St. Paul recorder., 1962-11-30

the signing of an order banning
But before Negroes and az
come too joyous, they had bette
Already audible is the char
far enough with his order, and {
will do little to eliminate dis
elimination in existing housing.
In terms of what the order ac-
tually means for the Negro who
has just been told he can't buy
house in a new, ily-white subur-
ban development, there is not much
hope that his problem will be
solved without endless days,
months and maybe years of litiga-
ton.
The reason for this, apparently,
Is that the Administration does
not yet know the full legal ramif-
ications of its act, and, perhaps
more important from the Admins
tradon's point of view, it wants
Ito go step by step"
Essentially what the order is to
make it nearly impossible, or at
least provide almost imponderable
stumbling blocks, for any future
developer or seller Of homes, in
sured by any one of several federal
guarantor agencies, to discriminate
against a potential buyer on the
grounds of race.
But of more immediate concern,
a home owner now who wishes to
sell his home on a discriminatory
basis is still at liberty to do so
and cannot be prevented by the
Presidents order as it now stands.
This startling and somewhat dis
heartening disclosure was plainly
revealed in a White House briefing
following the Presidents press
conference.
The briefing was attended by
the Administrations top officials
in the field of housing and it was
plain that they were greatly pain
ed to have to admit the obvious
limitations Of the Presidents order.
OF the new housing starts (that
is homes and other developments
being built for the general public)
only about rs per cent are affected
by the Presidents order. That is
because only about that percentage
is covered under some type Of fed
eral insurance or financial guar
antee.
The order explicitly states
that only such constructions that
come under some type Of federal
control will presently be affected
by the order.
Not included under the order, as
explained, will be segregated hous-
ing projects which are no longer
administered by the government
although still subsidized by the
government; tract developers of
individual homes built with private
finance and not covered by govern
ment insurance, and owners Of
private dwellings with no govern
mental connections.
Perhaps the most disappointing
aspect Of the order especially as it
affects Negroes, is that banning,
mortgaging and lending institu-
tions are not affected - even
though most deposits in savings
and loans institutions are protect
ed by the Federal government.
Conceivably, If a housing devel-
oper could raise capital without
ever having to go to the Federal
government for assistance, he could
build as many segregated housing
developments as he wishes - un-
der the existing Interpretation Of
the Presidents order.
It was pointed out, however,
that Of the major tract develop
ers throughout the nation who
are building private homes, more
than so per cent use some type
Of government financing.
The administration officials were
insistent that here something can
be done. What?
A Negro goes to a developer
who has a model home to show in
an exclusive development tract and
says, Il want to buy house"
The developer tells him he can't !
buy it because they don't sell to
Negroes. The Negro doesn't know
whether federal funds are involved
or not. According to officials, he
doesn't have to know.
All he has to do is file a COM
plant with a new Equal oppor-
tunities Committee on Housing |
(Which is currently being estab-
lIshed) or with the office Of Fed
eral Housing Administrator, Rob
ert c. Weaver. They will do the
investigating and determine II the
particular builder can be dealt with |
under the terms Of the new order. |
If it is discovered that such |
developer comes under the order,
the government can do one Of
three things in forcing compliance: