Minneapolis spokesman., 1962-12-14
SegregatiOnists Are
Misusing The Language
Again
Again

1t was predictable that the sniping at President
Kennedys order forbidding discrimination in hous-
ing would take some strange and sometimes fantas-
tic turns.
It has.
One Of the most ridiculous is the claim that the
order would outlaw the efforts Of builders and de-
velopers now promoting ntegrated housing by for
bidding the quota system. This Is the misnamed
system by which such builders prevent a newly de-
veloped neighborhood from becoming segregated.
They have found that In eastern cities a neIghbor-
hood composed Of about so per cent Negro and 70
per cent white residents will maintain that ratio.
the ratio Of Negroes to whites increases substan-
TALLY. the neighborhood tends to become all-Negro
and the segregation evil is repeated
To argue that 1t Is discrimination to seek an
optmum ratio In order to attain the ends Of housing
integration Is, Of course ridiculous. 1t Is charac-
terstic misuse Of language and logic by those whose
illogical position forces them to such tactics.
The principal reason why it became necessary
to establish ratios In the first place the dis
elimination pattern coupled with the fact that there
few developers catering to the housing
needs of the Negro population. In the resulting
plosive situation. open-occupancy housing in many
eastern communities was in such demand that every
development could have been sold out at once to
Negro buyers
As soon the Presidential order begins to
take enect, this KIND or pressure viii beg1n To go
down, and eventually we will be in a normal situa-
ton where there need be little concern about ratios
People will be able to reside where they wish within
the limits Of their means and will not be forced to
the various undesirable eocpedents In TO get
housing. The ratio system, which actually
forced upon the developers who use 1t by the un-
American practices Of the industry generally will
no longer be needed.
In any case, 1t Is piece Of ignorance If not a
deliberate Justification of the facts for the opponents
of ntegated housing to argue that these developers
pracbcing discrimination. The most charitable
assumption Is that those who argue this way do not
know how the process of developing and selling
houses operates Every developer makes dozens Of
community he is working on. Price ranges, financ-
ing arrangements, house design, community facil-
ties, all help to determine who will eventually live
in the development So do the activities of the sales
men, the type Of advertising used and where it Is
placed and the follow-ups prospective buyers. If
these decisions and practices, when applied to OBJ
tanning optimum ratio in given community, are
to be branded discrimination, then we'd better
start getting some definitions on the books very
soon Especially in view Of the evident intention Of
the segregatonists to continue to make decisions
and follow practices aimed at prolonging segrega-
ton.
Before this issue Is resolved, we can expect all
kinds of distortions and phony arguments from our
opponents. Sometimes they will be quite maddening.
But the more maddening and the more ridiculous
they are the better should feel because this Is
confession of defeat the part Of the segregation