Black Family is Victim of Housing Discrimination

Racism is alive and well in Gibsonton, Florida. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that it is charging the owners of a single-family home in Gibsonton with violating the Fair Housing Act for engaging in discriminatory housing practices. The owners allegedly backed out of renting a house to a mother and her three children because they were black. In addition, the charge states that the owners used racial slurs when referring to and addressing the family.

The investigation found that Robert and Katherine Cairns initially agreed to rent a house they own to the family of four. Two days after the family moved in, however, Robert Cairns refused to accept their rent payment, ordered the children out of the house while their mother was at work, and changed the locks on the house. The children were later found by a relative about a quarter of a mile from the house, under a highway underpass.

When the mother contacted the local police to report the incident and regain access to the house, Mrs. Cairns allegedly said, "I can't believe you ['n-word']s called the police on me. You ['n-word]s make me sick. I just want you ['n-word']s out of my house." The Cairns subsequently rented the house to another tenant.

I cannot say that this type of behavior is surprising. It is disturbing? Yes.

The Fair Housing Act makes it illegal to, among other things, discriminate because of race or color in the rental of housing, make discriminatory statements with respect to the rental of housing, or coerce, intimidate, threaten, or interfere with others in their exercise or enjoyment of their right to fair housing. If the behavior exhibited by the Cairns was not offensive, there would be no need for this law.

How cruel can a person be to put children out of their home and allow them to be found under a highway? To add insult to injury, the property owner then berated the tenant for reporting her forced eviction to the police and called her all kinds of racial slurs.

While this case seems extreme, it is not out of the ordinary. In the past, civil rights groups ran aggressive campaigns to educate the public and combat this behavior. In fact, some of my favorite public service announcements arose from this education.

Now that the housing market has soured for many, there has been a return to rental properties. Well, the rules still apply. Maybe it's time to circulate these award-winning PSAs again and let folks know that discrimination in the rental market is not allowed and should not be tolerated.