Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing Opportunity Council reports
By Jerome Boettcher
For the St. Louis American
Race discrimination continues to be the main complaint in regards to fair housing in St. Louis.
In a report recently released by the Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing Opportunity Council, 26 race complaints were processed in 2005.
The number was the most of any discrimination, which included religion, national origin, gender, familial status, disability and accessibility.
“There is an ongoing concern about race discrimination,” EHOC assistant director Mira Tanna said.
Thirteen complaints in regards to familial status was second, behind race. The race complaints were up three from last year but still a lot less than in 2003, when there were 46 race complaints.
In St. Louis City, 11 of the 26 race complaints were filed, also the same amount in St. Louis County.
Tanna said throughout the nation most of the problems usually concern individuals with disabilities. That is not the case in St. Louis.
“It goes back to (the fact) that St. Louis is the fourth-most segregated area in the country,” Tanna said.
Tanna said that in St. Louis, there might be a fear among African Americans to move into a predominantly white neighborhood and vice versa. She said that “whites will begin to feel more nervous” or African Americans “may be reluctant” to move into a neighborhood under those circumstances.
Tanna also cited the book The Failures of Integration by Sheryll Cashin.
She says the book says in other cities that are more spread out racially, no groups are dominant and everyone feels comfortable.
Tanna said that, unlike other cities, St. Louis is mainly African-American or white; there are not as many Asians, Latinos or other minorities.
Tanna said other areas of concern were discrimination against national origin, gender and domestic violence. With national origin, the number of complaints jumped from four to 12 in one year. Tanna said sometimes cases can even include immigrants discriminating against other immigrants.
Gender cases had also jumped up from four to 12. Tanna said domestic violence victims have been discriminated against by landlords because once a disturbance has been reported they have a zero tolerance standard and evict the victim. So, Tanna said, the victim is hurt twice.
However, Tanna said there is help for all discrimination problems. Over the past year EHOC has helped 322 people with housing problems. This help included counseling, educating them about their rights, finding housing for them, guiding them to other resources, mediating arguments and helping them file discrimination complaints.
Tanna thinks there are just as many situations out in other counties, but people just either aren’t aware of what to do when they are discriminated or even if they are being discriminated against. She said that education and outreach among area communities about fair housing need to extend beyond the city.
In 2005, 111 workshops on fair housing were conducted that educated more than 1,700 people.
Overall, 85 cases of housing discrimination were filed over the past year. That number was up four, from 81 the previous year.
“It’s a drop in the bucket to the amount of cases that are out there,” Tanna said.
For more information on the EHOC, visit www.ehocstl.org or call (800) 555-3951 to file a discrimation complaint.