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“Discrimination in Housing Against Nonwhites Persists Quietly”By?SUSAN CHENELLE?and?AUDREY FISCH?MARCH 13, 2014 4:11 PM?March 13, 2014 4:11 pmOne of the underlying sources for A Raisin in the Sun is?Lorraine Hansberry’s personal experience?with housing discrimination. In the 1930s, her father, Carl Hansberry, bought a house in the South Park neighborhood of Chicago.The house was “protected” by a racially restrictive covenant, which legally prevented ownership or occupancy of property by blacks. The covenant was enforced, the Hansberry family was evicted and Carl Hansberry sued. The case made it to the United States Supreme Court; Hansberry v. Lee (1940), however, did not overturn the constitutionality of racially restrictive covenants. It wasn’t until 1948, in Shelley v. Kraemer, that the court would find such covenants discriminatory.In Raisin, the Younger family does not face a racially restrictive covenant when they buy a house in the white neighborhood of Clybourne Park. But, the Youngers do face the coercion of the Clybourne Park Neighborhood Association. Unable to keep the Youngers out of the neighborhood through legal restrictions, Karl Lindner, a representative of the neighborhood association, has been sent to buy the Youngers out. Especially disturbing in the scene below is his attempt to justify his behavior, explaining that racial segregation is in everyone’s best interest.We will compare this scene from A Raisin in the Sun with an article by Shaila Dewan on an undercover investigation that found that the United States has yet to achieve real equity in housing. Black couples and white couples seeking properties to rent or buy continue to receive unequal treatment. Step 1: Re-read the Lindner scene in Act 2 Scene 3 (pages 113-119).Step 2: Read & annotate the Shaila Dewan article.Step 3: Read and annotate the Laura Shinn article. Excerpt from?‘Discrimination in Housing Against Nonwhites Persists Quietly, U.S. Study Finds,’?by Shaila Dewan (The New York Times, June 11, 2013)Shaun Donovan, the secretary of housing, said that hidden racial discrimination “doesn’t make it any less harmful.”?Discrimination against blacks, Hispanics and Asians looking for housing persists in subtle forms, according to a new national study commissioned by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. Though less likely to face overt obstacles, like being refused an appointment to see a home, minority customers were shown fewer available units than whites with similar qualifications. They were also asked more questions about their finances and given fewer offers of help financing a loan.“Although we’ve come a long way from the days of blatant, in-your-face housing injustice, discrimination still persists,” Shaun Donovan said in a telephone conference on the findings. In each of the study’s 8,000 tests, one white and one minority tester of the same gender and age, posing as equally well-qualified renters or buyers, visited the same housing provider or agent. In more than half the test cases, both white and minority testers were shown the same number of apartments or homes. In the other cases, the white tester was shown more homes or apartments.In one test, a white customer looking for a two-bedroom apartment was shown a two-bedroom and a one-bedroom and given applications for both, while a Hispanic customer who arrived two hours later was told that nothing was available. In another, a real estate agent refused to meet with a black tester who was not prequalified for a loan, while a white tester was given an appointment without being asked if she had prequalified for a bank loan.The study was the fourth of its kind since 1977. In 1977, in 17 percent of the cases in the study, whites were offered a unit when blacks were told that none were available. In 2012, when the new study was conducted, the vast majority of testers of all races were able to at least make an appointment to see a recently advertised house or apartment.But once they arrived, they were given fewer options. Over all, black prospective renters were presented 11 percent fewer rentals than whites, Hispanics about 12 percent fewer rentals and Asians about 10 percent fewer rentals. As prospective buyers, blacks were presented 17 percent fewer homes and Asians 15 percent fewer homes, but Hispanics were given the opportunity to see roughly the same number of homes as whites.White testers also were more frequently offered lower rents, told that deposits and other move-in costs were negotiable, or were quoted a lower price….Apartments were more likely to cost whites slightly less in the first year of rental than blacks might pay. Sometimes there was subtle discrimination, such as steering minorities to certain neighborhoods or failing to offer them the homes most likely to increase in value.Polling shows that many Americans think financially stable customers have the same opportunities to obtain good housing regardless of race, he added. John Taylor, president and chief executive of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition says, “A study like this helps you understand that there really is very different treatment occurring when it comes to things like housing and lending.”Name: ____________________________ Period: _______ Date: _____ English 1A Raisin in the Sun: Nonfiction Text ComparisonsHONORSFirst, consider what you read and compare the articles based on their Main Idea. Identify the Main Idea of each text:A Raisin in the Sun sceneShaila Dewan’s “Discrimination in Housing Against Nonwhites Persists Quietly”Laura Shin’s “The Racial Wealth Gap: Why a Typical White Household Has 16 Times the Wealth of a Black One”Compare/Contrasts the Texts:How are the three texts related/similar?How are the three texts different?Directions: Use complete sentences and specific details to answer each question.Reading Comprehension: According to Shaila Dewan’s “Discrimination in Housing Against Nonwhites Persists Quietly,” what forms of housing discrimination persist today? How has housing discrimination changed since 1977?According to Laura Shin’s “The Racial Wealth Gap: Why a Typical White Household Has 16 Times the Wealth of a Black One” explain how homeownership, education, and labor markets increase the racial wealth gap between whites, blacks, and Latinos. Text ComparisonHow do today’s real estate agents compare to Mr. Lindner? Which type of discrimination is more sinister: today’s real estate agents or Mr. Linder? Explain.Big Walter’s life insurance policy is a substantial financial gain for the Younger family. Mama’s decision to use some of that money to buy a home in Clybourne Park represents the classic realization of the American dream. Explain how each of the three texts explores how achieving the American dream by purchasing a home can be complicated by race. AnalysisBrandeis University’s School for Social Policy and Management had its Institute on Assets and Social Policy commission create the Racial Wealth Gap report. The federal government had its Department of Housing and Urban Development study housing discrimination. Why is a university and the federal government interested in studying racial discrimination? What practical steps can be taken to end housing discrimination and close the racial wealth gap? ................
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