The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed suit in the Northern District of Alabama on Tuesday alleging that the Housing Authority of Ashland, Alabama engaged in racially discriminatory practices.
The Justice Department alleges the Housing Authority, along with Southern Development Company which owned the facilities in question, violated the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
The named parties allegedly “denied African-American applicants the opportunity to live in overwhelmingly White housing complexes, while steering White applicants away from properties whose residents were predominantly African-American,” according to a release on Tuesday. The practices were in place since at least 2012, according to the DOJ.
“Individuals and families should not have their rights affected by their race or national origin,” said U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama Prim F. Escalona in a release.
“Our office is committed to defending the civil rights of everyone,” she added.
Ashland is the county seat of Clay County and has a population of around 2,000 people. It is about a one hour drive south of Anniston and a roughly 90-minute drive east of downtown Birmingham.
According to the Department, the suit “seeks damages to compensate victims, civil penalties to the government to vindicate the public interest, and a court order barring future discrimination and requiring action to correct the effects of the defendants’ discrimination.”
Census data from 2010 showed the city’s population was roughly 75% white and 25% black.
The Housing Authority received financial subsidies from the federal government to make affordable housing units available to disadvantaged families.
“Discrimination by those who receive federal taxpayer dollars to provide housing to lower-income applicants is particularly odious because it comes with the support and authority of government. The U.S. Department of Justice will not stand for this kind of unlawful and intolerable discrimination,” stated Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.
“The United States has made great strides toward Dr. King’s dream of a nation where we will be judged by content of our character and not by the color of our skin. The dream remains at least partially unfulfilled because we have not completely overcome the scourge of racial bias in housing,” he added.
Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: [email protected] or on Twitter @HenryThornton95.
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