Forum Explores Challenges To Racial Equity In Housing

A public forum  focusing on racial equity in housing was held on April 20 on Zoom. This was the second housing forum sponsored by the Amherst Affordable Housing Coalition, the Amherst Municipal Affordable Housing Trust, the League of Women Voters of Amherst, and the Town of Amherst. More than 40 people attended. The first forum in the series was “Creating a Path to Home Ownership for Low Income Households,” held on March 30.  The Third will be “Climate Change, Sustainability and Housing,” scheduled for May 25. Recordings of all of the forums will be available on the AMAHT website , along with the resources provided during the meetings.

The meeting, moderated by co-founder of the Racial Equity Task Force, Isolda Ortega-Bustamante, began with a moment of silence for the families of George Floyd, Daunte Wright, and Adam Toledo, all killed at the hands of the police. This forum took place on the day of the verdict proclaiming Officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all counts for the death of George Floyd last May. Ortega-Bustamante also acknowledged that the forum was taking place on the ancestral lands of several indigenous tribes.

The History of Housing Discrimination in the Valley
Whitney Demetrius, Director of Fair Housing Engagement of the Massachusetts Citizen Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA), stated that the role of CHAPA is to increase access to housing for those of low or no income. She said that past policies that promoted discrimination, such as restrictive covenants, redlining, and Jim Crow laws, need to be deliberately counteracted, and that it is not good enough that they have been repealed.

The Fair Housing Act, passed on April 11, 1968, seven days after the assassination of Martin Luther King, is documented in the video, Seven Days . The act was updated in 1974 to prohibit gender discrimination and in 1987 to prevent  discrimination against families with children. But Demetrius noted that the school age population in Amherst began decreasing in the early 2000s, when landlords were using the possible presence of lead paint to avoid renting to applicants who had children.

Reparations for Amherst founders Matthew Arnold and Michele Miller stated that Amherst has always been a White enclave. “We consider ourselves progressive, but when it comes to affordable housing, we resist having it in our backyards,” they said. They pointed out that only 1.8 percent of residents of color own homes in Amherst, despite being six percent of the population.

Amherst Racial Equity Task Force co-founder Dee Shabazz stated that the legacy of discrimination impacts education, work and job opportunities, healthy food options, health disparities, and social unrest, including interaction with the police. Hazel Avenue was once home to Black middle-class residents, but no longer is. The Lincoln Avenue historic district was once called the Inward District because of the artificial border prohibiting purchase of homes by Black and brown folks. Edwin Driver, the first Black professor to be awarded tenure at UMass (1948 – 1987), had trouble finding a place to live when he was hired.

Ensuring Access to Affordable Housing
Keith Fairey, of Wayfinders, pointed to a report on the state of housing in the Valley from the Greater Springfield Housing Authority and the Donahue Institute of UMass. This ongoing study stated that this area has an overrepresentation of families spending more than a third of their income on housing, as compared to the state as a whole. With housing and rental prices increasing, this statistic will most likely rise. Between 2013 and 2018, wealth grew for Whites and Asians but was flat for Blacks and Hispanics. There will be a program presenting the findings of this study on April 28. Register here.

Jane Loechler, of Valley Community Development Corporation, and AMAHT Chair John Hornik emphasized the need for outreach to vulnerable populations, letting those eligible for affordable housing know of existing opportunities. This has become more difficult during the pandemic when much of the information is provided online. By the time a building is finished, it is often too late to reach people who might be interested. Fairey said a Wayfinders’ project recently finished in Holyoke had 1,300 applicants for 38 units. The state is nearing completion of its Housing Navigator site, which will list all available affordable housing state-wide.

Kathleen Anderson, former local chair of the NAACP, gave a presentation on tiny home communities around the country. Tiny homes are small detached houses with about the same square footage as a two-car garage that can provide a means of creating diversity in housing if they are allowed in town.

Francine Rodriguez, of Family Outreach of Amherst, and Donna Cabana, of Valley CDC, said that doing outreach during Covid has been a nightmare. Rodriguez said that most of her clients want to stay in Amherst, even if they are paying as much for rent here as they would be paying for a mortgage in a nearby town. Even for those with Section 8 housing vouchers, there are limited rental options. There is a vital need for more affordable housing in town, and it is getting worse.

Shabazz noted that when we talk about building wealth, we are talking about home ownership, which underscores the need to promote opportunities for Black and Brown families to purchase homes. Hornik said that Mass. Housing is “dipping its toe” into promoting home ownership, and the Housing Trust is keeping abreast of these developments.

Ortega-Bustamante recounted that her family faced an inordinate amount of scrutiny and required documentation when they moved to the area because her husband is from Puerto Rico. Rodriguez agreed that People of Color are “under the microscope” when applying for housing. She said they often don’t know their rights under Fair Housing law. Demetrius said that CHAPA can aid in investigating claims of housing discrimination.

Miller encouraged citizens to write to their representatives in the U.S. House and Senate in support of HR 40 and S40, bills supporting reparations.

Upcoming programs:

April 27, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. : Symposium on Reparations
 
April 28, 2 p.m. : Discussion of Greater Springfield area Housing Report

April 29, 1:30 p.m. : Fair Housing Symposium (CHAPA)
 
May 6, 7 p.m. : Hadley learns, Part 2 of Housing Discrimination and Local Policy

May 25 6:30 p. m. : Climate Change, Sustainability and Housing (link to be announced)