Read on Twitter
Every King Day I try to talk to people about his work to promote integration in housing. It is typically ignored when people talk about him and the civil rights movement. But, it was an important part of his activism, especially in the north.
Dr. King was in Kalamazoo when he made this statement that remains true. "For as long as there is residential segregation, there will be de facto segregation in every area of life." He fought housing segregation repeatedly in the north.
His biggest effort was in Chicago where he spent months working w/ the Chicago Freedom Movement to promote "open housing." A term we should really consider revisiting. It was eclipsed by "fair housing" after the passage of the Fair Housing Act.
It was termed Open Housing because the point was to make all neighborhoods open and available to African Americans. It was only partially about discrimination. It was also focused on organizing, creating just systems, and building multi-racial community.
There's another thread we could follow about how the Act was too focused on private actions of discrimination, but here I want to instead follow the thread of how we lost our focus on integration.
Over time, advocates and activists lost their focus on Open Housing and we settled for maintaining the status quo. Today I would say a majority of activists don't want to challenge segregation so much as they want to tweak it while maintaining it.
The focus is on the consequences of segregation rather than segregation itself. It's a trap that's easy trap to fall into. Many want to believe that equity can be achieved without having to change our fundamental structures because it's comfortable to all of us in some way.
The uncomfortability is asymmetrical. The pain points are different based on race and ethnicity. And, it's more advantageous for some than others. And, as in all things, the majority of the burden is the responsibility of whites, who created the unequal system and benefit most.
If we want cities (metros really) that are truly open - that support & foster equity, we must prioritize integration. This means we need to reduce quantifiable housing segregation, improve multiracial relations, & consider reparation incentives. It can't be less than all 3.
