Chicago Residential Segregation Likened to Apartheid

By Brian Gladstein

Today we observed the first of two hearings between representatives from the United States Government and members of the ICERD Committee. Many interesting comments were made during the 3-hour session, but none more amazing than the comment made by ICERD Committee member Dillip Lahiri from India. In his 5 minute opportunity to question the U.S. representatives, he discussed his experience of living in Chicago. He described that the residential segregation in Chicago was awful and that vigorous proactive action needs to be taken. Further, he discussed that he had a friend visiting him that said that you don’t need South African laws to achieve Apartheid.

These comments were both alarming and exciting to hear. Alarming that an international figure would express such truths about our city and yet it is exciting for the opportunity it provides for us. In response to his comments, with the help of Eric Tars from the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, we drafted a letter to Mr. Lahiri. Our hope is that he will continue to ask questions regarding Chicago’s policies of housing discrimination and police abuses. Below is the letter we drafted and are sending to Dillip Lahiri in preparation for the second hearing to be held tomorrow morning.

Dear Mr. Lahiri,

Those of us who are here from Chicago thank you for your comments and questions to the U.S. delegation earlier today. Sadly the apartheid-like situation of housing segregation you experienced when you were in Chicago continues today, and the isolation of people of color is, if anything, worse.

We would like to ensure you aware that one of the members of the U.S. delegation is the Manager of the Fair Housing Division of the Illinois Department of Human Rights, Marian Homel, and may be available for follow up questions tomorrow.

The U.S. Report cites the civil rights mechanisms of Illinois and its largest city, Chicago, as one of its case studies in Appendix 1 to its report. While it describes the many laudable aspects of the state and city human rights commissions, which enforce the negative prohibitions against racial discrimination, it fails to cite any positive measures taken to combat the defacto discrimination in housing and homelessness. Below are a few facts and figures we would like to make available to you as you prepare for tomorrow and think about drafting Concluding Observations.

· Following national trends, the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) has sought to demolish the existing stock of affordable housing in favor of mixed-income development. 19,000 units of public housing have already been demolished without replacement. The dislocation of residents of Chicago public housing is an issue of racial justice given that approximately 84% of residents are African-American and 5.4% Latino.[1].[2] The CHA plan for affordable housing falls well short of the estimated need for 153,000 affordable housing units for people earning less than $20,000 a year.[3] Nearly six years into the plan, evidence confirms that many families remain without housing or have been re-segregated into very poor and underserved neighborhoods.[4] Project-based Section 8 contracts in buildings housing thousands of people are set to expire in the next few years, and already many have moved into housing with lead contamination and other problems.[5]

· The national subprime mortgage crisis has hit Chicago particularly hard. In September 2006, Chicago’s foreclosure rate was more than twice the national average.[6] African-American mortgage-holders in Chicago are hardest hit with 40% receiving high cost and difficult to renegotiate loans, compared to only 10% among whites.[7]

· In Chicago’s rapidly changing housing market, the people suffering most from a lack of affordable housing are those without any housing at all By one estimate, over 90% of Chicago's 21,000 homeless persons are people of color - 80% African-American, 9% Latino, 1% Native American, and 1% Asian.[8] A17 percent increase over the previous year, 10,516 are homeless students.

Apartheid conditions are not limited to housing. Torture of black men and impunity enjoyed by those police officers who perpetrated it linger in Chicago. After torturing over 135 black men from 1972-1991, there have been no prosecutions of former police chief Jon Burge and his detectives, no reparations to the victims, and 25 of his victims who were tortured into false confessions remain in prison.

Recommendations:
The U.S. government should work with state and local officials to ensure as a matter of policy that for every unit of public housing lost (including Section 8 voucher holders), public housing residents will have an equivalently affordable replacement unit immediately available.
Congress should create a National Housing Trust Fund by passing the HEARTH Act, to create more affordable housing and homeless services.
The state of Illinois should be encouraged to pass the pending “Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission Bill.”

We would welcome any questions you may have, and invite you to visit us if you are ever in Chicago again!

With thanks,

Eric Tars, National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, etars@nlchp.org (mobile in Geneva: 079 477 97 56)
Brian Gladstein, Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, briang@jcua.org
Nancy J. Bothne, Human Rights Activist, nbothne@depaul.edu
Standish Willis, Black People Against Torture, swillis818@aol.com

[1] “Our Readership.” We the People Media. Available at http://www.wethepeoplemedia.org/Backgrounder/Readership.htm
[2] “Chicago Housing Authority: Plan for Transformation.” Chicago Housing Authority January 6, 2000. The Plan for Transformation guaranteed the Chicago Housing Authority $1.6 billion in federal funds to demolish 51 high-rise buildings over a 10-year period and to replace them with lower-density, mixed income housing. However, when completed, the plan will have a total of 25,000 units – 13,000 fewer than Chicago had when the plan was approved in 2000.
[3] “For Rent: Housing Options in the Chicago Region.” Great Cities Institute University of Illinois at Chicago 1999.

[4] “Chicago Housing Authority and Housing Advocates Settle Lawsuit over Resident Relocation,” Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, available at http://www.povertylaw.org/. Based on Wallace v. Chicago Housing Authority, No. 03 C 491 (N.D. III.) settled June 2, 2005.
[5] Antonio Olivo, John Bebow and Darnell Little, “Landlords fail to fix poor’s housing woes.” Chicago Tribune May 22, 2005.
[6] Yue, Lorene. “Chicago foreclosure rate twice national average.” Crain’s Chicago Business October 24, 2006.
[7] Hughes, Zondra. “Middle Class and Homeless – Unlikely Families Face Foreclosure.” Chicago Defender. May 21, 2007. Available at http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=1b33a9ec66b96536d3a1e0ebddda875d
[8] “Hunger and Homelessness Survey.” United States Conference of Mayors, December 2006, available at http://usmayors.org/uscm/hungersurvey/2006/report06.pdf