 1996) It was reported by the 1991 Census Bureau that 57% of American families could not afford a home that was in the mid-range of pricing in the area they resided in. 75% of that stated number are African-Americans and Hispanics.

According to Seitles (1996) 30% of African-Americans live in neighborhoods that are 90% of more black with the other 70% of African-Americans living in predominately black neighborhoods." (Paraphrased) Poverty concentration in urban ghetto neighborhoods can be directly accredited to residential racial segregation as well as the problems which have "become exacerbated by the isolating effect of residential segregation." (Seitles, 1996)

Disadvantages exist in education, employment, run-down housing, crime, social disorder, dependency on welfare, and unwed parenthood, and this is only a partial list. Furthermore costs are imposed on all residents in the region by poverty in the ghetto with the problems of "gang life, drug abuse, teenage pregnancy and school dropout leaving "minority families with a sense of powerlessness" (Seitles, 1996)

Low-income black families live in conditions with little to no security, infestation of rodents, lead-paint poisoning quite frequently, stairwells that are crumbling apart, ceilings that leak water, deficiencies in terms of structural conditions of housing and lack heat and hot water." (Seitles, 1996)

Seitles claims that integration has been a success in the fight against racial prejudice and states that: "Social consequences of racial isolation intertwine with grim economic realities for minorities. Due to the lack of interaction between racial groups, African-Americans are unprepared to work and socialize in a white majority society, while conversely, whites are not relating to, working with, or living with blacks. Prospects for African-American children raised in such communities are greatly diminished because of the lack of interaction between blacks and whites. Moreover, minority possibilities for advancement consequently decline from the lower quality of education afforded to them in ghetto schools, precluding them from competing for high-income employment. Although these inequalities are not always directly caused by intentional discrimination, residential racial segregation perpetuates these inequalities. Thus, minorities who live in racially homogeneous communities are faced with disadvantages beyond the present economic and social inequalities associated with minority neighborhoods." (Seitles, 1996)

Recent Studies and Their Findings

In a study reported in 2001 by Target Market New Service confirmed that African-Americans have experienced accelerated health problems, specifically in terms of Asthma suffers in Chicago where the death rate for African-Americans in Chicago is more than double the national rates and Cook County, Illinois has one of the highest asthma mortality rates...which are accredited to "the wide variety of pollutants that cause and/or aggravate asthma come from numerous sources such as industrial waste, auto emission, building material, or energy production."

Howard University Study, 1988(Further stated is: "For generations African-Americans in Chicago like many others in the United States did not have equal access to newer suburban homes because of legal and extra legal racial discrimination in housing. Restrictive covenants, riots, bombings and redlining kept African-Americans out of newer housing in Chicago from 1915 to the early 1970s. This historical pattern of unequal access to newer homes is at the root of the current lead poisoning dilemma in Chicago's African-American communities. According to the article Lead Poisoning: Still a Common Problem in Chicago written by Northwestern University physician and professor, Helen J. Binns 59% of the homes in the city of Chicago were built before 1950. This is an important fact since lead-based paint is found in 88% of private homes built before 1940. This percent increases to 92% for homes built between 1940 and 1959 and then decreases to 76% for homes built between 1960 and 1979." (Howard University Case Study, 1988) As integration of racial divisions occur in neighborhood simultaneous opportunities are presented to minorities to attain better educations, to live in healthier environments and realize many other previously unattainable advantages. Seitles (1996) finds that: "Inclusionary housing increases chances for minorities to gain and sustain employment, in that employment is nearer to housing, decreasing travel time and transportation problems. Without such inclusionary policies, many suburban communities would continue to offer little opportunity for their low-income employees to find affordable housing. Inclusionary techniques not only provide housing for employees close to where jobs are located, but also save employees valuable time and energy, thereby reducing absenteeism and travel costs. Other benefits that have been cited include improved air quality, less traffic congestion, an increased labor market, and shorter commutes. The significant advantages of integration for minorities from economically deprived areas are meaningful, and attest to the importance of demanding fair and pragmatic inclusionary policies." The area of Chicago referred to as Garfield Park with East Garfield Park being one neighborhood and West Garfield Park being another neighborhood. r generations African-Americans in Chicago like many others in the United States did not have equal access to newer suburban homes because of legal and extra legal racial discrimination in housing. Restrictive covenants, riots, bombings and redlining kept African-Americans out of newer housing in Chicago from 1915 to the early 1970s. This historical pattern of unequal access to newer homes is at the root of the current lead poisoning dilemma in Chicago's African-American communities. According to the article Lead Poisoning: Still a Common Problem in Chicago written by Northwestern University physician and professor, Helen J. Binns 59% of the homes in the city of Chicago were built before 1950. This is an important fact since lead-based paint is found in 88% of private homes built before 1940. This percent increases to 92% for homes built between 1940 and 1959 and then decreases to 76% for homes built between 1960 and 1979." Seitles, 1996)

The area referred to by Garfield Park'd by the Historical Society of Chicago is described as "a port of entry for immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. African-Americans comprised 1/6 of the population. By 1940 15% of Garfield Park's residents were African-Americans. By the decade of the 1960s more than two-thirds of Garfield Parks residents were black and in the year 2000 African-Americans totaled 95% of residents in Garfield Park. More than half of Garfield Parks residents lived below the poverty line in 2000 with 1/3 of resident unemployed." (Harris-Lacewell, et al. 2003)

The following two tables labeled Figure 1.0 and Figure 1.1 relate the demographics in East and West Garfield Park for the years between 1960 and 2000. Stated is: "The population decline, rising black concentration, and increasing poverty levels are clear. While there is a slight improvement in poverty levels for East Garfield Park in 2000, it is still true that more than a third of families in this community lived below the poverty line. Median family income may appear to rise over the four decades, but when adjusted for inflation the median family income in this neighborhood has actually declined since 1960. Total available housing units have also declined precipitously over these years."

Figure 1.0 Vital Statistics for East Garfield Park

East Garfield Park

Population

Percent Black

Poverty Level

Total Housing Units

Median Family Income

Source: Harris-Lacewell, et al. 2003

Figure 1.1 Vital Statistics for West Garfield Park

West Garfield Park

Population

Percent Black

Poverty Level

Total Housing Units

Median Family Income

Source: Harris-Lacewell, et al. 2003

Summary & Conclusion

It is clear that the reforms in the form of legislative and regulatory acts by the City of Chicago were failures in terms of providing equal access to housing for those of the African-American race. Furthermore it is clear from studies reviewed that progress is miserably lacking and clearly nonexistent in changing the nature of housing for the poor African-American families in the neighborhoods and ghetto areas of Chicago. Implications of this study include the existing need of further study and applicable passing of laws to correct the public housing disaster in Chicago.