The Color Of The Hand Holding The Money

Now here's something I am totally not surprised to see. While I am sure this is the case in other cities as well, this is the Chicago where I grew up and am not sure it will ever change.

This practice sometimes even came at the expense of the bottom line. "Against her own economic interest, one real estate agent told a potential African-American home buyer that he should rent rather than buy, although his financial profile was stronger than his white counterpart's" the alliance report said. "He was shown no units; the white home seeker working with the same agent saw 21 units.''

The investigation reveals that it's not the color of the money, Smith said to me during a telephone interview -- "it's the color of the hand holding the money."

This has been an open secret in this city for generations. Forty years ago, the Chicago Freedom Movement, led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., decided to focus on housing discrimination. One hundred white Chicago real estate offices were tested to see if they discriminated against blacks. They all did. This led to staged protests outside the discriminating real estate offices around the city. Before it was over, King took a rock to the head thrown by an angry white man who didn't want to see blacks buy, rent or participate in a protest march in lily-white Marquette Park. The Chicago Freedom Movement's efforts helped lead to the passing of the Fair Housing Act 38 years ago.

Since then, things have changed, but not much. In the old days, agents would just come out and say "Blacks live here. Who will your kids date?"

Coded words have replaced such crudities, but the sentiments remain the same. Agents now warn that "the neighborhood hasn't quite turned around yet," or speak of crime or schools. Even when a black owns property in an integrated neighborhood, it's best that family pictures and ethnic art are removed from the walls for the sake of a sale. Real estate appraisers have been known to lower the value of a home in an integrated neighborhood when they see that it's owned by an African American.

While President Bush touts increased African-American home ownership as a national goal, he hasn't put his muscle where his mouth is. Fair housing laws aren't strictly enforced, allowing agents like those at Coldwell Banker, one of Chicago's leading real estate firms, allegedly to skirt them.

As expected, Doug Ayers, Coldwell Banker's Chicago president, insists his company adheres to the fair housing laws. He has even been quoted as saying he believes defying them is bad business.

That's particularly true for black Chicago. Economic competition doesn't happen when racial steering is at play. Homeowners on the South Side need to have the entire market competing for their homes if they expect to get comparable prices for their property. And as long as real estate agents push North Side residences as the property of choice, that finite quantity will benefit unfairly from the law of supply and demand.

And when African-American home buyers are prevented from even getting in on that deal, it makes me wonder if whoever said "money isn't everything" was taking racism into account.

Granted it was more than a couple decades ago, but this reminds me of an encounter I had on the phone when I was a receptionist at a company on Chicago's Northwest side. Actually it was a Northwest suburb that bordered on the Northwest side (I actually thought it was still Chicago but found it was its own city). A caller, looking for employment information, asked where we were located and I gave her the address. She went on to ask "is that area integrated?" Stupid me, I'm thinking she was probably asking if it was incorporated (maybe as confused as I had been about whether it was a neighborhood in Chicago or its own entity) so I asked "what do you mean?" She kinda quivers and replies "I mean ... are there any blacks there?" I guess I "talk white" so she didn't know that at least one black was there so I say "well, I'm here!" She gasps then she goes "You're black?" "Why yes!" I replied. She told me "okay, thank you" and hung up. I guess she didn't want a job that bad.