Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Housing Fairness
It may have been hard to follow, but students from Christ the King tried to show how there are institutional impediments (e.g., real estate practices) that make housing equality difficult, if not impossible, for minorities. An excellent response will add to an understanding of the societal dynamics that make housing equality so difficult a challenge or a proposal for how to improve the situation.
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Often times, Americans don't see structural injustices that are present in our society. The presentation given by the kids from Christ the King exposed one of the injustices of the real estate market. Although many people today don't consider themselves racist, they are still participating in prejudice activites. When minorities move into new communities, property values tend to go down. After hearing the information from the presentation, it sometimes feels like society's problems are too big for any one person to make a difference. All that matters is everyone loving and respecting one another and treating each other fairly and with equality. Without addressing these problems, people can not live fully dignified lives. The kids from Christ the King demonstrated a game that involved groups of participants purchasing real estate using monopoly money. The game illustrates the difficulties minorities have when trying to raise their standard of living.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.collegetermpapers.com/TermPapers/Political_Science/Social_Injustice.shtml
I agree with brendan because it is true that a lot of Americans do no realize they are participating in prejudice activities whether it is saying a derogatory name or stereotyping. I believe that this ignorance is also played out because I think a lot of people do not even realize this is a big problem such as buying and selling property to minorities. The game that the students came up from Christ the King was a good way of displaying one of the many ways minorities in the U.S. are discriminated against. It is not easy when you are the minority to get by as easily sometimes like the majority, caucasians, in everyday things they may take for granted such as job interviews or applying for schools. Without this problem being addressed, people will never be able to live in full dignity. I think one way to fix the problem of housing equality is do not racial profile any potential buyer and it should be a law. Also there should be no literal boundary or division between upper class, middle class, and lower class housing.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.usccb.org/saac/bishopspastoral.shtml
This letter from the bishop's pastoral letter on racism states that all Americans should make strides towards eliminating prejudice against other races. Racism is considered a sin and is reexplained why in thus article. "God's word proclaims the oneness of the human family -- from the first words of Genesis, to the "Come, Lord Jesus" of the Book of Revelation. God's word in Genesis announces that all men and women are created in God's image; not just some races and racial types, but all bear the imprint of the Creator and are enlivened by the breath of His one Spirit. " (U.S. Catholic Bishops Pastoral Letter on Racism, 1979)
I believe that most Americans are aware racial profiling, but do not want to bring attention to it. I really respect the students from Christ the King for addressing a problem that I believe many people do not want to address due to the fact it is a sensitive subject. It is very diffucult for a certain group of people to live in certain communities due to the amount of similiar backgrounds that can cause tension. Many housing communities not just in the real world, but even on the college campus housing can discrimante those of race or major. For example, at certain campuses, certain frat and soritory houses only accept students of certain majors. I agree with Brendan saying that racial profiling for housing should be outlawed. It is damaging our society socially and economically as homeless rates increase due to the rich buying out buildings and raising rent to build more modern housing to make a profit.
ReplyDeleteIn this New York times article, they are showing that Advanced Placement and some colleges are trying to rid application advanatages. This shows that addressed problems, change can occur.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/21/opinion/21labrecque.html
I agree with Brendan, Nikki and Nate. I think that in today’s society, people are not really concerned about the type of prejudices that occur, especially when it comes to housing. There is a lot of racial profiling that occurs around us, but as Nate said, we don’t want to address it. I think that from playing the game, it made it obvious that there is some injustice when it comes to housing in certain neighborhoods. It just shows how hard it is for minorities to get housing fairly. I think that this everyone has human rights and human dignity. Everyone has the right to live where they want, and that should not be denied because of their race. I think it is good that the kids from Christ the King are bringing this problem to our attention because I don’t think that many teenagers are aware of what is happening in our own cities. This is an article about how there is still definite racism when it comes to housing in America. http://www.pri.org/business/economic-security/racism-in-home-lending2640.html
ReplyDeleteI think that the representatives from Christ the King deserve a lot of praise for their involvement in justice issues, such as Chicago housing. Clearly, there are numerous problems within the housing system as well as in other institutions in society's cities. Usually, the problems are so complex and constantly building in size that pure solutions are hard to come by.
ReplyDeleteThe first step in solving a problem such as unfair housing in a large city like Chicago would be to address the problem and to inform as many residents or potentially helpful groups of people as possible. With this step, the students from Christ the King succeeded. Although the game was a little disorganized, the main message was shared. They touched upon the issues of racism, inequality within minority groups, the mercurial housing values, and the economically segregated structures and locations of living. Tackling these problems is by no means an easy task.
In addition to persistent racism (and like Nate said earlier, most Americans probably do know that racism still influences opportunities for certain groups in a negative way) and the already existent standards of housing, the government plays a role. Government spending in Illinois especially needs to be altered. For instance, say that some tax dollars go toward new building complexes that might create better housing opportunities for Chicagoans. A project like this would also create jobs. Additionally, one major problem in certain housing areas in the city is gang activity and violence. Perhaps, the government might consider gun control laws that may make certain areas less dangerous for living.
Some of the state government's money needs to be redirected. Funds for educational reform are sometimes ineffective because some students in the city do not have a satisfactory place to live, so shouldn't affordable housing be considered first? Ultimately, the government does need to balance its budget in an effective way with the priority of affordable housing, for one's condition of life is the base for the rest of it.
This link has a variety of statistics about incomes and housing in Chicago.
http://www.city-data.com/city/Chicago-Illinois.html
Although the monopoly game was hard to follow, the kids from Christ the King had some really good points. The real estate agent was trying to sell people houses in different neighborhoods, and he kept trying to convince them to buy a house where their race was most populated. I personally feel that this is a big issue, and i agree with Brendan when he says, "Americans sometimes don't see structural injustices in our society". I feel that when people are looking for a house, they tend to look at neighborhoods with their ethnic backround. One good thing about this is that it is done by choice, years back, people didn't have much of a choice. There were consequences for moving into a neighborhood, that wasn't your race, you could possibly be killed. There are many stories from books and movies that support this.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Brendan in that I think many people are completely unaware of the injustice and discrimination that goes on around them. A lot of people live in their own little bubble, ignorant of what is going on beyond the area they live in. The housing and real estate institutions are corrupt and discriminate against minority groups. They encourage segregation and prevent certain people from living where they want. Although it is unfortunate, it is a reality that many neighborhoods--especially in the city-- are extremely segregated. For example, this past summer, I worked at a daycare center for bilingual children in the innercity. The GREAT majority of the people living there were Hispanic. In order to break this cycle, I think race should not be included on housing applications. Additionally, real estate agencies should be required to have representatives of a variety of races and ethnicities in order to help prevent special treatment of certain races. I agree with Carrie in that another thing that negatively impacts housing and property values is gang violence. I als othey should implement more gun control laws. Lastly, I think it is important to spread the word about this injustice and help to inform as many people possible of what truly happens--which is what the Christ the King is doing. In order to stop this injustice, people must act and stop sitting around doing nothing, thinking that they will never make a difference.
ReplyDeletehttp://igpa.uillinois.edu/cas/media/pubs/Forman_Krysan_2008.pdf
i agree with nate when he said that most Americans are aware of racial profiling and do no want to bring attention to it. Americans have a tendency to be ignorant to societal injustices until it directly affects them. i also agree with nina that the housing and real estate institutions are corrupt. it is not fair to accept or reject someone's interest in buying a house because of the race of the community and the race of the people. it puts a great deal of unneccessary stress on the individual. for example, when i was playing the game during the presentation, my group and i wanted to buy a house in a certain neighborhood. the people who were acting as the individuals who are in charge of the real estate business, were putting an enormous amount of pressure on us. they questioned the type of people we were and looked at our "race" compared to the race of the majority in the neighborhood. luckily for us, we were blue, jsut like the majority. But then we were questioned again, when green tried to move into the same neighborhood, the real estator tried to buy our hosue from us for half of what we paid, because of the racial tensions between groups. this put an enormous amount of pressure on both teams, because the result of green moving in would be property vaulue decrease and racial tension, and green was facing not having the home.
ReplyDeletewhile playing it began to bother me that we were all being questioned. i was not used to it, but it was a good experience to feel how a minority would feel in that predicament. even though it was just a game this time, the fact that one group had an upper hand over another based on race was difficult to deal with. especially because this time, i was not the one with the upper hand. i think for any group to have an upper hand is unjust. for example, nate mentioned the special scholarships for minorities for colleges, and i agree with him on this as well. i do not think it is fair.
http://araceagainsttime.blogspot.com/2010/03/white-men-turn-against-obama-and.html
this is an article that talks about how during the recession 46% of all jobs lost were by white men, because companies want to keep the minorities. some of the comment on this article talk about minorities having a upper hand in the office. i believe this maybe true when it comes down to getting a job back that was lost, because the article states, "But even after employment begins to pick up again, laid off white men shouldn't expect to get their old jobs back".
a good way of preventing anyone getting an upper hand is to take the question of race off of any type of paper work or applications, unless it is medically related. this will avoid people getting the upper hand right away and preconceived notions will not be determined based off of race. also, maybe a law that companies cannot give white or minorities the upper hand over each other, especially in the work place
I think it was great what the students from Christ the King were doing by raising awareness of the injustices that go on in the housing market. They brought up a difficult issue that most Americans like to sweep under the rug or turn a blind eye to because of how prevalent and unjust it is. This type of racial segregation and minority discrimination happens all too often and we just don't want to acknowledge it (like Nate said earlier). Also, it's such a large issue that few take on the challenge of combating it, which is what these guys from Christ the King were doing by getting the information out there to us, though I thought it could've been an even stronger presentation if they skipped the monopoly-like game and simply told us upfront the issues of race and the housing market. In the presentation, the students showed what a gauntlet it can be to buy a home as a minority in the neighborhood of one's choosing (i.e. reds not being able to buy houses in platinum coast due to a heavy blue population). Brittany's point about taking the question of race off of applications and paperwork was a good way of stopping this sort of thing from happening.
ReplyDeleteI will say that although I believe everyone should have the right to live wherever they want, it is true that most people of the same race like to live with each other. This is obviously seen in the city of Chicago in Greektown, Chinatown, Little Italy, and the heavily Irish south side.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-03-02/news/ct-met-census-suburban-minorities-20110302_1_asian-populations-suburbs-minorities/2
This article talks about how lately in Chicago, the trend has been that more minorities have been moving to the suburbs, which shows that change is occurring. People like the students that spoke with us are much to thank for such progress.
It is no secret that Chicago is one of the most segregated cities in the United States, and the game made by the students of Christ the King helped illustrate that fact. Due to how the housing system is set up, it would seem as if it is practically rigged so that minorities don’t have free choice as to where they can live. In the game, the FHA, neighborhood watch, and realtor all worked together to keep a group in a certain neighborhood depending on what color they were. The realtor talked about a certain neighborhood in either a more positive or negative light in order for a certain color to be pleased with their choice. The neighborhood watch told the realtor and the FHA how certain colors interacted whether it was true or not. The FHA either denied or accepted loans based solely on if they thought a certain color would be considered a liability. All the groups were denied any human dignity by being treated as means to an end. The FHA and realtor only cared about the money they would be getting from the groups, not if they had any family in a particular neighborhood or if a different neighborhood would be better for them. One of the first steps to improve the situation is by being aware of the inequality. However, awareness alone is not enough, because, like Nate said, many people are aware of racial profiling but do not want to address the problem. By bringing attention to this issue, people can then attempt to get past racial profiling and realize that their neighbor may not be the same as what their stereotype says they are. The game that the students from Christ the King made is good to help increase the awareness of inequality in housing, and this picture (http://chicagoist.com/attachments/seanstillmaker/chicago%20segregation.jpg) also helps show exactly how segregated Chicago is.
ReplyDeleteHousing may be unfair in regard to how real estate agents present properties and their locations to minority buyers, whether this is by lowering or raising the price, or simply suggesting someone not to live in a certain area. This was presented rather poorly by the students of Christ the King. However, they overlooked how individuals themselves can create housing inequalities when it comes to renting their houses. An idea of this inequality can be seen in this PSA: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84k2iM30vbY). The reason this injustice came to mind was because unfortunately, I have had some experience with this kind of discrimination. I live in a primarily white, polish neighborhood and my neighbor was renting out her basement. She put out an ad in the paper, and soon enough she was receiving calls. I remember her complaining about how some people of minority kept calling and I remember how angry that made me. I didn’t understand why she would deny the opportunity of living in her house to people who are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves and who deserve to have a home. I later learned that this was because of racial profiling. Overall, this is completely unnecessary, and people need to be given an equal opportunity. After all, previous speakers mentioned that change first needs to happen in the individual. It may not start instantaneously in the greater real estate community, but it can start by someone willing to rent their house to someone of minority.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was great to have these students come in and show us what is going on in our world outside from Loyola or our neighborhoods. This is a very big issue and i have seen it happen. A lot of neighborhoods in the city have their "cliques" many have only a certain type of culture or ethnicity living there and when one tries to buy or sell a house it is often what many real estate agents look out for. Often minorities are not given the upperhand even if they are economically stable and can well provide for their family to live in a suburb but because of the preconception that they wouldnt be able to afford it or they would bring something bad to the neighborhood. I do not agree with any of this being hispanic and having my parents experience this first hand. They need to figure out a system to treat everyone equally.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.chicago-renters-rights.com/fair-housing.htm
I agree with the students from Christ the King's opinion about unfair housing. Although their presentation wasn’t completely clear, the point there were tring to get across was understandable. I had never considered the issue that there is discrimination between races when it comes to where you live. In this presentation I had the opportunity to realize how much this issue really challenges the fifth principle of Catholic Social Teachings. The fifth principle says that all people all people are equal before God and that no race should be chosen over another. In this presentation they opened my eyes to the current issue of discrimination when it comes to housing.
ReplyDeletehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7071612.stm