(To add your name to the list of signers, please email StBernardParishLetter@gmail.com)
In September of 2006, the Parish Council in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana enacted a law that would have prohibited home-owners from renting homes to anyone other than a “blood relative.” Since the Parish is overwhelmingly white and had few Jewish citizens, the law effectively made it a crime to rent to African Americans, Vietnamese Americans, Latinos, Jews, and other populations who did not live in the parish in large numbers pre-Katrina.
Many of us engaged in rebuilding and relief work were deeply troubled by the “blood-relative” law and similar policies that discouraged the return of African Americans and the poor in New Orleans and throughout the Gulf Coast. Regrettably, many relief and volunteer organizations chose not to respond to the “blood-relative” law, remaining silent on this issue.
With the benefit of hindsight, we now know that St. Bernard Parish officials interpreted silence as consent, which has now emboldened them to pursue other means to defy the Fair Housing Act. The Parish and its leaders are openly disobeying a federal court order and considering a charter change that would require public referendum on any proposal to construct affordable multi-family housing. Their actions have been repeatedly ruled illegal in federal court because they are discriminatory in intent and impact
It is time that we take a stand against discrimination wherever it occurs, and make clear what the moral imperatives are for all organizations that seek to rebuild the Gulf Coast as a fair and just society.
As local and national relief organizations and volunteer groups, we recognize we have a moral obligation to work towards a just rebuilding of the Gulf Coast, and we pledge to speak out against injustice where we see it. This includes discriminatory housing policies, such as those pursued by elected officials in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana.
Signed,
September 14, 2009
via facsimile: 278.4209
St. Bernard Parish Council & President
8201 W. Judge Perez Drive
Chalmette, Louisiana 70043
Re: Fair Housing in St. Bernard Parish
Dear St. Bernard Officials:
We are a coalition of community organizations from the Greater New Orleans area, writing to express our grave concern and disappointment over recent actions taken by St. Bernard Parish government to block equitable housing access in the Greater New Orleans area.
The Parish was sued by Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center (GNOFHAC) in 2006 for alleged violations of the Fair Housing Act of 1968, in enacting several housing ordinances with the intent and effect of discriminating against minorities. At that time, GNOFHAC fought to enjoin the Parish from enacting a so-called “blood relative ordinance, that is, the housing ordinance passed on September 19, 2006 that stated “No person…shall rent, lease, loan, or otherwise allow occupancy or use of any single-family residence located in an R-1 zone by any person or group of persons, other than a family member(s) related by blood within the first, second, or third direct ascending or descending generation(s) without first obtaining a Permissive Use Permit from the S. Bernard Parish Council.”
On February 27, 2008, you agreed the Parish would no longer (a) refuse to rent a dwelling unit, or otherwise make unavailable or deny a dwelling unit, to any person because of race or national origin; (b) deny minority citizens the same rights as are enjoyed by white citizens to make and enforce contracts; (c) deny minority citizens the same rights as are enjoyed by white citizens to lease, hold and otherwise enjoy real property; (d) deny any person equal protection of the law by discriminating on the basis of race and national origin in the leasing of real property; or (e) retaliate against Plaintiffs or any other person who alleges that Defendants have violated the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq.
In spite of this agreement, in September 2008 the Parish violated its terms by enacting an ordinance that placed a moratorium on the construction of all multi-family housing (i.e., buildings with more than 5 units) for a period of twelve months or until the Parish Council enacted certain zoning updates. The effect of this ordinance was that it triggered cumbersome bureaucratic procedures, including a special election for which that developer must bear the costs. This ordinance would have had a detrimental impact on housing development, and stymie movement of certain people who want to reside in St. Bernard Parish. People of color, who are more likely to depend on multi-family housing post-Katrina, would have been especially harmed if this moratorium had been allowed to stand.
This latest initiative follows a pattern and practice in St. Bernard Parish to prevent development of low income housing at a time when our community could not be more desperate for safe and affordable units.
St. Bernard Parish’s post-Katrina efforts to rebuild a racially segregated Parish by passing and implementing rules to prevent non-White homeowners from moving to and living in the Parish have become an international symbol of injustice in the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast. The 2006 “blood-relative” ordinance would have prohibited single family homeowners from renting to anyone other than blood relatives, effectively excluding many ethnic groups from residing in St. Bernard Parish; including African Americans, Jewish Americans, Vietnamese Americans, Latinos, and other populations who did not live in the parish in large numbers pre-Katrina.
Fortunately, U.S. District Court Judge Helen G. Berrigan ruled this 2006 ‘blood-relative’ ordinance is illegal based on its discriminatory intent and impact. The Times Picayune editorial board wrote, “This ruling strips off the camouflage and reveals St. Bernard's actions for what they really are: an effort to keep lower-income people and African-Americans from moving into the mostly white parish.”
Since the date of the district court’s first order, Judge Berrigan has held the Parish in contempt three times for its failures to comply with the agreed upon and court-approved Consent Decree. But the St. Bernard Parish government, with apparent support from Parish residents and associations, continues to pass laws in support of segregated housing. Related ordinances restricting the development of rental housing in St. Bernard Parish have also been struck down as discriminatory, yet the Parish forges on in this regressive homage to racial and ethnic isolation.
These illegal ordinances and their progeny hurt all Greater New Orleans area residents by erecting barricades that obstruct a just rebuilding, instead of clearing the road for an equitable right to return home.
We will not be silent as our neighbor community actively discriminates. These policies create a climate of discrimination and magnify racial and ethnic tensions in our community, while also exacerbating our local housing crisis. As concerned community members, we call on St. Bernard Parish government to immediately end these discriminatory practices, and instead to join with us in standing for a just rebuilding for all Gulf Coast residents. By standing together, all of our communities benefit.
Signed,
Action Coalition for Racial, Social, and Environmental Justice - University of New Orleans
Advancement Project
Advocates for Environmental Human Rights
C3/Hands Off Iberville
Caffin Avenue Church of God
Coastal Women for Change
Common Ground Health Clinic
Community Church Unitarian Universalist - New Orleans
Emerging ChangeMakers Network
Families and Friends of Louisiana's Incarcerated Children
Homeless Action Team of Tulane University (HATT)
Jesuit Social Research Institute, Loyola University
Junebug Productions
Katrina Rita Diaspora Solidarity
Loyola University Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild
Louisiana Justice Institute
Lower Ninth Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development
Lower 9th Ward Homeowner's Association
Mayday New Orleans,Housing and Human Rights Organization
Mennonite Central Committee - New Orleans
Mississippi Center for Justice
Mondo Bizarro
Moving Forward Gulf Coast, Inc
National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI)
New Orleans Palestine Solidarity
New Americans Social Club (New Orleans Holocaust Survivors Organization)
PATOIS: The New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival
People's Institute for Survival & Beyond
Poverty & Race Research Action Council
Pyramid Community Parent Resource Center
Southern Institute for Education and Research
Survivors Village
US Human Rights Network
Zion Travelers Cooperative Center
Individual Endorsements:
Kali Akuno, US Human Rights Network
Jay Arena, C3/Hands Off Iberville
Sister Theresa Anne Billeaud
Nell Bolton, Episcopal Community Services, Diocese of Louisiana
Trupania W. Bonner, Moving Forward Gulf Coast, Inc
Douglas Brinkley, Professor of History, Rice University
Judith A. Browne-Dianis, Co-Director, Advancement Project
Kevin Cahalan
Elizabeth Cook
Pamela Dashiell, Lower Ninth Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development
Deacon Margaret Dawson, Diocese of Louisiana, The Episcopal Church
Joel Devalcourt, Action Coalition for Racial, Social, and Environmental Justice - University of New Orleans
Sr. Frances Duos, Congregation of St. Joseph
David Eber, The Lower 9th Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development
Rev. Tyronne Edwards, Zion Travelers Cooperative Center; People's Institute for Survival & Beyond
Melanie Ehrlich, Founder, Citizens' Road Home Action Team (CHAT)
Davida Finger, Loyola University School of Law, Law Clinic
Jordan Flaherty, Louisiana Justice Institute
Bruce France, Mondo Bizarro
Felicia Fuksman
Karen Gadbois, squanderedheritage.com
Tiffany Gardner, National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI)
R. Justin (Bobby) Garon, Southern Institute for Education and Research
Sharon Hanshaw, Coastal Women for Change
Monique Harden, Advocates for Environmental Human Rights
Chester Hartman, Poverty & Race Research Action Council
Lance Hill, Southern Institute for Education and Research
Mike Howells, C3/Hands Off Iberville
Sister Barbara Hughes, Congregation of St. Joseph
Linda Jackson, Lower 9th Ward Homeowner's Association
Sam L Jackson, Mayday New Orleans,Housing and Human Rights Organization
Endesha Juakali, Survivors Village
Rev. Fred Kammer, SJ, Jesuit Social Research Institute, Loyola University
Michael Kane, Ed.D
Anne Levy
Rabbi Ethan Linden
Rabbi Robert H. Loewy
Dr. Rachel E. Luft
DJ Markey, Pyramid Community Parent Resource Center
Deacon Priscilla Maumus, Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana
Dr Alex Mikulich, Jesuit Social Research Institute, Loyola University
Damekia Morgan, Families and Friends of Louisiana's Incarcerated Children
Jacques Morial, Louisiana Justice Institute
Reilly Morse, Mississippi Center for Justice
Elizabeth Rei Nakamura
Pam Nath, Mennonite Central Committee - New Orleans
Antor Ndep, Common Ground Health Clinic
Gretchen Newby, Tulane University School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine
Jessica Norwood, Emerging ChangeMakers Network
John O'Neal, Junebug Productions
D'Ann Penner, Co-Author, Overcoming Katrina: African American Voices from the Crescent City and Beyond
Deacon Ormonde Plater
Lawrence N. Powell, Ph.D
Katherine Prevost
Bill Quigley, Loyola University School of Law, Law Clinic; Center for Constitutional Rights
Emily Ratner, PATOIS: The New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival
Ameca A. Reali, Loyola University New Orleans, College of Law
Dr. Kimberley Richards, The People's Institute for Survival and Beyond
Kysha Brown Robinson
Plater Robinson, Southern Institute for Education and Research
Sr. Cynthia Sabathier, Congregation of St. Joseph
Aaron Schneider, Assistant Professor, Political Science, Tulane University
Jordan Shannon
Pastors Victor and Barbara Simon, Caffin Avenue Church of God
Nick Slie, Mondo Bizarro
Johnnie Stevens, Katrina Rita Diaspora Solidarity
Philip Teger, Poverty & Race Research Action Council
Nikki Thanos, Loyola University Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild
Sue and Paul Troyano
Rev. Jim VanderWeele, Community Church Unitarian Universalist
Nathalie Walker, Advocates for Environmental Human Rights
Tracie Washington, Esq., Louisiana Justice Institute
Shep Zitler, New Americans Social Club (New Orleans Holocaust Survivors Organization)
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Sue and Paul Troyano Mid City NOLA
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