Minneapolis spokesman. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1945-03-16

Agency, has told W
W m e n and
various organiza- McALPIN
tons that he preferred not to be too
firm or insistent in matters within
the jurisdiction of the constituent
agencies of the MIA. He has in
Dictated that these agencies - the
Federal Public Housing Authority,
and the Federal Housing Admin
istration-have a quasi-autonomy
despite their being constituencies of
the MIA. His is the overall policy
agency which does the pro-
gramming, determines the need for
housing and devises ways of sup
plying such need.
Having performed these func-
tions with regard to New Boston
and turned over the construction
job, the tenant selection job and
the management job to the FPHA,
Blandford came back and exercised
his supervisory position by chang
ing the predetermined occupancy of
the project. FPHA had absolutely
nothing to do with the change-over.
1t marked a new era in the as
sumption of responsibility by the
parent-agency.
1t is unfair to assume that Bland
ford would move into the province
of one of his agencies and refrain
from doing so with another. It
is reasonable to assume, now, that
something can be expected of him
beyond pleading and suggestion in
the case of the Federal Housing
Administration. True, there has
been some progress made through
his pleading and suggestion-but
the fragrant, discriminatory policies
of the FILA need to be combatted
with more than pleas and sugges-
tions. Firm, decisive action is
called for.
Last November the NAACP ad-
dressed a memorandum to the
President of the United States COM
planning that the current opera
lions of the FILA program "(1) dis
criminate against Negro apph-
cants; (2) promote racial resi-
Dental segregation; (3) prevent
this potentially effective agency
from making any significant con-
tribution to meeting the basic
housing needs of Negroes; (4) run
counter to the present trend of
judicial decisions regarding racial
restrictive covenants; (5) con-
tribute to the use of racial tensions
by restriction of living space and
housing accommodations; (6) i'm
pair the democratic process and our
Good Neighbor Policy"
The memorandum, as in the case
of most complaints to the White
House, was referred, undoubtedly,
to the Housing officials. Bland
ford, of course, could not have been
unaware of the existence of the
FLA manual instructions urging
the use of racial restrictive cove
nants even before seeing the
memorandum.
Here is his chance to exercise his
overall supervisory capacity
again.
The FILA has been working on a
complete revision of its Underwrit-
ing Manual for the past two
months. There are reports that the
sections concerning restrictive cove
nants are being revised or deleted.
That's fine, and we hail such action.
But it takes no genius to realize
that a revision that gets no further
than Washington office of FILA, or
which is distributed to the mort
gage, lending, and appraisal COM
panies throughout the country with
out calling attention to the change
and backing up any new policy,
will be worth less than the paper
on which it is written.
Blandford, who now may realize
or at least question whether he
Numbered in the New Boston case,
can perhaps retrieve some of the
confidence and respect he lost in
that decision by exercising his ad-
ministrative responsibility in
Strengthening out FHA's muddled
racial policies.
His first move might well be the
regeneration of the race relations
function in his own agency, the
MIA; and then the insistence that
a similar function be set up in the
FILA. We recommend to him as a
pattern the administrative position
and function of the race relations
adviser in the Federal Public
Housing Authority, where DR..
Frank Horne is integrated into the
warp and wool of the agency by
his administrator, Philip Klutznick.
They work as team, and they get
things done in the least disturbing
way. 1t is their agency and its
predecessor which have earned for
Housing its favorable reputation
among Negroes and other liberal
groups.