ERASE RACISM'S NEWSLETTER ABOUT RESEARCH, TRENDS, AND OUR WORK
EMERGE

April 2014
In This Issue
2014 Benefit Honorees
Youth Roundtable
Superstorm Sandy and Fair Housing
Announcements
Donate
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Upcoming Events
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June 4, 2014
Hiring a Full-Time Long Island Organizer 


ERASE Racism is looking for a highly motivated Long Island Organizer.  

 

See our website for more details and to apply.
Quick Links
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Phone: (516)-921-4863
Fax: (516)-921-4866
President's Message
Elaine Headshot

 

April is Fair Housing Month.  On April 11, 1968, President Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which contained Title VIII, commonly known as the Fair Housing Act.  We celebrate the 46th Anniversary of the signing of this important legislation.  The 1968 Act strengthened the non-discrimination provisions in the groundbreaking Civil Rights Act of 1964.  In 2014, however, the promise of universal fair housing is still not fully realized.

 

I don't think I need to remind our readers that we are now in an era when many political leaders, including many in Congress, are actively trying to roll back, if not dismantle, civil rights provisions.  While the 1960s were far from perfect, it was a time when, under the strong leadership of President Johnson, Congress did act boldly to advance civil rights.  Given our current reality, now is the time to spotlight civil rights, including signs of progress and useful educational resources.

 

If you want an overview of the impact of housing discrimination and to understand fair housing, there are two helpful resources: insightful print journalism in the Pro Publica Series "Living Apart" by reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones and others, and an insightful video, "A Matter of Place" by Kavanagh Productions and the Fair Housing Justice Center, a film about housing discrimination.

In this issue of EMERGE, we spotlight the three civil rights organizations that will be honored at our June 4th Annual Benefit.  As we celebrate bold civil rights legislation, we also  feel it is timely to celebrate bold civil rights organizations.

 

A recent example of bold action on the part of the Department of Justice is highlighted in the Other News section concerning a housing discrimination lawsuit against the Town of Oyster Bay.  Also, read about ERASE Racism's actions to hold New York State to its obligation upon receipt of the Superstorm Sandy Relief Funds to take affirmative steps to further fair housing.  We also analyzed issues affecting equity related to the oversight and distribution of the Funds. 

 

Once again, we offered high school students an opportunity to meet a prominent leader who advances racial equity and, this year, we featured a civil rights champion from Long Island, civil rights attorney and ERASE Racism Board Member, Frederick K. Brewington, Esq.

 

ERASE Racism is hiring a new staff person!  If you are interested in joining our team, read the brief job notice, for our new Long Island Organizer.  If this sounds like the job for you, be sure to follow the application instructions contained in the full job description.  Sorry, but we are unable to accept telephone and email inquiries and  incomplete applications will not be considered.

 

Warm regards,
 
 
 

 

 

Elaine Gross

President

2014 Benefit: Abraham Krasnoff HonoreesBenefithonorees 

 

ERASE Racism will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 at its Annual Benefit Reception on June 4th at the Garden City Hotel.  In recognition of this landmark legislation, three renowned legal organizations will be honored for their outstanding advocacy in advancing civil rights and the rule of law: the Anti-Discrimination Center, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Each organization will receive the Abraham Krasnoff Courage and Commitment Award, established in June 2006 in honor of its first recipient, a founding board member and generous contributor to ERASE Racism, Abraham Krasnoff.  The award annually recognizes Abe's bold leadership, wise counsel, generosity and steadfast commitment to addressing institutional racism.

 

"ADC has made significant contributions to advancing fair housing in a short period of time," said Elaine Gross, ERASE Racism's president.  ADC has been litigating, strategizing, and advocating in support of aggressive and maximally protective civil rights enforcement since 2003.  ADC's motto is "one community, no exclusion," and it operates on the principle that crossing boundaries of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and geography is perhaps the most essential requisite for building a better society.  

 

Among its accomplishments, ADC drafted and led a broad coalition to pass New York City's 2005 Local Civil Rights Restoration Act.  On Long Island, ADC served as counsel for ERASE Racism in its successful effort to help Nassau County develop and pass a greatly strengthen, comprehensive Fair Housing Law in 2006, which took effect in 2007.  ADC is best known for its unprecedented legal strategy of using the False Claims Act to successfully sue Westchester County for having defrauded the federal government by having falsely represented that it was affirmatively furthering fair housing.  ADC's litigation yielded an historic housing desegregation consent decree.  Read more

 

 

At the request of President John F. Kennedy to enlist the private bar's leadership and resources in combating racial discrimination and the resulting inequality of opportunity, the Lawyer's Committee was formed in 1963.   From its groundbreaking work in Mississippi establishing the rights of African Americans through the courts at the height of the Civil Rights Movement to its recent, largest national election monitoring campaign during the last two presidential elections, and everything in between, the Lawyers' Committee has a stellar legacy.

 

"We are grateful that the Lawyer's Committee has been a resource to ERASE Racism and that they have also been enforcing the Fair Housing Act on Long Island", said President Elaine Gross.  It has successfully litigated three important Fair Housing Act cases.  Two are exclusionary zoning cases alleging discriminatory zoning and land use decisions by two Long Island jurisdictions:  Huntington, brought in 2002, and Garden City, in 2005.  The third case, against Smithtown, was brought in 2007 on behalf of a class of African American and Latino persons who were seeking Section 8 vouchers and challenged the Town's policy of giving preference for Section 8 vouchers to residents of Smithtown.  This case was settled in an agreement approved by the court in 2009. Read more

 

 

The country's first civil and human rights law firm, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, was founded in 1940 under the leadership of Thurgood Marshall, who later became a Supreme Court Justice, at a time when the nation's aspirations for equality and due process of law were stifled by widespread state-sponsored racial inequality.  From that era to the present, LDF has sought structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in an inclusive society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans.

 

LDF works through the courts and through advocacy to the executive and legislative branches, educational outreach, monitoring of federal and state government activity, coalition building and policy research.   "Where would we be," says President Elaine Gross, "without the NAACP LDF's expert legal advocacy in the Supreme Court and other courts across the nation."  LDF has been involved in seminal Supreme Court decisions, including Brown v. Board of Education, and it has been involved in nearly all of the precedent-setting litigation relating to minority voting rights.  Its legal victories established the foundation for many of the civil rights that Americans enjoy today.  "As we advance our advocacy with New York State concerning the Superstorm Sandy Relief Action Plans," adds Elaine Gross, "we have been grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with the NAACP LDF." Read more

 

We hope you will join us in honoring these three outstanding organizations that are on the front lines in the fight for racial justice. To buy tickets, ads or sponsorships, please visit our Benefit page.

Frederick K. Brewington, Esq. Talks to Youth about Civil Rightsyouthroundtable

 

On March 31, 2014, ERASE Racism held its Annual Youth Roundtable Event, which is a special opportunity for Long Island students to speak with modern-day civil rights champions and leaders who are making a difference in the fight for racial equity.  This year we were honored to have Frederick K. Brewington, Esq. as our speaker. Over 70 students from 9 different schools attended the event.  Fred spoke about his journey to become a civil rights lawyer and the characteristics that are necessary for success.  He urged the students to always perform at their highest potential and take on leadership positions now and throughout their lives.  Fred explained how being a civil rights lawyer requires his full commitment.  "When I wake up I fight, when I'm in the courtroom I fight, before I go to bed I fight," he said.  However, Fred also explained that one does not have to be a civil rights lawyer to help in the fight for racial equity.  Every single person can make a difference by educating themselves, taking on leadership positions, and calling out inequities wherever they can be identified.  

 

We thank Fred for his inspiring and heartfelt conversation with the students.

Superstorm Sandy Recovery and 

Fair Housingsuperstormsandy 

 

 

ERASE Racism continues to provide critique and recommendations to New York State after reviewing the draft Action Plans prepared by the State.  These Action Plans describe how Superstorm Sandy Relief Funds will be used.  Most recently, we provided a letter to The Governor's Office of Storm Recovery outlining how the proposed Action Plan for Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (Amendment 6) could leave in place and even exacerbate racial segregation on Long Island unless concrete measures were taken to affirmatively further fair housing.  With the aim of ensuring equal opportunities for everyone regarding access to Sandy relief, with special emphasis on reaching low and moderate income renters and homeowners and African American and Hispanic households, in the letter, ERASE Racism enumerated nine actions that the State must take, including the creation of a robust data collection system.  Unfortunately, it is very difficult to evaluate the activities undertaken to date with the CDBG-DR funds because neither the most current draft amendment nor other reporting by the State adequately specify: (a) the outreach that has been undertaken to reach all of the affected populations, including low- and moderate-income residents (homeowners and renters), and to reach victims who are African American or Hispanic; (b) the participation levels of each group; and (c) who has been awarded assistance and who has been rejected. All of these statistics should be broken down by race and ethnicity, by income, and by renter and homeowner. To read all of our recommendations, the full letter is available for review on our website. 

Announcement: On the Docket with 

Dean Salkinonthedocket 

  

 

On Sunday, April 20th at 4:30 pm, listeners can hear a prerecorded interview with ERASE Racism President Elaine Gross on the radio show "On the Docket."  The show's host, Dean Patricia Salkin of Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center will be asking Elaine and Howard Glickstein, Dean emeritus of Touro Law Center and current co-chair of the ERASE Racism Board of Directors, about civil rights issues on Long Island.  You won't want to miss this conversation that will span topics related to housing, education and much more!

 

You can tune in on 103.9 FM or stream live on the station's web site during the same time. 

IN OTHER NEWSothernews 

 

Town of Oyster Bay Sued for Racially Discriminatory Affordable Housing Programs 

  

 

On April 10, 2014, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York announced the filing in federal court of a civil rights lawsuit alleging that the Town of Oyster Bay, and Town Supervisor John Venditto and the Long Island Housing Partnership, Inc. engaged in a pattern and practice of racial discrimination against African Americans in violation of the Fair Housing Act.  The suit alleges that the use of residency requirements to access newly built affordable housing discriminated against African Americans who are severely underrepresented in the Town.   The residency requirements for the "Next Generation" and "Golden Age" affordable housing programs give a preference to Town of Oyster Bay residents and relatives of Oyster Bay residents, an overwhelming majority of whom are white.  The LIHP has since settled with the DOJ. 

 

An earlier investigation conducted by the Fair Housing Justice Center (FHJC) yielded evidence of Oyster Bay's discriminatory residency preferences in its zoning code and this information was shared with the U.S. Attorney's Office in 2008.  FHJC Executive Director Fred Freiberg stated, "While there is an urgent and unmet need to increase the supply of affordable housing throughout the New York region, the housing must be available on a non-discriminatory basis." 

 

Click here to read the Newsday coverage.
Click here to read the complaint.

 

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