Prometheus 6   

Broad policy decisions based on demographics

Housing Case to Consider Possible Bias
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BALTIMORE, Nov. 30 (AP) � It has been nearly nine years since Baltimore housing tenants filed a lawsuit accusing city and federal officials of creating a system of racially segregated rental units.

On Monday, the tenants' case goes to federal court, where they will argue that officials have consigned the neediest residents to the most distressed neighborhoods.

The tenants say the city housing authority and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development have perpetuated a bias over the last 50 years.

Experts say the lawsuit is one of the most important housing cases in 20 years. Should Judge Marvin J. Garbis of Federal District Court find that the tenants' civil rights were violated, he could specify changes in housing policy. A result could be judicial oversight of housing decisions.

The tenants say the city and HUD preserved the segregated system put in place in the 1930's and 1940's by continuing to build public housing in poor, mostly black areas.

But the city and HUD say concentrations of public housing residents in poor black neighborhoods are a result of demographics and broad policy decisions, not discrimination. [P6: Ahem. What "demographics" were used to determine the placement, hm?? Isn't it a coincidence that "demographics and broad policy decisions" would result in the exact same placement that was decided on in the 30's and 40's? Is it a stretch to say that racism is a broad policy decision based on demographics?]