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How the Seattle Open Housing Campaign Broke the Barriers of Inequality

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How the Seattle Open Housing Campaign Broke the Barriers of Inequality Exhibit Entry Information The Fight Against Segregated Seattle: How the Seattle Open Housing Campaign Broke Title: the Barriers of Inequality Name(s): Haley van Meurs, Liana Moldovanu, Isabelle Gerrard Division: Senior (Junior/Senior) Individual/ Group Group: Number of Student Composed Words on 497 Exhibit: (Optional) Link to Any Audio or Video on Exhibit (no more N/A than 3 minutes total): Picture of Entire Exhibit Thesis/Historical Argument Thesis After racial discrimination and rejection of fair housing bills in the late 1950s, the Seattle 1959-1968 Open Housing Campaign broke down the city’s racial housing barriers through fervent protests. The campaign also gave rise to laws in 1968 with the Seattle Open Housing Ordinance and became part of a national movement towards fair housing legislation, paving the path for equal housing for minorities. Picture of Left Panel of Exhibit Picture of Left Panel of Exhibit An Ugly Past The 1960s were a time of growing activism, with the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) ramping up its fight for open housing nationally. “CORE prepared to extend its fair housing campaign to universities in other cities. CORE national director, James Farmer, who came here to address a mass meeting, described the Chicago sit-ins as ‘the start of a great struggle to root out housing segregation”’(Courtesy Detroit Tribune, February 10, 1962). Seattle was among the major cities spearheading the national open housing campaign to upend housing discrimination. Many of Seattle’s citizens were impacted by housing discrimination, including Jean Adams, a member of CORE. She recalls, “ I got to thinking about what I would have been thinking if I had not been white. About what is actually going on here. Is there something strange going on here are they going to deny me this house? And it really came through to me in a very personal way, what an awful experience that would be'' (Jean Maid Adams, Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project). Picture & Text on Left Panel of Exhibit 2 of 3 These outwardly discriminatory practices were often found in covenants of various neighborhoods, stating, “No person or persons of Asiatic, African or Negro blood, lineage or extraction, shall be permitted to occupy a portion of said property, or any building thereon” (Deeds, Vol. 1450, page 348, April 1, 1929 King County Recorder's Office. Courtesy the Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project). Racially dividing neighborhoods and communities, however, was not the only impact of these covenants. The primary purpose of restricting neighborhoods was to segregate schools, churches, and places of work, creating social and economic barriers in the community. Rise of the Movement To combat discrimination, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), requested the city pass a fair housing ordinance, and the city held a public hearing to debate the proposal. “No city or nation can afford to isolate a portion of its citizens into inferior status. The housing pattern in Seattle is no better than in the hard-core southern states. The NAACP requests a hearing as to the needs of a housing ordinance at which time they will present evidence of the difficulties of Negroes in securing better housing, and the damage it is doing to the community”(NAACP Letter to Seattle City Council from Seattle Municipal Archives, 1961). Seattle failed to adopt the ordinance, but Mayor Clinton appointed the Citizens Advisory Committee on Minority Housing. Picture & Text on Left Panel of Exhibit 3 of 3 The committee reviewed the issue and recommended to the mayor that an open housing ordinance should be signed with an emergency clause.“Your committee has concluded that a city ordinance prohibiting discrimination in the sale or rental of housing accommodations on the basis of race, creed, color or national origin is an essential tool for the work of a city commission on human relations . Although a number of excellent privately-supported agencies in Seattle are carrying on a general education and public relations program, seeking the voluntary elimination of discrimination in housing and other fields, they lack an official standing” (Citizens Advisory Committee on Minority Housing Report, 1962). Mayor Clinton refused to sign an ordinance, outraging the African American community and prompting the chairman of CORE, Reginald Alleyne, to send an angry letter to the mayor. “A Human Rights Commission with no enforcement power will be in a position to do little more than study a problem that has too long been the subject of too much study and too little action. Your recommendation is essentially a request for more study and continued inaction”(CORE to Mayor Clinton, December 28, 1962). Picture of Center Panel of Exhibit Picture & Text on Center Panel 1 of 3 No More Talk; We Want Action NOW! In response to the city’s stalling, CORE decided to take action.“About 35 young persons began a ‘sit-in’, in Mayor Clinton’s office this afternoon to protest the mayor’s not calling for an open housing ordinance. The sit-in began immediately after a demonstration in the Fifth Avenue plaza of the City Hall. The Demonstration attended by a friendly, relaxed crowd of more than 400 persons, preceded this afternoon’s City Council meeting. The Central District Youth Club sponsored the ‘sit-in’. Mayor Clinton appeared before the young persons, both white and Negro in the outer reception room of his office” (Courtesy of Seattle Daily Times, July 1, 1963). Picture & Text on Center Panel 2 of 3 Later that day, the city council held a meeting on open housing, and although the city took no further action, the people were unwilling to stop fighting and held another protest.“The Central Area Committee on Civil Rights is organizing a Freedom March and rally on August 28th, 1963, concurrent with the national march in Washington, D.C. The ‘march’ will proceed down Madison Street to the Federal Court House. “We call upon all right-thinking citizens of our city to join us in this witness to freedom, equality, and justice under the law” (Urban League Letter, Seattle Municipal Archives, 1963). Due to the protests and ongoing advocacy, the Seattle City Council agreed to put a fair housing ordinance on the ballot. To convince people to vote, CORE organized a rally.“Three days prior to the vote, on Saturday, March 1964, the Central Area Committee on Civil Rights led a ‘March to the Housing Rally.’ The Central Area Committee on Civil Rights by this time included all the civil rights organizations and many of the area churches... Approximately 1,500 people, both black and white, walked from these four starting points, merged, and marched together to a rally at Westlake mall”(Seattle in Black and White, 117). Picture & Text on Center Panel 3 of 3 Unfortunately, the vote lost by a 2:1 margin, and soon CORE began protesting at real estate offices to emphasize the need for change. “We are concerned that there has been no real communication between civil rights organizations and the real estate community in Seattle. It is because such a situation exists in Seattle that CORE has found it necessary to engage in direct action which has included picketing and sitting in a Picture Floor Plan offices and developments to protest the discriminatory practices of that company in an attempt to end these practices in the sale or rental of houses” (CORE to Mayor Braman, April 18, 1964 Seattle Office of the Mayor Records, Seattle Municipal Archives). Picture of Right Panel of Exhibit Picture & Text on Right Panel 1 of 3 The Direct Impact An instant change brought by the campaign was the Fair Housing Listing Service, described as “A committee of volunteers to find homes for sale to ALL QUALIFIED BUYERS in all areas of Seattle outside the central district and in the nearby suburban communities. The Fair Housing Listing Service is newly formed to coordinate the activities of the participants who published the first list of over 50 homes for sale in September” (Fair Housing Listing flyer Courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives, 1963). The Seattle Open Housing Campaign heavily influenced the signing of a statewide open housing bill, passed with the help of Senator Sam Smith, and Smith’s election to the city council. “It took me ten years in the Legislature, five terms, to get open housing passed, but I was urging its passage from the beginning .... And it wasn’t until 1967 that I caught them in the mood to pass it. But it had been building up, and it finally paid off. I did that with the whole legislature’s support. We passed it with everybody on board, both Republican and Democrat” (Smith 91). Picture & Text on Right Panel 2 of 3 In 1968, Seattle passed the Open Housing Ordinance, outlawing discrimination based on color, religion, and nationality and breaking down political, social, and economic barriers. “We got it. Open housing passed the Seattle city council on April 19th, 1968. We passed it with an emergency clause so it went into effect immediately and couldn’t be blocked or delayed by a referendum” (Smith 88). Thanks to protests for equal housing in cities across the nation, including Seattle, a similar bill was passed nationally. “Now, with this bill, the voice of justice speaks again. It proclaims that fair housing for all--all human beings who live in this country--is now a part of the American way of life” (Lyndon B Johnson, 1968). Picture & Text on Right Panel 3 of 3 In the next decades, open housing rights broadened in Seattle. “The open housing legislation passed in 1968 was amended in 1975 to include prohibitions against discrimination based on sex, marital status, sexual orientation, and political ideology; and in 1979 to include age and parental status.
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