RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN HOUSING: A STUDY IN QUEST FOR GOVERNMENTAL ACCESS BY MINORITY INTEREST GROUPS, 1945-1962 By IRVING BERG A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE COUNCIL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PABITAL FULFILLMENT OF THE EEQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA August, 19G7 UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 3 1262 08552 2034 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to express his appreciation to Dr. Ernest R. Bartley, Supervisory Committee Chairman, whose gentle prodding and guidance made possible the completion of the dissertation; to Dr. Manning J. Dauer, Chairman of the Department of Political Science, for the assistantships that allowed the continuance of graduate study; to Frances Levenson, former Director of the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing, for providing early publications, press releases and studies conducted by the organization that were otherwise unobtainable. 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. FEDERAL HOUSING PROGRAMS: GOVERNMENTAL SUPPORTS FOR SEGREGATION 18 III. CONSEQUENCES AND EFFECTS OF RESIDENTIAL SEGREGATION 68 IV. THE DIRECT APPROACH TO THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH: ATTEMPTS TO DESEGREGATE THE HOUSING PROGRAM THROUGH CONGRESSIONAL ACTION 98 V. DISCRIMINATION IN HOUSING AND THE FEDERAL COURTS 138 VI. STATE LAWS AGAINST DISCRIMINATION IN PUBLICLY ASSISTED HOUSING 196 VII. CONCEPTS OF EXECUTIVE ACTION IN CIVIL RIGHTS, 1945-1962 239 VIII. PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY ISSUES AN EXECUTIVE ORDER 277 IX. ANALYSIS OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S EXECUTIVE ORDER ON EQUAL OPPORTUNITY IN HOUSING: POSTSCRIPT TO ACTION 306 X. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 329 APPENDICES 347 A. ORGANIZATIONS AFFILIATED WITH THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE AGAINST DISCRIMINATION IN HOUSING AS OF JULY, 1962 348 B. ORGANIZATIONS AS AMICI CURIAE IN RACIAL COVENANT CASES 350 C. SCOREBOARD 351 111 CHAPTER PA^^ D. SCOPE OF STATE FAIR HOUSING LAWS COVERING DISCRIMINATION IN PRIVATE HOUSING 352 BIBLIOGRAPHY ^^5 IV CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The Scope of the Study David Truman has shovm that a characteristic feature of the governmental system in the United States is its "mul- tiplicity of points of access. "1 Access can be described as the fluid relationship that interest groups maintain or seek with governmental institutions in their quest for decisions favorable to the group. The American governm.ental system provides in abundance the "multiplicity" of access points of which Truman has spoken. The division of powers between the levels of governments in the federal system, the separation of powers, the decentralized character of American political parties --these and numerous other features of American government create vantage points for interest groups to seek or secure privileged access to government. 2 Governmental decisions are the result of effective access to centers of power by various groups. Groups of citizens organized to combat racial segre- gation policies acted in completely characteristic fashion David B. Truman, The Governmental Proaesa (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1960), p. 507. 2 to seek out those centers of power in the national government that could render decisions on housing programs where the federal government was involved. Study of the activities and strategies of these groups and their interactions with each other and with governmental points of access provides fruitful understandings of the group process. The efficiency of interest groups often depends on the strength of other supporting interests, the status of the groups in American society, the skills of their leader- ship, and the receptiveness of the branches of government to the groups themselves. It is not unusual for groups that are rebuffed by Congress to turn to the federal judiciary, to the President, or to the political parties for the ren- dering of favorable policy decisions. Over a period of time, with alterations in their power and prestige, groups frus- trated at one time and place need not feel irrevocably de- feated. Describing policy-making as cyclical in nature, Donald Blaisdell noted how "it could pass successively through the legislative, administrative and judicial stages, only to return to a new starting point and pass again through one or more of the same three stages."^ Attempts to curb discrimi- nation in federally assisted housing by Negro and civil libertarian groups did not take Blaisdell 's circular course but rather followed the successive stages of petitioning the legislature, the judiciary, and finally the executive branch ^Donald C. Blaisdell, American Demooraoy Under Pres- sure (New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1957), p. 261. 3 of the national government. Civil rights groups firmly believed that the conse- quences of racially segregated housing boded ill for the fu- ture of the American society. They believed, and with jus- tification, that the federal government had long been an ac- tive and effective promoter of segregated housing. Exten- sive consideration is given, therefore, in this study to the history and background of the federal housing programs and policies and their contributions to segregated housing. The consequences and effects of residential segregation patterns, including private housing industry practices supporting seg- regation, are considered as background necessary to under- standing the major part of the work. The major thrust of this study, however, traces the efforts of civil rights groups to change effectively govern- mental housing programs and policies. The study analyzes the types of groups involved, their choices in tactics, utiliza- tion of points of governmental access, the obstacles en- countered, and the strategy leading to President John Fitz- gerald Kennedy's Executive Order 11063 of November, 1962, which prohibited racial discrimination in federally aided housing. As its analytical frame of reference, this study is based on the different tactics employed by the civil rights groups as they sought accommodation to the potential access points available within the governmental system. The struggle for housing equality posed many choices of strategy for civil rights groups as access was sought 4 with legislative, executive, or judicial branches of the national government. How could the goal best be achieved? By an executive order? By resort to litigation? By federal or state statutes? Rebuffed initially by Congress, they were forced to resort to other access points. What actions should be taken? The course taken thereafter demonstrates clearly the thesis that the sensitivity of the housing question dictated a strategy of continuing accommodation to shifts occurring in the personnel or philosophy of the other branches of government. This study does not pretend to examine all of the many activities of groups operating on the many battle- grounds of racial discrimination. The primary focus is on national public policy dealing with housing discrimination; though, in order to explain more fully the activity of groups at the national level, a description is given of the various state laws and actions taken against racial discrimination in housing. The basic concern is with national governmental structure and access to the elements of that structure as it aided or handicapped Negroes and their allies in achieving the goal of equal opportunity in housing where federal funds were involved, for housing on an equal basis is an essential objective in the drive to change a long-existing pattern of Negro-white relationships. 5 The Background of the Problem The federal government enters housing When the Eighty-first Congress passed the long- awaited general housing legislation in 1949, it declared as its national housing objective: "a decent home and a suitable living environment for every American."^ The legislation ended a period of recourse to makeshift housing measures previously enacted in response to crises like the depression years of the 1930' s and World War II. Since the passage of the 1949 Act, federal public housing programs have been ex- panded, urban redevelopment plans have been initiated, and earlier indirect federal subsidization of private housing through Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Veterans Administration (VA) mortgage insurance legislation has been enlarged. With its funds and credit facilities, the federal government has been without question the major force in con- tributing to the expansion of the housing industry. Most of the white beneficiaries of these federal pro- grams have not been hindered in their quest for housing in an open and competitive market. Minority racial groups were not so fortunate, however. Federal housing policies and adminis- trative practices dating back to the depression years saw the national government become the most effective promoter of racial exclusion in desirable residential neighborhoods. Linking the prejudices of private housing operations with the Housing Aat of 1949, Public Law 171, 81st Congress, 1st Session, 1949. 6 policies of the federal government, the Commission on Race and Housing reported in 195 8 that housing was the one com- modity on the American market that Negroes and persons be- longing to certain other minority groups could not purchase freely.^ In its analysis, the Commission estimated that the opportunity of twenty-seven million Americans to live in neighborhoods of their choice was restricted because of their race, color, or ethnic attachment.^ The Commission felt that the federal government had extensively incorporated into its programs the bias of the private housing market and supported