Low-Wage Work — America’S Broken Promise by Beth Shulman

Poverty & Race

PRRAC POVERTY & RACE RESEARCH ACTION COUNCIL May/June 2004 Volume 13: Number 3

Low-Wage Work — America’s Broken Promise by Beth Shulman

The record-setting jobless recov- and convenience stores. They are ho- likely to qualify for unemployment ery is sobering news. But just beside tel workers who ensure that the rooms insurance, yet most likely to be injured it lies a situation that is even more we sleep in on our business trips and on the job. These hardships irrepara- ominous and disturbing. Millions of family vacations are clean. They are bly harm these workers’ children while Americans are working hard every janitorial workers who empty our at the same time crippling our com- day, yet their jobs fail to provide the wastebaskets after dark. They are cat- munities, our economy and our democ- means for a decent life. For these fish workers who process the fish we racy. women and men, the basic promise of enjoy. They are 1-800 call-center These conditions mock the Ameri- America—if you work hard, you can workers who answer our requests and can dream of working hard for a just earn enough to support yourself and take our orders. They are security reward. Adding to this is the harsh your family—has been broken. guards that help make us safe. They reality that we can expect these labor- More than 30 million Americans— are ambulance drivers who respond to intensive industries that now pay one in every four workers—work in our emergencies. And they are poorly to be the largest-growing sec- jobs that pay less than $8.70 an hour. childcare workers and educational as- tors of the economy. While many tout Working full time, that translates at sistants who educate and care for our the fast-growing high-tech sectors, most into an annual income of children. growth in low-wage occupations will $18,100, the government-defined pov- Low-wage workers supply our most dwarf those jobs. Six of the ten occu- erty level for a family of four. But essential services. Yet these hard- pations anticipated to have the largest inadequate wages are only one of the working men and women are subject real job growth through 2012 are in problems. These jobs are also the ones to degrading conditions. A meat pro- (Please turn to page 2) that offer the fewest benefits and the cessor may stand all day in puddles of most rigid and arduous working con- water, only to get docked for a bath- ditions. These workers must struggle room break. Janitors can work for CONTENTS: to take care of themselves and their years with no paid vacations and with families, not in spite of their jobs but constant back pain from lifting trash. Low-Wage Work ...... 1 because of them. Call center workers face constant sur- Economic Development What are today’s low-wage jobs? veillance by their employers in the Contrary to the dominant myth that midst of pressure to reach strict pro- Gone Haywire ...... 3 most low-wage jobs are the ones you duction quotas. Syllabi Request ...... 4 see in your neighborhood McDonalds, Most low-wage workers receive no Brown Books ...... 5 fast-food jobs constitute less than 5% health or retirement benefits, no fam- Brown Summer of all low-end jobs. Low-wage work- ily or sick leave. They cannot afford Institute ...... 5 ers are all around us. They are nurs- quality childcare, let alone college tu- Housing Segregation/ ing home workers and home health ition. They are often subjected to School Segregation ... 6 care workers who care for our moth- forced overtime, abrupt schedule Housing Quiz ...... 8 ers and fathers. They are poultry pro- changes, time clocks and humiliating cessing workers who bone and pack- drug tests. They rarely get training, New Website Material 10 age the chicken we eat for our dinner. promotions, raises, flextime or job se- Resources ...... 10 They are retail store workers who help curity. In return for accepting all this us in department stores, grocery stores for years on end, they are the least

Poverty & Race Research Action Council • 3000 Connecticut Avenue NW • Suite 200 • Washington, DC 20008 202/387-9887 • FAX: 202/387-0764 • E-mail: [email protected] • www.prrac.org Recycled Paper (LOW-WAGE: Continued from page 1) groups occupy the lowest rungs of the born workers is three times larger than system. White males earn more than it was during the last major wave of these low-wage occupations—retail white females, and white females earn immigration at the turn of the 19th cen- salespeople, customer service represen- more than both black and Latino males tury. Male immigrants today typically tatives, food service workers, cashiers, and females with the same skills and earn only 77% of what natives earn, janitors, wait staff, and nurse’s aides, jobs. Nonwhites with comparable lev- with Mexican-born men earning less orderlies and attendants. els of education earn less and are less than half. Many believe that the workers in likely to be working than whites. Immigrants are also funneled into these jobs are teenagers, high-school Within occupational groups, race plays some of the most hazardous and un- dropouts or illegal immigrants. Yet the a role in determining job levels and healthy jobs, such as roofing, trench truth is that they are in the very main- thus factors such as pay, access to digging and carrying heavy materials. stream of our economy and our lives. health and pension benefits, and the Latino immigrants, for example, die Nearly two-thirds are white, a major- degree of autonomy on the job. More from workplace injuries at a 20% ity are female and most are adults with than two-thirds of Latino workers, for higher rate than either blacks or whites. family responsibilities like the rest of example, are without employer-spon- Certainly, English-language profi- us. Only 7% are teenagers. Most have sored health insurance, according to a ciency and educational barriers play a a high school education, a third have recent Commonwealth Fund report, part in limiting immigrant job options, at least some postsecondary education even though they had stable employ- especially for a notable proportion of and 5% have a college degree. Low- Latino immigrants. But there is a more wage workers are better educated to- Over the past quarter pernicious reason why immigrants day than in prior decades. century, a variety of face the most abysmal conditions: their Saying that two-thirds of the low- political, economic and vulnerability. Immigrants are less wage workforce is white, however, likely to know their rights, and un- masks a harsh reality. Blacks and corporate decisions documented workers fear deportation Latinos are over-represented in this have undercut the if they complain about workforce group relative to their participation in bargaining power of the abuse. the overall workforce. In fact, the average worker, Workers with less education find it proportion of minority workers earn- especially those in the difficult to find quality jobs in the ing a low wage is substantial: 31.2% lower strata of the United States. Yet, in spite of an in- of blacks and 40.4% of Latinos, in crease of white males into the lower contrast to 20% of white workers. workforce. end of the labor market, there still ex- It is no accident that minorities com- ists a caste-like system, with women, mand a disproportionate share of low- ment. And employers link race and minorities, and immigrants at the bot- paying jobs. Discrimination in the gender with job suitability that locks tom of this labor force. U.S. workplace has historically played in this stratification in the low-wage Too many economists, policy- a role in excluding them from higher- workforce. makers and politicians would assert paying positions. Even within the low- Immigrants generally work in the that the plight of these low-wage work- wage sector, historically disadvantaged lowest rungs of the low-wage ers is merely the workings of an effi- workforce. They are more likely than cient market, a matter of supply and natives to be food-preparation work- demand. These low-wage jobs are not, Poverty and Race (ISSN 1075-3591) is published six times a year by the ers, sewing machine operators, park- however, the result of an efficient Poverty & Race Research Action ing lot attendants, housekeepers, wait- market’s “invisible hand,” but derive Council, 3000 Conn. Ave. NW, #200, ers, private-household cleaners, food from political, economic and corpo- Washington, DC 20008, 202/387- processing workers, agricultural work- rate choices that have undercut work- 9887, fax: 202/387-0764, E-mail: ers, elevator operators and janitors, ers’ ability to have any control over [email protected]. Chester Hartman, operators, fabricators and laborers. the conditions under which they work. Editor. Subscriptions are $25/year, These occupations have the greatest Over the past quarter century, a vari- $45/two years. Foreign postage ex- tra. Articles, article suggestions, let- number of jobs that pay below $8.70 ety of political, economic and corpo- ters and general comments are wel- per hour. Few of their employers pro- rate decisions have undercut the bar- come, as are notices of publications, vide health insurance, pension plans, gaining power of the average worker, conferences, job openings, etc. for our or sick or family leave, and these jobs especially those in the lower strata of Resources Section. Articles generally have the least advancement possibili- the workforce. Those decisions include may be reprinted, providing PRRAC ties. the push to increase global trade and gives advance permission. Forty-three percent of foreign-born open global markets; the increased en- © Copyright 2004 by the Poverty & Race Research Action Council. All workers were employed in low-wage try of immigrant workers into the rights reserved. jobs in 1997. The economic gap be- United States; government efforts to tween today’s immigrants and native- (Please turn to page 9)

2 • Poverty & Race • Vol. 13, No. 3 • May/June 2004 Race, Poverty and “Economic Development” Gone Haywire by Greg LeRoy States and cities spend an estimated and minority entrepreneurs. The Illi- Lack of Concern for $50 billion a year in the name of eco- nois Advisory Committee to the U.S. Race and Poverty nomic development. Yet a growing Commission on Civil Rights examined body of evidence indicates this mas- 104 deals. In fully one-fifth, either the In the last four years, several new sive spending – often justified with recipient company or the bank that studies, including two national sur- anti-poverty rhetoric – is at best inef- bought the bond had recently violated veys, have made it clear that the ear- fective and at worst indifferent to con- the federal fair employment rules of lier findings were not isolated cases or cerns about reducing poverty and ra- the Equal Employment Opportunity statistical flukes. Collectively, they cial disparities in income. Commission. suggest that the rules governing devel- The number and value of develop- The same study also found that only opment subsidies have grown so loose ment subsidies has climbed sharply in 3 of the 104 IRBs went to African as to moot out any positive effects they the last 20 years, so that the average American-owned firms, one to an may ever have had towards reducing state now has more than 30 such sub- Asian-owned firm, and none to poverty or racial disparities. sidies of various sorts on the books, Hispanic-owned firms. At one-third of Perhaps the most egregious official and deals providing more than the companies, workforces had a much hypocrisy in economic development $100,000 per job are old news. Sub- concerns public transit. In speeches, sidies typically include corporate in- Just one county in statutory intent language or official come tax credits; utility sales and ex- affluent Long Island findings they use to justify subsidies, cise tax breaks; property tax abate- legislators often cite the reduction of ments; loans and loan guarantees; en- received 25% of the entire state’s supply of poverty as a specific purpose. Of terprise zones; tax increment financ- course, families that depend on public ing districts; training grants; and land the low-interest loans. transit to get to work because they can- and infrastructure subsidies. not afford a car would meet most Despite lofty rhetoric about reduc- people’s definition of impoverished. ing poverty that has been used to jus- smaller share of black employees than So among the 1,500-plus state subsidy tify this proliferation, it is increasingly the region’s labor market. Two-thirds programs, one would expect that at clear that the programs are not really of the companies also had dispropor- least a few would be structured to help benefiting those workers who need help tionately small Hispanic employment, transit-dependent workers gain new the most. Programs that were targeted and more than half had disproportion- job opportunities. However, a 2003 to pockets of poverty but have strayed ately small female workforces. study by Good Jobs First, Missing the from their original mission are glar- A 1998 study by the Woodstock In- Bus, finds that not one of those 1,500- ing examples. However, the problem stitute examined the geographic dis- plus state subsidies requires – or even is hardly limited to such subsidies. tribution of loans made under the Small encourages – that a company getting a Business Administration’s 504 loan subsidy in an urban area locate the jobs guarantee program in the Chicago Early Evidence of at a site served by public transporta- metro area and found that higher-in- tion. (The standard definition of tran- Straying Subsidies come and outlying zip codes received sit-accessible is a quarter-mile or less more loans than lower-income and from a regularly served transit stop.) Beginning 20 years ago, a small but closer-in areas. In other words, despite the anti-pov- disturbing body of evidence began to Several other studies found that in- erty rhetoric, states are in fact com- appear that suggested development sub- centive programs such as IRBs, in- pletely indifferent to whether they are sidies were being used by employers tended to benefit distressed areas, more creating jobs accessible to people who with discriminatory employment prac- often go to prosperous jurisdictions. cannot afford a car. Given that Afri- tices or by industries that were mov- For example, a survey by the New can-American households are about ing good jobs away from communi- York State Comptroller of 12 years three and a half times more likely than ties of color, or that affluent areas of IRBs during the 1970s and 1980s white families not to own a car, and were getting most of the money. found that just one county in affluent Latino households are about two and For example, a 1984 analysis of in- Long Island received 25% of the en- a half times more likely, the discrimi- dustrial revenue bonds (IRBs, or tire state’s supply of the low-interest natory bias of economic development low-interest loans) in the Chicago area loans. in the U.S. today could not be clearer. found an adverse effect upon workers (Please turn to page 4)

May/June 2004 • Poverty & Race • Vol.13, No. 3 • 3 (HAYWIRE: Continued from page 3) added to a zone if they are found to subsidize redevelopment of small TIF have potential for development, an districts. Originally targeted in narrow It’s a huge efficiency issue as well. extremely loose criterion. That has led ways to reverse blight and abandon- States and cities spend about five times to the creation of zones in areas that ment, TIF has been watered down to more a year on economic development have low unemployment. Companies a generic economic development tool than states spend on public transit. So have also “gamed” the rules by creat- in Alaska, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, if states adopted “location-efficient ing a new entity within a zone, trans- Minnesota, Mississippi, North Dakota, subsidies” requiring companies to lo- ferring jobs into it, and then getting Utah and Virginia. cate jobs at transit-accessible sites, tax credits for the “new” jobs in the For example, Minnesota has more many good things would happen: zone. The Buffalo News found that than 2,100 TIF districts – diverting More jobs would be created along tran- many law firms and banks in the Cen- more than 8% of the state’s entire sit routes so that low-wage workers tral Business District were enjoying property tax base – yet less than a would gain new job opportunities; all zone tax breaks, while jobs and invest- fourth of the districts have blight. The workers would gain more commuting ment were lagging in distressed neigh- wealthy Chicago suburb of Lake For- options; and exclusionary suburbs borhoods. est has a TIF district – and a Ferrari would be prodded to open up and al- A few states have so gutted their dealership! low more transit routes. Another 2003 study from Good Jobs Created to combat First, Straying from Good Intentions, Taxpayer-Subsidized sprawl, tax breaks now looks at how states have weakened the Corporate Relocations rules governing two geographically subsidize it. targeted anti-poverty programs: enter- Multi-state competitions for high- prise zones and tax increment financ- profile projects such as auto assembly ing (TIF). Both were originally re- rules that they no longer make any anti- plants receive lots of media attention. stricted to areas with high rates of pov- poverty pretense. For example, Ar- But far more common are companies erty, unemployment and/or physical kansas, Kansas and South Carolina simply relocating within a metro area blight. However the study found that have declared their entire states to be – relocating in a sprawling way that over the past 20 years, 16 states have enterprise zones. Louisiana no longer exacerbates concentrated poverty and weakened their TIF laws and 11 have requires a company to locate in a de- racial disparities by moving jobs away weakened their enterprise zone laws. pressed area to get zone credits, al- from neighborhoods of color and That is, states weakened the geographic though some employees must live in pockets of poverty. Many studies have targeting rules, enabling TIF districts zones. shown that the dispersion of jobs from and enterprise zones to expand or mi- Ohio no longer claims its huge zone central city to suburbs has dispropor- grate into affluent areas that were not program is for helping depressed ar- tionately harmed minority and low-in- originally intended to benefit from the eas; instead, its official purpose is to come workers because they face bar- programs. reduce business taxes and protect Ohio riers finding housing in the suburbs. For example, New York State per- against subsidy competition from One case study examined a company’s mitted “Empire Zones” to double in other states. The results of abandon- relocation from downtown Detroit to size and then gerrymander into places ing its anti-poverty intentions are al- suburban Dearborn. After the reloca- that are not even contiguous to the ready evident: A 2003 study by Policy tion, the center of employee residence originally designated high-poverty ar- Matters Ohio found that enterprise locations shifted, mirroring the eas. Non-contiguous areas can be zones in high-income school districts company’s move. Some employees receive five times more capital invest- moved closer to the new workplace; ment and twice as many jobs as those others quit. Black workers were more Request for Syllabi in low-income districts. It concluded likely to quit, in part because of barri- that the “very areas [zones were] ini- ers to residential relocation. We would like to collect and tially designed to help are now disad- Another study examined the distant distribute to interested P&R read- vantaged by the program....Ohio’s Minneapolis suburb of Anoka. In the ers syllabi for courses dealing with [zone program] has succeeded in mak- mid-late 1990s, it used TIF to fund a race and poverty issues. If you ing the playing field even more tilted 300-acre industrial park and offer free teach/taught or are taking/did against urban areas by extending to land to light manufacturing companies take such a course, please pass on wealthier suburbs an additional fiscal that would relocate there. The lucra- (preferably by email) the sylla- tool with which to compete for firms.” tive offer landed 29 companies and bus. We will list them in a future The same trends are evident in many about 1,600 jobs. All of the compa- issue of P&R and how to access states for tax increment financing, a nies relocated to Anoka from within them. device by which property taxes are the Twin Cities region, mostly from diverted for long periods of time to Minneapolis and old, inner-ring north-

4 • Poverty & Race • Vol. 13, No. 3 • May/June 2004 ern suburbs. Overall, the relocations was justified because it is “close to growth for working families. More in- moved jobs and opportunity away Milwaukee County, which continues formation, as well as links to the many from the region’s poorest neighbor- to have higher unemployment than the state and local groups working on this hoods, and away from people of color. state average.” A state senator com- issue, at http://www.goodjobsfirst. They also moved jobs away from the mented: “[i]t’s essentially a govern- org. ❏ region’s largest pockets of welfare ment subsidy to promote sprawl.” dependency – even as “welfare re- These many cases beg the broader regional equity issue: Since suburban form” was pushing many people into Resources “work first,” take-any-job routines. sprawl already gives newer areas so Low-wage workers without a car also many advantages, why should any de- Missing the Bus: How States Fail to lost opportunity: Before the reloca- velopment subsidies be allowed in Connect Economic Development with tions, 70% of the jobs had been acces- them? As one Twin Cities civic wag Public Transit (2003), by Mafruza sible by public transit, but in Anoka put it: “Subsidizing economic devel- Khan, published by Good Jobs First at www.goodjobsfirst.org/pdf/ they are not. Only 40% of African- opment in the suburbs is like paying bus.pdf. American households in the Twin Cit- teenagers to think about sex.” With states and cities facing their Straying from Good Intentions: How ies region owned a vehicle in 1990. States are Weakening Enterprise Zone A few journalists have also begun third consecutive year of fiscal auster- and Tax Increment Financing Pro- to make the subsidy-sprawl link. A ity – and more lean years ahead if the grams (2003), by Alyssa Talanker, 1995 Kansas City Star series cited sev- Bush-era federal tax cuts become per- published by Good Jobs First at eral cases of prosperous suburbs giv- manent and then flow down to the www.goodjobsfirst.org/pdf/ ing tax breaks to companies leaving states – there may be a chance to win straying.pdf. depressed core areas. The paper found greater scrutiny of corporate tax Zoned Out: Distribution and Benefits the deals particularly galling because breaks. Reforming them so that they in Ohio’s Enterprise program (2003), by Mark Cassell, from Policy Mat- the tools being used by the wealthy really reduce poverty and racial dis- ters Ohio at: www.policymattersohio. suburbs were originally intended to parities – getting back to basics – is a org/enterprise_zones.htm. winning argument. help central cities. “Created to com- Another Way Sprawl Happens: Eco- bat sprawl, tax breaks now subsidize nomic Development Subsidies in a it,” the Star concluded. A 1999 series Greg LeRoy (goodjobs@good Twin Cities Suburb (2000), by Greg in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel jobsfirst.org) is Executive Director of LeRoy and Sara Hinkley, published cited a mutual fund company in sub- Good Jobs First, which promotes cor- by Good Jobs First at www. urban Menomenee Falls which re- porate and government accountability goodjobsfirst.org/anoka.htm. ceived a $3 million tax credit. The deal in economic development and smart

Some Brown anniversary books:

Richard Kluger, Simple Justice: The Robert J. Cottrol, Raymond T. Dia- Henry Louis Gates, Jr. & Evelyn History of Brown v. Board of Educa- mond & Leland B. Ware, Brown vs. Brooks Higginbotham, African Ameri- tion and Black Americans’ Struggle for Board: Caste, Culture and the Con- can Lives (Oxford, 2004) Equality, reissued with new final chap- stitution (Univ. Press of Kansas, 2003) Deborah Menkart, Alana Murray & ter (Vintage, 2004) Sheryll Cashin, The Failure of Inte- Jenice View, eds. Putting the Move- Toni Morrison, Remember: The Jour- gration: How Racism and Class Are ment Back Into Civil Rights Teaching ney to School Integration (Houghton- Undermining America (Public Affairs (Teaching for Change & PRRAC, Mifflin, 2004) Press, 2004) 2004) Peter Irons, Jim Crow’s Children: The Broken Promise of the Brown Deci- Brown Summer Institute sion (Penguin, 2002) PRRAC Director of Research ployment. A lecture series and film Chester Hartman has organized a series is free and open to the public. Charles Ogletree, Jr., All Deliberate Summer Inst.at George Washington Lecturers include Julian Bond, Wil- Speed: Reflections on the First Half Univ. (where he is an Adjunct Prof. liam Winter, Barbara Arnwine and Century of Brown vs. Board of Edu- of Sociology), “50 Years After Brown Roger Wilkins. The film series has cation (Norton, 2004) v. Board of Education: The Ongoing been organized by Jim Loewen (au- Leon Friedman, ed., Brown vs. Board Role of Racism in a ‘Colorblind’ So- thor of Lies My Teacher Told Me), ciety.” Courses will be given on who will lead post-film discussions. of Education: The Landmark Oral Housing, Education, the Civil Rights Detailed information at www.gwu. Argument Before the Supreme Court Movement, and Poverty/Welfare/Em- edu/brownvboard. (New Press, 1969/2004)

May/June 2004 • Poverty & Race • Vol.13, No. 3 • 5 Housing Segregation/School Segregation

Several years ago, PRRAC received a multi-year research grant from the Ford Foundation to support a series of historical studies of the history of federal government involvement in the development and perpetuation of housing segregation in America. The project, “Housing And School Segregation: Government Culpability, Government Remedies,” takes a closer look at the development of federal housing and transportation policies that have been broadly described in works like Massey & Denton’s American Apartheid. The first of these studies, by Professor Arnold Hirsch of the University of New Orleans History Dept., addresses the evolution of federal housing policy directly after the Brown decision, and includes new evidence of collaboration between the Federal Housing Administration and officials in certain southern cities seeking to evade compliance with the Brown ruling by manipulating federal housing location. Hirsch’s work also chronicles the heroic efforts of Frank Horne, an official of the race relations service of the federal housing agency, to reform the system from within. The second study, by Professor Raymond Mohl of the University of Alabama History Dept., deals with federal transportation policies and programs, particularly highways, and how housing and transportation together helped to create and maintain racially segregated housing patterns in our metropolitan areas. The newly-arrived final installment in this series, by David Freund, who teaches history at Princeton, takes the story from President Kennedy’s signing of the 1961 Executive Order on Fair Housing up through passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968. This is a story of the idealistic aspirations of HUD Secretary Robert Weaver and his aides confronting the intractable obstacle of an entrenched federal bureaucracy. The excerpt that follows introduces Freund’s research. For the full Freund report – “‘Democracy’s Unfinished Business’: Federal Policy and the Search for Fair Housing, 1961-1968” — along with the Hirsch and Mohl reports, go to PRRAC’s website, www.prrac.org

In July of 1963, the Administrator der had a very limited reach, in the federal interventions, both past and of the Housing and Home Finance end covering less than 1% of the present, and about the issue of racial Agency (HHFA), Robert Weaver, nation’s housing units. But Weaver equity in housing. “[T]he implement- spoke to a meeting of his agency’s In- and other like-minded reformers—par- ing of the President’s [Executive Or- tergroup Relations Service (IRS), the ticularly his colleagues in the IRS— ders],” he explained, in a formal state- “race relations” staff charged with pro- interpreted the Order much more ment to IRS officials, moting non-discrimination in federal broadly, repeatedly distinguishing be- is a responsibility of all associ- housing programs. His talk came at a tween its “letter” and its “spirit.” ated with the HHFA. The head time of dramatic change in the federal They viewed it as part of a larger re- of each constituent agency is government’s relationship to metro- form effort—particularly in light of held responsible for the imple- politan development. After three de- Kennedy’s amendment of another Ex- mentation over the programs cades of condoning and actively pro- ecutive Order that banned discrimina- under his jurisdiction, and all moting racial segregation in both the tion in federal employment practices— line staff have the primary re- private and public housing and devel- and felt they now had a mandate to sponsibility of carrying out the opment sectors, federal officials be- pursue a quite radical re-orientation of requirements and purposes of gan, in the early 1960s, to declare both federal policy and practice. these Orders just as they have their commitment to fair housing. Weaver used his appearance before with respect to all other policy During the 1960 presidential cam- the IRS in the summer of 1963 to out- and program objectives and re- paign, John F. Kennedy promised to line this vision for reform, explaining quirements. In other words, the eliminate housing discrimination with what would be required to alter the President’s Orders will be car- “a stroke of the presidential pen,” and government’s impact on metropolitan ried out through the operations soon after his election appointed development and to remedy the results of the total staff and not through Weaver—a former “race relations” of policies that for decades had both a new or separate operational officer, a long-time critic of federal discriminated and segregated. Most staff. policy and outspoken advocate of equal important, he declared, was that the housing opportunity, and a black pursuit of “fair housing” become a re- This would require that the admin- man—to run the HHFA. And in No- sponsibility of all housing officials, a istrators and employees of the Federal vember of 1962, Kennedy made good goal integral to the day-to-day opera- Housing Administration (FHA), the on his campaign promise, issuing Ex- tions of all HHFA units, rather than a Public Housing Administration ecutive Order 11063, which prohib- special assignment relegated to the (PHA), the Urban Renewal Adminis- ited racial discrimination in some fed- IRS. He argued, in effect, for trans- tration (URA), and the Federal Na- erally-supported housing develop- forming the culture of the housing bu- tional Mortgage Association (FNMA) ment. Its symbolic importance not- reaucracy, for changing the way that actively commit themselves to disrupt- withstanding, the new Executive Or- its agents thought about the impact of ing patterns of discrimination and to

6 • Poverty & Race • Vol. 13, No. 3 • May/June 2004 channeling resources to populations market for homes was literally in- long denied the benefits of federal lar- scribed within federal policy and prac- Be sure to send gesse. And it was the IRS’s job to tice. They saw it as the mission of a us items for our facilitate this, Weaver explained, by reformed HHFA to change both the Resources “work[ing] closely with and, through ways that the government shaped ur- the heads of Agency units,” to “en- ban outcomes and the ways Americans Section. courage key staff member[s] to . . . conceived of the market for homes. make the fullest contribution toward These reformers’ new prominence the assistance of the FHA or Veterans the achievement of equal opportunity.” was not enough, however, to alter the Administration—the market for hous- But merely shifting “policy and course of federal programs. When ing that benefited most from New Deal- program objectives and requirements,” Weaver ended his service as the era reforms. Finally, the fast-growing he continued, was not sufficient. nation’s chief housing official in 1968, “conventional” market for home mort- Equally important was a change in the he had far from achieved the hoped- gages, while overseen and indirectly very language of federal policy, in the for transformation in both government subsidized by federal regulatory agen- ways federal officials conceived of operations and thinking. There were, cies, including the Federal Home Loan their mission and portrayed it to the Bank Board, remained untouched by public. “There is no place under our Federal policies had fair housing law. equal opportunity policy goals,” the Given Weaver’s expertise and ex- Administrator continued, “for usage been instrumental to perience, why was the HHFA and later of concepts and statements connoting building a political and HUD unable to implement substantive separateness. Our usage should take economic constituency and effective reform? Why, in an era on appropriate alternatives such as deeply resistant to that saw the federal government com- housing open to or available to or ac- change. mit itself to protecting civil rights, did cessible to Negroes, or nonwhites or the new “fair housing” mandate prove minorities in lieu of ‘Negro housing,’ to be so inadequate? Congressional, ‘nonwhite housing,’ ‘minority hous- to be sure, several important victories bureaucratic and private sector oppo- ing,’ etc.” during his tenure, including passage sition to open occupancy was certainly Weaver’s vision was informed by of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of an important obstacle, as many ob- decades of personal engagement with 1964, which confirmed prohibitions servers have long noted. And the fed- the policies he was now charged with against racial discrimination in federal eral government, through decades of remaking. Thus, his reform efforts housing, and the elevation of HHFA support for the two-tiered housing mar- represented, on one level, an impor- to cabinet level status in 1965 (creat- ket, had provided crucial momentum tant victory for critics of federal housing the Department of Housing and for opponents of integrating housing. ing policy. Since the early 1930s, Urban Development, which he But to fully appreciate the legacy of Weaver was among the civil rights ac- headed, as the nation’s first African- past federal actions, one must consider tivists and a small group of federal of- American cabinet member). Still, by both the structural and ideological im- ficials who had been challenging a 1968 the structure of the agencies that pacts of government policy, which to- wide range of government interven- Weaver oversaw had barely changed, gether transformed the ways that tions in both the public and private and the assumptions about the dual countless whites came to understand markets for residence, documenting housing market, so long entrenched in the politics of race and residence in how these programs favored white practice and in bureaucratic culture, metropolitan America. applicants, denied resources to minori- continued to guide federal policy. First, when Weaver and other fed- ties, and maintained a strict “color Indeed, not until 1967 did the PHA eral officials attempted to remake gov- line” in most of the nation’s metro- abandon a controversial tenant place- ernment policy in the early 1960s, they politan areas. Weaver and others were ment practice that was facilitating the inherited a vast federal bureaucracy— well aware that, since the Depression, continued segregation of public hous- oversight and regulatory programs, the state had helped build a two-tiered, ing sites, and that year an internal FHA mortgage insurance programs, and a or “dual,” housing market, a market investigation revealed what realtors public housing program, among oth- that segregated both space and mate- and homebuyers alike had long rec- ers—that had supported segregation for rial resources by race. And critics like ognized: that the agency continued to three decades, that had created a pow- Weaver were intimately familiar with deny mortgage insurance to most non- erful new market for private housing the role that federal interventions had whites, in defiance of the Executive for white people (to the exclusion of played in normalizing popular discus- Order. On top of this, Title VI of the minorities), and that was very resis- sions about this dual market. They 1964 Civil Rights Act did not apply tant to change. The programs that re- recognized not only that the state had to federal programs of insurance or structured the market for private hous- promoted segregation, but that an ac- guarantee, thus excluding from its pur- ing and that built and managed a new ceptance of the racially segregated view all private homes financed with (Please turn to page 8)

May/June 2004 • Poverty & Race • Vol.13, No. 3 • 7 (HOUSING: Continued from page 7) programs would require more than its programs had helped produce. executive orders and legislative pro- Thus, when Weaver and others were market for public housing had been hibitions against discrimination. charged with reforming a system of grounded in the principle that “sepa- At the same time, HHFA and HUD programs that, for 30 years, had dis- rate but equal” was perfectly accept- officials inherited a powerful ideologi- criminated by race, they were faced able. And of critical importance, the cal legacy that would further obstruct with widespread resistance from pub- flourishing market for private hous- their efforts. Throughout the first lic and private sector leaders deeply ing had by the early 1960s become three decades of federal intervention invested in the myth that the state was foundational to post-war economic in the market for residence, most pub- not culpable for the spatial and eco- growth, in part by fueling a massive lic officials and their private sector nomic segregation that had come to “flight” to the ever-expanding suburbs, allies had insisted that the development characterize the post-war metropolis. which in turn further insulated count- of the “two-tiered” market was a natu- In the eyes of countless political lead- less whites from minority communi- ral, market-driven development, ers, federal officials and white ties seen as threatening to families, merely the product of consumer homeowners, there was simply no evi- communities and property values. In choice, and thus in no way shaped by dence that the federal government had short, federal policies had been instru- federal interventions themselves. In helped create the problem. Why then, mental to building a political and eco- short, they had insisted that the fed- they asked, should the government be nomic constituency deeply resistant to eral government was not directly re- responsible for finding a solution? ❏ change. To alter these government sponsible for the segregated outcomes

HOUSING QUIZ

The Housing Quiz is part of the Race Literacy Quiz ran in the March/April P&R. It was developed by California Newsreel, in association with the Association of American Colleges and Universities. The myths and misconceptions it raises are explored in the 3-part documentary series, RACE – The Power of an Illusion, available on video and DVD from California Newsreel at www.newsreel.org or 1-877/811-7495. For more information and background, visit the companion website at www.pbs.org/race. Answers are on page 15.

1. Of the $120 billion in home loans underwritten 4. When white and black families of similar in- by the federal government between 1933 and comes are compared, what is the difference in 1962, what percentage went to white their net worth? homeowners? A. No difference A. 45 percent B. Black net worth is slightly greater B. 64 percent C. White net worth is more than eight times greater C. 75 percent D. White net worth is more than two times greater D. 88 percent E. Black net worth is twice as great E. 98 percent 5. According to a 1993 study, 86% of suburban 2. Which of the following is not a result of federal whites lived in a community where the black government policies? population was: A. Redlining A. Less than 5% B. Urban renewal B. Less than 10% C. Deterioration of inner cities C. Less than 1% D. Affirmative action quotas D. More than 10% E. The wealth gap between black and white families E. More than 15%

3. Today, the net worth of the average white family 6. Which is NOT an example of a government racial is how much compared to the average black preference program? family? A. 1964 Civil Rights Act A. Three times as much B. 1862 Homestead Act B. Eight times as much C. 1790 Naturalization Act C. Half as much D. 1934 Federal Housing Administration D. Twice as much E. 1935 Social Security Act E. The same

8 • Poverty & Race • Vol. 13, No. 3 • May/June 2004 (LOW-WAGE: Continued from page 2) many of the institutions, laws and po- torically had championed workers’ in- litical allies that generally helped to terests mostly sat silent. Unions were deregulate industries that had been counterbalance these forces. Govern- in decline, and the right to organize highly unionized; Federal Reserve ment and corporations, instead of was subjected to government and cor- policies; and a corporate ideological working to shore up institutions that porate assault. When workers tried to shift that eliminated the post-war so- improve their conditions through or- cial contract with workers and empha- It takes reasserting the ganizing a union, they were met with sized a principle of maximizing share- right to organize unions intimidation or worse. In the 1950s, holder value. These decisions contrib- a few hundred workers each year were uted to the deterioration in low-wage in the United States. fired, harassed or threatened for try- conditions and a worsening of dispari- ing to organize a union. By the 1990s, ties in income and wealth. had historically helped these workers the number exceeded 20,000. In 1979, During this same period, the most and given them power, attacked and 25% of the workforce was unionized vulnerable workers were deprived of weakened them. Liberal allies who his- — today, only one-tenth. Minimum-wage laws, fair employment and labor laws were all under- Readings Beth Shulman, The Betrayal of Work: How cut. Today, the $5.15 per hour mini- Low-Wage Jobs Fail 30 Million Ameri- mum wage represents a 21% cut in Gregory Acs, Katherin Ross Phillips and cans (New York: The New Press, 2003) Daniel McKenzie, “Playing by the Rules, purchasing power from 1979. The last but Losing the Game: Americans in Low- Organizations increase in the minimum wage was Income Working Families,” in Richard seven years ago. Unemployment in- Kazis and Marc S. Miller, eds. Low-Wage AFL-CIO surance covers fewer and fewer low- Workers in the New Economy (Washing- Public Policy Department ton, DC: The Urban Institute Press, 2001) wage workers. Between 1950 and Phone: 202/637-5000 1980, about one-half of the unem- Eileen Appelbaum, Annette Bernhardt and Association of Community Organiza- Richard J. Murnane, eds. Low-Wage ployed received unemployment ben- tions for Reform Now (ACORN) efits. By the mid-eighties, because of America (New York: The Russell Sage Phone: 718/246-7939 Foundation, 2003) program changes that tightened eligi- Ballot Initiative Strategy Center bility requirements, only a third re- Jared Bernstein and Heidi Hartmann, “De- Phone: 202/223-2373 fining and Characterizing the Low-Wage ceived benefits. Most of those not cov- Labor Market,” in The Low-Wage La- Center on Budget and Policy Priorities ered were lower-wage workers who bor Market: Challenges and Opportuni- Phone: 202/408-1080 did not meet the minimum hours and ties for Economic Self-Sufficiency, U.S. Economic Policy Institute earning requirement that most states Department of Health and Human Ser- Phone: 202/775-8810 vices, Office of the Secretary, Assistant impose for eligibility. Secretary for Planning and Evaluation Fairness Initiative on Low-Wage Work The very existence of these low- (Washington, DC: December 1999) Phone: 202/326-8700 wage conditions should shame us as a Lowwagework.org Michelle M. Doty and Alyssa L. nation. But today, we can make dif- Holmgren, “Unequal Access: Insurance Families and Work Institute ferent choices that would improve these Instability Among Low-Income Workers Phone: 212/465-2044 jobs and the lives of these workers and and Minorities” Issue Brief, The Com- Good Jobs First their families. Now it is time to estab- monwealth Fund (April 2004) Phone: 202/737-4315 lish a new compact between working Greg Halpern, Harvard Works Because Institute for Women’s Policy Research Americans and employers and govern- We Do (Quantuck Lane Press, 2003 – Phone: 202/785-5100 ment. We must guarantee that every- distributed by W.W. Norton) Jobs with Justice one who works hard can have the re- Daniel E. Hecker, “Occupational Em- Phone: 202/434-1106 sources to provide the basics for them- ployment Projections to 2012,” Monthly Labor Review (February 2004) Leadership Conference on Civil Rights selves and their families. Phone: 202/466-1885 What can we do— Lawrence Mishel, Jared Bernstein and • Re-establish a wage floor, so that Heather Boushey, The State of Working National Center for Children in Poverty America 2002-2003 (Ithaca, NY: Cornell Phone: 646/284-9631 employers cannot sink below it. Corporations will then have to University Press, 2003) National Immigration Forum Harry J. Holzer, What Employers Want: Phone: 202/347-0058 compete in quality and innovation, not in a race to the bottom of work- Job Prospects for Less-Educated Work- National Partnership for Women and ers (New York: Russell Sage Founda- Families ers’ wages and benefits. We must tion, 1996) Phone: 202/986-2600 raise the minimum wage. • Ensure that all working Americans Harriet B. Presser, Working in a 24/7 Wider Opportunities for Women Economy: Challenges for American Fami- Phone: 202/464-1596 and their families are provided with lies (New York: Russell Sage Founda- health insurance. It is not fair that tion, 2004) (Please turn to page 10)

May/June 2004 • Poverty & Race • Vol.13, No. 3 • 9 (LOW-WAGE: Continued from page 9) a nation choose to make rules that pro- Fail 30 Million Americans (2003, The vide a fair economy for all Americans. New Press). She is a director of a low- employers doing the right thing wage work project and a consultant. must compete against those that Beth Shulman (bethshulman @ A lawyer, she was formerly Vice-Presi- profit from neglecting their work- yahoo.com) is the author of The Be- dent of the United Food and Commer- ers’ health. Taxpayers should not trayal of Work: How Low-Wage Jobs cial Workers International Union. ❏ have to pick up the bill at emer- gency rooms for profitable companies that offer no health insurance or pay their workers too little to New on PRRAC’s Website: afford the company plan. • We can insist as well that our elected • Civil Rights Mandates in the Low Income Housing Tax Credit officials offer incentives to employ- (LIHTC) Program (March 31, 2004): This letter to the I.R.S. was sub- ers who provide quality jobs, and mitted by 14 legal services and civil rights organizations, including PRRAC, we can deny tax benefits, public Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, and the New Jersey Insitute for Social dollars and project contracts to Justice. The letter includes comments on a draft guide issued by the I.R.S. those that do not. to assist state Housing Finance Agencies in assessing fair housing compli- • Finally, it takes reasserting the right ance by local developers. It is part of a larger research and advocacy effort to organize unions in the United to improve civil rights enforcement in the LIHTC program, which is cur- States. Today, many workers who rently the nation’s largest housing production program. www.prrac.org/ try to organize a union face em- policy.php ployer harassment or discharge. It’s illegal, but the laws are not enforced • Fair Housing Implications of the Administration’s Flexible Voucher and are so weak that they fail to Proposal (April 2004): Housing advocacy groups have criticized the se- deter unlawful employer conduct. vere impact the administration’s new “Flexible Voucher Program” and Sec- Workers should get to choose whether they want to unionize, tion 8 budget proposals would have on low-income families, potentially without employer interference, let removing Section 8 housing benefits from up to 250,000 families nation- alone intimidation. wide by 2005 (see www.nlihc.org and www.cbbp.org). In a new analy- In the past, our society has estab- sis, PRRAC points out that the flexible voucher proposal would also limit lished laws to prevent child labor, to housing choices, interfere with efforts to promote regional housing mobil- ensure that older Americans would not ity, and would likely lead to greater concentration of Section 8 recipients in be impoverished or go without health high-poverty, segregated neighborhoods. www.prrac.org/policy.php care, and to prevent discrimination by race, religion, sex or national origin. • A Guide to Food/Nutrition/Hunger Research on the Internet: The Now it is time to prevent employers first of 12 planned research guides to assist visitors to PRRAC’s website from competing on the basis of im- find timely data and analysis on substantive race and poverty issues. poverishing their workers. We can as www.prrac.org (go to food/nutrition/hunger page)

Resources

When ordering items from When ordering items from the Resources Section, PRRAC: SASE = self- Please drop us a line letting us know how useful please note that most addressed stamped our Resources Section is to you, as both a lister listings direct you to envelope (37¢ unless and requester of items. We hear good things, but contact an organization otherwise indicated). only sporadically. Having a more complete sense other than PRRAC. Prices Orders may not be placed of the effectiveness of this networking function will include the shipping/ by telephone or fax. help us greatly in foundation fundraising work handling (s/h) charge Please indicate from (and is awfully good for our morale). Drop us a when this information is which issue of P&R you short note, letting us know if it has been/is useful to provided to PRRAC. “No are ordering. you (how many requests you get when you list an price listed” items often item, how many items you send away for, etc.) are free. Thank you.

10 • Poverty & Race • Vol. 13, No. 4 • May/June 2004 Race/Racism • “What Does It Mean 2004 Policy Brief, • The Southern to Be Korean Today?” is available (possibly free) Empowerment Project is • A Day Without a the theme of Vol. 29, No. from the Natl. Poverty holding a series of Mexican is a new film by 3 (2003-2004) of Ctr., 1015 E. Huron St., Community Organizing & Sergio Arrau. “It’s about Amerasia Journal, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, Fundraising training what would happen if all published by the UCLA 734/615-5312, sessions: July 6-9, July the Latinos in California Asian American Studies www.npc.umich.edu 12-16, July 19-23, 2004, disappeared. Who would Ctr. (headed by PRRAC [8685] www.southern mow the lawns, pick the Bd. member Don empowerment.org [8720] fruits, wash the cars and Nakanishi). Copies of the • “Poverty: What Can do all the menial jobs that 200-page volume are Be Done About It?” was a so many take for available ($17) from the set of articles that Criminal granted.” www. Ctr., 3237 Campbell Hall/ appeared in the Aug. 1, adaywithoutamexican.com Box 951546, LA, CA 2003 issue of The Watch- Justice [8671] 90095-1546, 310/ tower. Possibly available 825-2968, aascpress@ from the person who sent • “From the Prison • National Data on aasc.ucla.edu [8738] them to us: Angelica Track to the College Latinos in the US and Grigsby, 4402 Garrett Track” is a 2004 report Puerto Rico have just • Conference on Race, Park Rd., Silver Spring, examining pathways to been released by the Ethnicity & Place, MD 20906. [8716] postsecondary success for Latino Data Ctr. of the sponsored by Binghamton out-of-school youth, Puerto Rican Legal Univ. (ex-SUNY- • “From Welfare to www.jff.org/jff/newsroom/ Defense & Educ. Fund. Binghamton), Howard Work: What the 1996 PR/2004/PR_4_14_2004. Contact them at 99 Univ. & the Assn. of Welfare Reform Initia- html [8675] Hudson St., 14th flr., American Geographers, tive Has Meant for NYC, NY 10013, 212/ will be held Sept. 17-18, Children,” by Erin • “The New Landscape 739-7499. [8681] 2004 in DC. Inf. at Holland (22 pp.), ap- of Imprisonment: [email protected] peared in the Winter Mapping America’s • Low-Income & www.aag.org/meetings/ 2004 issue of the Prison Expansion,” by Minority Use of Alterna- place.html [8733] Georgetown Journal on Sarah Lawrence & Jeremy tive Financial Service Poverty Law & Policy, Travis, is a 2004 report, Providers is the subject • A Civil Rights Conf., available from the available (possibly free) of an April 2004 Urban organized by the Rutgers journal, 202/662-9468, from The Urban Inst. Inst. report, www. School of Law (Camden) ojasubscriptions@law. 2100 M St. NW, Wash., knowledgeplex.org Law Student Assn. & georgetown.edu [8745] DC 20037, 202/ [8696] undergraduate orgs., will 261-5709, www.urban. be held Sept. 30-Oct. 2, • “Democracy Bound: org [8677] • Defining Difference: 2004. Inf. from Mariama Moving a Contract for Race & Racism in the Oglivie, 856/225-2810, Social Justice,” spon- • “The Meaning of History of Psychology, [email protected] sored by the Natl. ‘Life’: Long Prison ed. Andrew S. Winston [8734] Network of Grantmakers, Sentences in Context” is (320 pp., 2004, $49.95), will be held in Miami, a 2004 report from The is available from the Oct. 16-19, 2004. Inf. Sentencing Project, on Amer. Psychological Poverty/ from NNG, 2801 21st the 127,000 persons -- 1 Assn., 800/374-2721, Ave., #132, Mpls., MN in every 11 persons in www.apa.org/books Welfare 55407, 612/724-0704, prison -- now serving a [8701] [email protected] [8727] life sentence, at a poten- • “The New American tial cost of $1 million for • Race-ing Moral Economy: A Rising Tide each sentence. Available Formation: African That Lifts Only Yachts” Community at www.sentencing American Perspectives on is a 12-page, 2004 project.org/pdfs/lifers.pdf Care & Justice, eds. “Reality Check” Guide to Organizing [8680] Vanessa Siddle Walker & the Issues, available John R. Snarey (208 pp., (possibly free) from The • “BAM! Building a • “Schools and Pris- 2004, $20.95), is avail- Century Fdn., 41 E. 70 Movement: A Popular ons: 50 Years After able from Teachers St., NYC, NY 10021, Education Skills Retreat Brown v. Board of College Press, 800/ 212/535-4441, on Movement Building in Education” (April 2004), 575-6566. [8710] www.tcf.org [8670] Wash., DC,” sponsored from the Sentencing by Project South, will be Project, finds there are • A Report on Racism • “Substance Abuse & held June 12-13, 2004 in now nine times as many from the Saint Paul Welfare Reform,” by DC. Inf. from 202/ African Americans in Foundation is available at Rukmalie Jayakody, 332-5333, projectsouthdc prison or jail since 1954; fdncenter.org/pnd/news/ Sheldon Danzinger, @earthlink.net, 52% of black men in story/.jhtml?id= Kristin Seefeldt & Harold www.projectsouth.org their early 30s who are 67200029 [8714] Pollack, is a 4-page, April [8725] high school dropouts

May/June 2004 • Poverty & Race • Vol.13, No. 3 • 11 have a prison record. by the Northwest Area room” is a research • “Choosing Better www.sentencingproject.org/ Foundation, will be held initiative from the Schools: A Report on pdfs/brownvboard.pdf Sept. 12-14, 2004 in St. Harvard Civil Rights Student Transfers Under [8695] Paul. Inf. from Project and the Southern the No Child Left Behind www.grassrootsand Poverty Law Center. Act,” by Cynthia G. • “Felon Disenfran- groundwork.nwaf.org Proposals must be Brown, (130 pp., May chisement: A Policy [8730] received by June 4, 2004. 2004), is available Whose Time Has Inf. from 617/496-4753, (possibly free) from the Passed?,” by Marc www.civilrightsproject. Citizens Commn. on Civil Mauer, appeared in the Education harvard.edu [8687] Rights (whose vice-chair Winter 2004 issue of is PRRAC Bd. member Human Rights, the Amer. • Class and Schools: • Poll Supports William Taylor), 2000 M Bar Assn. journal. Using Social, Economic Equality in Schools: A St. NW, #400, Wash., DC Available from the and Educational Reform May 2004 poll reveals 20036, 202/659-6656, author, 202/628-0871, to Close the Black-White that most Americans [email protected], mauer@sentencingproject. Achievement Gap, by believe in increasing www.cccr.org/publica- org [8703] Richard Rothstein (210 funding to “whatever tions/index.cfm [8741] pp., 2004, $17.95), has level it takes” to improve • “Race, Class and the been published by the low-performing schools. •“Individual Growth Development of Criminal Econ. Policy Inst. & lccr.convio.net/siter/ and School Success,” by Justice Policy,” by Marc Columbia Univ. Teachers R?i=hJoFbum-on Martha McCall, Gage Mauer, appeared in College. Available from 4kkXtYQtUwLw [8690] Kingsbury & Allan Oson Review of Policy Re- EPI, 1660 L St. NW, (33 pp., 2004), is avail- search (2004); available #1200, Wash., DC • “The Real Value of able from the Northwest from the author, 202/ 20036, www.epinet.org Teachers” is the theme of Evaluation Assn. (Lake 628-0871, mauer@ [8662] the Winter 2004, 43-page Oswego, OR), www.nwea. sentencingproject.org issue of Thinking K-16, org/research/growthstudy. [8704] • “Can Separate Be published by and avail- html [8750] Equal? The Overlooked able (no price listed) from • “The Social Cost of Flaw at the Center of No The Education Trust • “The Achievement America’s Race to Child Left Behind” is a (headed by former Gap: Should We Rely on Incarcerate,” by Marc 12-page, 2004 “Reality PRRAC Bd. member Kati SAT Scores to Tell Us Mauer & Michael Coyle, Check” Guide to the Haycock), 1725 K St. Anything About It?,” by appeared in the Journal Issues, available (possibly NW, #200, Wash., DC Dale Whittington, of Religion & Spirituality free) from The Century 20006, 202/293-1217, appeared in Education in Social Work (2004). Fdn., 41 E. 70 St., NYC, www.edtrust.org [8699] Policy Analysis Archives, Available from the NY 10021, 212/ Vol. 12, No. 2 (April author, 202/628-0871, 535-4441, www.tcf.org • Echoes of Brown: 2004) htt://epaa.asu.edu mauer@sentencing [8669] Youth Documenting & [8752] project.org [8706] Performing the Legacy of • “Boston Charter Brown v. Board of • Community-Based Schools Show Concen- Education, by Michelle Research and Higher Economic/ trated Enrollments of Af- Fine, Rosemarie A. Education: Principles rican American Students, Roberts, Marie Elena and Practices, by Kerry Community Underenrollments of Torre, Janice Bloom, J. Strand, Nicholas Development Latino & Asian Stu- April Burns, Lori Chajet, Cutforth, Randy dents,” by Anne Monique Guishard & Stoecker, Sam Marullo & • “Hidden in Plain Wheelock, is a 5-page, Yasser Payne, a 2004, Patrick Donahue (304 Sight: A Look at the May 2004 email report, 96-page book and DVD, pp., May 2003), has been $335 Billion Federal available (likely free) is available ($24.95) from published by Jossey-Bass. Asset-Building Budget” from the author at Teachers College Press, [8753] (14 pp., 2004) is avail- [email protected] 800/575-6566. [8708] able (no price listed) from [8673] • “Standards for the Corp. for Enterprise • School Connections: What? The Economic Development, 777 N. • “Invest in Equality” U.S. Mexican Youth, Roots of K-16 Reform,” Capitol St. NE, Wash., is a 12-point plan by the Peers & School Achieve- by Anthony P. Carnevale DC 20002, 202/ Leadership Conf. on Civil ment, eds. Margaret A. & Donna M. Desrochers 408-9788. [8700] Rights, released on May Gibson, Patricia Gandara (89 pp., 2003), is avail- 17, 2004, the 50th anniv. & Jill Peterson Koyama able (free) from Educ. • “Grassroots & of the Brown decision, (224 pp., 2004, $21.95), Testing Service, 1800 K Groundwork: Practical www.realizethedream.org is available from Teachers St. NW, #900, Wash., DC Models for Reducing [8682] College Press, 800/ 20006, 202/659-8056, Poverty & Rebuilding 575-6566, www.tcpress. www.ets.org/research. Communities,” sponsored • “Positive Interracial org [8712] publeadpubs.html [8758] Outcomes in the Class-

12 • Poverty & Race • Vol. 13, No. 3 • May/June 2004 • “With All Deliberate Families/ Joseph G. Grzywacz, Julie Children & Youth, will Speed? Social Justice & Early, Janeth Tapia, be held Oct. 16-19, 2004 the Future of Public Women/ Christopher M. Graham in St. Paul. Inf. from Education,” the 15th Children & Thomas Arcury (23 www.naehcy.org [8732] anniversary Natl. Coal. of pp., Spring 2004), is Education Activists conf., • “Beyond Marriage available (no price listed) will be held July 29-Aug. Licenses: Efforts to from the Ctr. for Latino Housing 1, 2004 in Phila. Vincent Strengthen Marriage & Health Research, Dept. of Harding is keynote Two-Parent Families. A Family & Comm. Medi- • “Native American speaker. Inf. from NCEA, State-by-State Snapshot,” cine, Wake Forest Univ. Housing” is the theme of 1420 Walnut St., #720, by Theodora Ooms, School of Medicine, the Spring 2004 issue of Phila., PA 19102, 215/ Stacey Bouchet & Mary Winston-Salem, NC Rural Voices, the maga- 735-2418, conference@ Parke (75 pp., 2004), is 27157-1084, 336/ zine of the Housing edactivists.org, www. available from the Ctr. 716-9348. [8684] Assistance Council. The edactivists.org [8728] for Law & Social Policy 29-page issue is available (headed by former • Heath Care Demon- (free) from HAC, 1025 • “Closing the Gap: No PRRAC Bd. member Alan stration: On June 19, Vermont Ave. NW, #606, Small Roles in Big Houseman), 1015 15th St. 2004, SEIU is organizing Wash., DC 20005, 202/ Change” is the 15th natl. NW, #400, Wash., DC a nationwide demonstra- 842-8600, www. conf. of The Education 20005, 202/906-8000, tion on behalf of the 44 ruralhome.org [8663] Trust (headed by former www.clasp.org/Pubs/ million Americans who PRRAC Bd. member Kati Pubs_Couples [8747] have no health insurance • “A Decade of HOPE Haycock), Nov. 11-13, and the millions more VI: Research Findings & 2004 in DC. A Call for • “No Minor Matter: who are underinsured, Policy Challenges,” by Proposals has been Developing a Coherent www.unionvoice.org/seiu/ Susan Popkin, Bruce issued, with a May 28 Policy on Paternity join.html?r=vpauz61EdJDE Katz, Mary Cunningham, deadline (www. Establishment for [8754] Karen Brown, Jeremy edtrust.org). Inf. from Children Born to Under- Gustafson & Margery the Trust, 1725 K St. age Parents,” by Paula • “5th National Harm Austin Turner (62 pp., NW, #200, Wash., DC Roberts, is a 2004 Policy Reduction Conf.,” May 2004), is available 20006, 202/293-1217, Brief, available (possibly sponsored by the Harm (no price listed) from The www.edtrust.org [8722] free) from the Ctr. for Reduction Coal., will be Urban Inst., 2100 M St. Law & Social Policy held Nov. 11-14, 2004 in NW, Wash., DC 20037, (headed by former New Orleans. Inf. from 202/833-7200. [8668] Employment/ PRRAC Bd. member Alan the Coal., 22 W. 27 St., Jobs Policy Houseman), 1015 15th St. 5th flr., NYC, NY 10001, • HUD’s Voucher NW, #400, Wash., DC conference@ Policy: The Ctr. on 20005, 202/906-8000. harmreduction.org, Budget & Policy Priori- • “Getting Time Off: [8748] www.harmreduction.org ties (headed by former Access to Leave among [8721] PRRAC Bd. member Working Parents,” by • “Child Care Pro- Robert Greenstein) has an Katherin Ross Phillips, is grams Help Parents Find April 2004 paper discuss- an April 2004 policy and Keep Jobs: Funding Homelessness ing HUD’s voucher brief, available from The Shortfalls Leave Many funding policy; available Urban Inst., 2100 M St. Families Without • A Shelter is Not a at www.cbpp.org/ NW, Wash., DC 20037, Assistance,” by Jennifer Home . . . Or Is It? 4-26-04hous.htm [8694] 202/261-5815, www. Mezey (2004), is avail- Lessons from Family urban.org/url. able (possibly free) from Homelessness in NYC, by • “A Hope Unseen: cfm?ID=310977 [8678] the Ctr. for Law & Social Ralph da Costa Nunez Voices From the Other Policy (headed by former (139 pp., 2004), pub- Side of HOPE VI” is an PRRAC Bd. member Alan lished by White Tiger 86-page, 2004 field study Environment Houseman), 1015 15th St. Press, is available (no by the Ctr. for Comm. NW, #400, Wash., DC price listed) from the Inst. Change & ENPHRONT • Running on Empty: 20005, 202/906-8000, for Children & Poverty, (Everywhere and Now Transport, Social Exclu- www.clasp.org/Pubs/ 36 Cooper Sq., 6th flr., Public Housing Residents sion & Environmental Pubs_ChildCare [8749] NYC, NY 10003, 212/ Organizing Nationally Justice, ed. Karen Lucas 529-5252, www.institute Together). Available (no (224 pp., 2004, $38.95), forchildrenandpoverty.org price listed) from the comparing US and UK Health [8667] Center, 1000 Wisconsin policy and practice, is Ave. NW, Wash., DC available from Policy • “Leaving Family for • “Moving Every 20007, 202/342-0519. Press, 800/944-6190. Work: Ambivalence & Child Ahead,” sponsored [8697] [8702] Mental Health among by the Natl. Assn. for the Migrant Latino Education of Homeless Farmworkers,” by

May/June 2004 • Poverty & Race • Vol.13, No. 3 • 13 • Housing Assistance & research/pic [8691] • “Take Back relevant writing sample the Effects of Welfare America,” sponsored by by June 1 to MPI, 1400 Reform is the subject of a • “The Rise of New the Campaign for 16th St. NW, #300. 2004 HUD report, using Immigrant Gateways,” America’s Future, will be Wash., DC 20036. [8689] evidence from Connecti- by Audrey Singer (35 held June 2-4, 2004 in cut & Minnesota. Avail- pp., Feb. 2004), is DC. Among the great • The National Hous- able from HUD USER, available (no price listed) many great presenters: ing Inst. is hiring a 800/245-2691, www. from the Brookings Inst. Elaine Jones, Nancy Research Associate & a huduser.org/publications/ Ctr. for Urban & Met. Pelosi, Paul Krugman, Managing Editor for pubasst/housingAsst.html Policy, 1775 Mass. Ave. Jim Hightower, Howard Shelterforce, their [8744] NW, Wash., DC Dean, Barack Obama, bimonthly magazine. For 20036-2188, 202/ Anthony Romero, Danny both, ltr./resume (and for • “2004 Natl. Fair 797-6000, Glover, Al Franken, Editor job, 2 clips) to Housing Training Conf. www.brookings.edu Maria Cantwell, et al. Inf. [email protected] [8736] & Housing Policy [8692] from the Campaign, 1025 Summit,” sponsored by Conn. Ave. NW, #205, • New American HUD’s Office of Fair • “At Home in the Wash., DC 20036, 202/ Freedom Summer is Housing & Equal Oppor- Nation’s Capital: Immi- 833-4456, x101, seeking activists to work tunity, will be held June grant Trends in Metro- www.ourfuture.org [8723] for a min. 4-6 weeks to 13-18, 2004 in DC. politan Washington,” by make door-to-door [8724] Audrey Singer (19 pp., • “Globalization and contacts with immigrants June 2003), is available the African World: in FL and AZ “to encour- • “A Place to Call (no price listed) from the Challenges for the 21st age them to participate in Home: Exploring Brookings Inst. Ctr. for Century,” sponsored by civil life; participate in Innovative Approaches Urban & Met. Policy, TransAfrica Forum comm.-based educ. to Housing People with 1775 Mass. Ave. NW, (headed by former around immigrant rights; Mental Illness,” spon- Wash., DC 20036-2188, PRRAC Bd. member Bill and engage in direct sored by the Mental 202/797-6000, Fletcher) will be held action ‘Truth Brigades’ Health Assn. in Tulsa, www.brookings.edu/ June 11-12, 2004 in DC. that expose the problems will be held Sept. 29-Oct. urban [8693] Inf. from the Forum, 202/ of our broken immigra- 1, 2004 in Tulsa. Inf. 223-1960, x116, tion system.” Prior from www.mhat.org • Immigrants, Welfare info@transafricaforum. training will take place in [8735] Reform, and the Poverty org [8726] Mississippi from leaders of Policy, by Philip of the 1964 Freedom Kretsedemas & Ana • “Walls . . . or Summer. Min. stipend of Immigration Aparicio (328 pp., 2004, Bridges?” is the annual $150/wk. + accommoda- $79.95), has been Planners Network Conf., tions. Inf. at 202/ • “BRIDGE: Building published by Praeger, June 25-27, 2004 in 530-4720, www,iwfr.org/ a Race & Immigration www.brookings.edu/ NYC. Inf. from PN, 379 voterapp.asp [8737] Dialogue in the Global urban/publications/ DeKalb Ave., Brooklyn, Economy,” by Eunice 200405-singer.htm [8751] NY 11205, www.planners • SEIU is seeking an Hyunye Cho, Pancho network.org [8755] Entry Level Researcher Agruelles, Miriam Ching to support health care Yoon Louie & Sasha Miscellaneous organizing in Portland, Khokha, is a 2004 Job OR. Resume/brief writing publication from the Natl. • New Website on sample/list of refs to Network for Immigrant & Cross-Class Alliance Opportunities/ [email protected] [8739] Refugee Rights (headed Building has been Fellowships/ by PRRAC Bd. member initiated by Betsy Grants • ACLU of NJ has a Cathi Tactaquin). $34 Leondar-Wright, 21 Staff Attorney opening. from NNIRR, 310 8th St., Belknap St., Arlington, $40-55,000. Ltr./resume/ #303, Oakland, CA MA 02474, 781/ • Midwest Academy law school transcript/ 94607, 510/465-1984, 648-0630, www. Internships: Paid full-time legal writing sample/2-3 www.nnirr.org [8672] ClassMatters.org [8679] internships are available refs. to Human Re- for work with statewide sources, Job ID:7354, • “A Human Capital • Urban Economics and orgs. in Des Moines, ACLU-NJ, PO Box 740, Concern: The Literacy Land Use in America: Camden, eastern Long Newark, NJ 07101. Proficiency of U.S. The Transformation of Island. June 5 start date. [8740] Immigrants” (60 pp., Cities in the Twentieth Apply immediately to March 2004) is available Century, by Alan [email protected], ($15) from Educ. Testing Rabinowitz (259 pp., www.usaction.org [8674] Service, Rosedale Rd., 2004, $26.95), has been MS 04-R, Princeton, NJ published by M.E. • The Migration Policy 08541, 609/734-5694; Sharpe, 914/273-1800. Inst. is seeking an Editor. free at www.ets.org/ [8713] Resume/ltr./salary reqs./

14 • Poverty & Race • Vol. 13, No. 3 • May/June 2004 Answers to Housing Quiz, page 8 downpayment of their own home. Economists estimate 50-80% of one’s lifetime wealth accumulation can be traced to this head start. 1. E. 98 percent As wealth gets passed down from generation to generation, the Beginning in the 1930s and 1940s, the federal government cre- legacy of past discrimination accumulates, giving whites and non- ated programs that subsidized low-cost home loans, opening up whites vastly different life chances. homeownership to millions of Americans for the first time. At the same time, government underwriters introduced a national appraisal 4. D. White net worth is more than two times greater system tying property value and loan eligibility to race, inventing See above (Question #3) for explanation. “redlining,” and effectively locking nonwhites out of homebuying just as most middle-class white Americans were beginning to pur- 5. C. Less than 1% chase homes. According to the 2000 Census, whites are more likely to be segregated than any other group. This is largely a result of past housing 2. D. Affirmative action quotas discrimination, but it is perpetuated today by unfair practices such Federal affirmative action guidelines specifically prohibit quotas. as predatory lending, racial steering and a substantial wealth gap Beginning in the 1930, the Federal Housing Administration and between black and white families. Today, 71% of whites own their related programs made it possible for millions of average white own home, compared to 44% of African Americans. Black and Americans to own a home for the first time and set off the post- Latino mortgage applicants are 60% more likely than whites to be WWII suburban building boom. The government established a na- turned down for loans, even after controlling for employment, fi- tional neighborhood appraisal system, explicitly tying mortgage eli- nancial, and neighborhood characteristics. On average, nonwhites gibility to race, a policy known today as “redlining.” The FHA and who are approved for mortgages still pay higher rates. other government policies made possible the post-World War II all- white suburbs, while people of color in central cities were denied 6. A. 1964 Civil Rights Act loans. Government policies and practices helped create two legacies The Civil Rights Act made racial discrimination in public places that are still with us today: segregated communities and a substan- illegal. The other programs are all examples of racial preferences - tial wealth gap between whites and nonwhites, much of which can for white people. Over a 40-year period, the Homestead Act gave be traced to the differential value of their homes. away, for free, 270 million acres of what had been Indian Territory, almost all of it to white people. The Naturalization Act allowed only 3. B: Eight times as much “free white persons” to adopt citizenship, thus opening our doors to Probably no one statistic better captures the cumulative disad- European immigrants, but barring Asians and other groups. Racial vantage of past discrimination than wealth. Even at the same income barriers to citizenship were not removed until 1952. The Federal levels, whites still have, on average, twice as much wealth as non- Housing Administration made it possible for millions of average whites. Much of this difference is due to the different rates of white Americans - but not others - to own a home for the first time. homeownership and the different values of homes in white and (see #2 above). And the Social Security Act specifically exempted black neighborhoods. But wealth is not only the end point, it’s the two occupations from coverage: farmworkers and domestics, both starting line for the next generation - helping finance your children’s largely nonwhite. education, helping them through hard times, or helping with the

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