HOUSING CENTER FILM
Some Preliminary Thoughts - 6/13/00

Jay Ruby

"The most significant hindrance to further improvement of race relations in the United States remains the tendency of the races to live separate lives in separate neighborhoods. Whites have accepted African American advancement toward equal citizenship rights as long as they don't move next door." (Meyer 2000:vii)

Background

The Oak Park Regional Housing Center (OPRHC) is the cornerstone of Oak Park's diversity policy. (Link to description of the Center from their web page.) In the 1960s the issue of "racial" integration was focused upon the ability of African-Americans to purchase a house in Oak Park. Lee Brooke's 1996 history of the Oak Park/River Forest Citizens Committee for Human Rights as well as Carole Goodwin's Oak Park Strategy (1979) provides detailed descriptions of how the community first responded to the threat of resegregation. The "Committee" got a local Fair Housing ordinance passed before the federal one and was able to convince realtors to stop the practices that had destroyed and continues to destroy communities - block busting and "racial" steering. Some realtors were made to see the stake they had in the community. The "carpetbagger" realtors who were looking for a quick profit at the expense of the community became discouraged and left

By the early 1970s the committee had accomplished its original goals and was able to disband. Before it actually went away one of its members wrote a proposal for the next phase - the stabilization of the housing market. This was essential because unlike places like Shaker Heights, Ohio, Oak Park had a large number of apartment buildings at that time - about 50 per cent of the housing market. A proposal written by Bobbie Raymond and partially based her 1972 Masters' thesis was used to create the housing center. The Committee disbanded and the Housing Center was born with Raymond as its volunteer director. She has recently retired but continues to be a force in the community.

OPRHS has kept to its mission for over twenty-five years. According to a 1990 Chicago Tribune article, 80 per cent of the 10,600 rental units in Oak Park were listed with the Center. The Center has gained an international reputation with an excellent record of journalistic accounts from newspapers, magazines and television. Community leaders from many places in the U.S. and elsewhere come to the Center to study its approach. Raymond was part of the original group that founded the Oak Park Exchange Congress where communities grappling with issues of diversity can share ideas. A congress is currently in the planning stages.

I believe the Center's activities can be understood in light of two underlining and related assumptions - tipping and "racial" balance. This is a delicate matter and some of the staff at the Center disagree with my use of these terms and how I characterize them. Tipping, an idea that existed since the 1960s but best articulated by Schelling in 1972 is the notion that when a community in the process of change reaches a certain number of new black residents, the older white residents will begin to flee and the community will be in danger of resegregation. Tipping is both an individual and an aggregate concept. Most Whites have their personal tipping figure that could be as few as one Black person in the community. The community's tipping figure is an average. Most scholars estimate the tipping point for the majority of U.S. communities to be a Black population of between 25 and 30 percent. The problem is that there is a vast difference between the perception of blacks and whites. "To most blacks, an integrated community is approximately 50% black, but most whites consider a community to be integrated if there are merely a few black residents...The concept of tipping captures the essence of resegregation: black entry creates white apprehension, leading to white exit and a decline in white entry, which further increases white apprehension, encouraging still more whites to leave and fewer whites to enter. Ultimately a new black ghetto is created" (Harvard 1980:943). If one accepts the validity of this idea then attempting to establish and enforce a "racial" balance (read quota) is quite logical. The legal issue raised here as Briggs (1988:1230) points out is "should the State [read the village of Oak Park] be permitted to discriminate against individual blacks in order to promote the perceived interests of blacks as a class and society generally?"

When Whites in Oak Park and elsewhere talk about "racial balance" they seldom mean 50 per cent of the community should be Black. Achieving "racial" balance in effect means making white residents feel comfortable with the number of blacks moving in, while at the same time giving Blacks the opportunity to live in places previously unavailable to them. Whether or not the assumptions about tipping are accurate or not and whether or not the need for a "racial" balance of about 30 per cent black to 70 per cent white is realistic, it has to be offensive to some blacks and embarrassing to some whites. Yet there seems to be no alternative. As there are so few places where these issues have been raised, Oak Park's apparent dilemma of actively seeking a "racial" balance by encouraging people to live in certain parts of the village is an uncommon one. As John Luckhart, an Oak Park resident and a staff member of the Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities, suggests "As a majority white community, we [Oak Parkers] have pushed the envelope as it relates to many of the traditional notions associated with "tipping points," but the dominant group still feels threatened by the prospect of the community, or segments of the community, becoming predominantly Black. This is variously expressed by individuals and institutions in the community; and while we are more direct than most communities in considering such matters, open, honest discussion, involving Blacks and Whites, is still sorely lacking or extremely strained. A current "debate" about the racial composition of some of our schools, the fact that some are becoming majority Black, represents a good example of the differing perspectives and tensions associated with this subject." (email communication, October 1, 1999)

How I understand how the Center works

The OPRHC is a rental referral agency. Clients come there to find an apartment. Oak Park is a highly desirable community where the demand for apartments is greater than the supply. The Center acts as an agent for properties owned by the Oak Park Residence Corporation (approximately 26 buildings) as well as many privately owned buildings (at present about 57 buildings). Their purpose is to maintain a "racial" balance in the rental market. At this time, a significant problem centers around maintaining an equal "white demand" in all sections of the village. Some people incorrectly believe that the eastern part of the village - the area closer to Austin - is less desirable because Austin is perceived to be a crime-ridden Black ghetto. To implement a policy of balance the village's Community Relations department maintains records of tenants in apartment buildings. The department determines which apartments can have an open listing (that is, available to all interested people) and which apartments are in danger of becoming unbalanced and are therefore a counseling location where white demand should be encouraged. This information is then conveyed to the Center so that they can determine which clients are given which listings. Some critics would call this policy, social engineering or even benign "racial" steering. The philosophy of the Center and of all agencies in Oak Park devoted to maintaining diversity is to maintain a "racial" balance. They believe their policies will prevent the resegregation of Oak Park. An examination of the activities of the Center and its impact on the village strongly supports this contention. While the Center cannot force anyone to live anywhere, they strongly encourage clients to assist them in their efforts to keep Oak Park stable by having a diverse population live in all sections of the Village.

There are two major activities at the Center ­ counseling and client referral and marketing which includes property inspections that provide the rental listings and suggestions to property owners about how to improve their rentals. A client comes to the Center looking for an apartment. Some know about the place because a friend got their apartment from the Center. Others see ads and still others are referred to the Center by realtors. When the client arrives, the receptionist asks them to fill out a form that describes the client and their needs. They are also instructed to read the Center's policy card. The clients see a counselor who goes over the listings available and gives them some referrals. If possible an escort will take them to one or more of the locations, particularly if the client is from out of town and does not know the village. A major purpose of the escort service is to encourage clients to look at apartments that they might not visit on their own ­ sometimes because they have the mistaken notion of some areas of the village are less desirable than others. An attempt is made to locate tenants in these buildings who will reassure the client of the safety of the building and that it is a nice place to live. The clients then leave, possibly to look at one or more of the referrals. They may come back for more listings if the original list does not work out. The Center asks the clients to let them know when they get an apartment. The rate of success of the Center is astounding.

There is a wonderful irony here. I believe that few if any of the clients come to the Center seeking to aid in maintaining diversity. They simply want an apartment. The Center fulfills their mission and the clients get their needs met without a common goal.

During the summer of 1999, I volunteered as a receptionist at the Center and was able to observe the process of clients finding apartments. I also interviewed some of the staff, the director and the founding former director and the then head of Community Relations, a pioneer black resident and community leader. The knowledge I gained enabled me to write this preliminary report.

As the receptionist I found most clients appeared happy with the service provided. The only really negative folks I encountered were African-American. They appeared to think that the Center was just one more establishment agency out to disrespect them. The other "problem folks" are the overprotective mothers of college students who wanted to circumvent the process and get apartments for their absent children. The Center refuses. These are minor problems but does give evidence of how complex and difficult such an undertaking can be. Resolving the racism and inequality in our society will take much time and patience and determination. Watching the Center struggle with these issues should be illuminating.

I do not fully understand the marketing activities of the Center or how a building becomes listed or the Center's role in the rehabilitation of apartment buildings. I know all of the Oak Park Residence Corp. buildings are automatically given to the Center. I think that owners who get some of the low interest rehab loans and other incentive monies from the village are obligated to give their buildings to the Center. I plan to explore this aspect of the center more completely.

The purpose of this videotape is to provide a critical and scholarly examination of the Center. It is therefore essential that I explore and represent those critics of the Center and this approach to integration, for example, N. L., a professor and gay activist has made his disapproval known to me. Some of the African-Americans who write for the Wednesday Journal have voiced criticism of the notion of balance and quotas. Their perspective needs to be represented. A view that some critics have expressed is the need to explore further the possibility that blacks have the right to live together and form all black apartment buildings, neighborhoods or schools. As the Center was created in order to create an integrated community, it is by definition opposed to a "separate but equal" view of diversity. To push the concept to its logical limits, the village must include those people opposed to the idea of balance and diversity ­ a difficult accommodation.

I want to raise the issue of social control here - a theme that will run through a lot of my work. In order to accomplish their very worthwhile goals, the Center encourages certain people to consider living in certain parts of the Village. Some critics see this as an attempt to control where people live. They are carrying out the mandate of the village as interpreted by the Community Relations Department. It appears to me based upon the notions of tipping and steering. Like other manifestations of control in Oak Park - social, economic and aesthetic, the issue is a complex one that provides much room for disagreement and for the potential abuse of power. While it is clear that a lassiez faire policy regarding housing has resulted in the maintenance of segregation, it is less certain how controlling a community must be in order to insure ethnic stability and diversity. Oak Park has become a kind of cultural experimental lab.

The Center is a complex place and its activities could be used to explore a large variety of issues involved with all forms of cultural diversity. In addition to having a long-term investment in maintaining "racial" diversity, Oak Park has collectively expressed a desire to be an economically diverse place. Given the relatively high rental rates, this goal is not so easy to acheive. Clients coming to the Center with Section 8 subsidized housing grants, find it increasingly difficult to locate rentals within their means. Oak Park has a relatively high number of Section 8 grants and in keeping with the Village's commitment to diversity they are not clumped in particular building or particular locales. The entire issue of how does a relatively affluent community deal with the poor, the handicapped, the homeless and other people needing special attention is extremely complicated. At present I feel such an exploration would take me too far afield and I therefore do not plan to pursue it.

In 1992 the Center expanded into several other western suburbs and became regional with the Apartments West Program. While I realize that a regional approach is critical to the future of Oak Park, I must narrow my focus to only certain aspects of the Center.

Preparation and Filming Schedule

Preparation and Filming Schedule

1. Transcribe and study the interviews from the Summer of 1999.

2. Continue as a receptionist on a regular basis for the year.

3. Discuss my plans with the Center staff for feedback and approval.

4. Follow some clients through the process. First as an observer and then as a photo-observer.

5. Rough out a shooting script based on the results of step 4.

6. Shoot interviews and observations of clients as they go through the process in July and August.

7. All of the tapes will be logged and viewed in the field.

8. Editing will begin in the summer of 2001.

9. A preliminary version will be shown to those people portrayed for their response prior to the completion of the final version.

A possible scenario

The look/purpose of the film - This will be the most conventional looking film I plan to do. The story of the Center is the story of Oak Park's success at maintaining diversity. It is a logical place to begin a study of the maintenance of diversity. Because Oak Park has a rather uncommon history of success with planned integration the people involved in these efforts have told their stories over and over to journalists, television crews, and scholars. Some lack the ability to tell the same story with much conviction or even interest. It is something that happened to them some time ago. As many are less involved today with issues that once made them burn with concern, I found their re-telling at times formulaic and emotionless. A film that dwells on the history would not succeed. That story has been told well and often. A film about the everyday realities of the Center that is mandated to keep the fires of integration alive day after day presents a much more revealing and hopefully interested ethnographic study. However, some prehistory of the civil-rights movement prior to the establishment of the Center and some history of the Center must be conveyed. I am uncertain how to do that. As I intend to do some scholarly writing about the Center it may be explored in that mode.

I will probably make two versions of the videotape - one for use by the center and one for my purposes. The film I will make for scholarly purposes will undoubtedly be too long and too academic for general purposes. I will finish this version and discuss with the Center's staff the possibility of making a shorter and more publicly available version for their use.

Setting - The Center is located on South Blvd. across from the Metra train and "El" elevated tracks in a 1920s one story building. As there is a train stop at Marion one block away, clients can arrive by public transportation. The store front window is covered with posters for Oak Park cultural activities like the Wright walk or concerts at the Unity Temple. The Center has a double wide store. One can see the desk of one of the counselors on the left. The "look" of the Center is one of basic if not low rent office - no frills, nothing fancy and very busy with information. The foyer consists of the receptionist's desk with a listing of parking spaces on a board behind, some chairs for the clients, a counter-desk that runs along one side where people can fill in the forms, and lots of literature about potential rentals, information about various Oak Park services like the library, train schedules, local newspapers and a few toys for the clients' children to play with. There are two counselor spaces on the left - one is open near the store window and the other is a private office occupied by a senior counselor. There are several more counselor offices along the hall. The rest of the space has offices for the marketing people, a general staff space, and the director's office - spaces not seen by the clients.

The Story - The film will probably begin with some brief historical review of the pre-Center civil rights activities that lead up to the center. The story of the Center will begin at the entrance to the Center, where a couple arrives. They are asked if they will allow me to follow them through the process. If they agree and we three enter the Center together. The receptionist inquires as to their needs and gives them a policy card and client form. The couple sits and waits. During this time I will ask them something about themselves and why they are at the Center and explain about the filming. We go into the counselor's office where the clients are informed about the Center and the current rental market. They are given some listings and an appointment to be escorted to an apartment. We follow them with the escort and watch them check out a place. Later we go with them to see another apartment(s). They select a place, sign a lease and move in. A few months later they will be visited in their new place. This is to be shot mainly in a "passive camera" style and provide the "observational" spine of the film that will be intercut with interviews with various people and other relevant Center activities such as the inspection of an apartment. Perhaps only one episode of apartment hunting will need to be displayed from start to finish. Moments from other client encounters could be used to illustrate variations on the basic theme.

The Cast

CLIENTS - I plan to follow several couples through this process. As I cannot predict who will show up as a client, I will have to continue to pursue clients until I find ones that exemplify the issues I was to raise.

CENTER STAFF
1. A counselor who services one of the clients I filmed
2. The director for overview and general information
3. the founder and former director for historical perspective
4. An escort
5. Someone in marketing
6. An apartment inspector

OTHER POSSIBLE INTERVIEWEES
1. The former head of Community Relations Commission for historical perspective
2. Current head of Community Relations Commission and perhaps some of the commission members
2. Someone from the Residence Corp and an apartment owner
3. Critics who do not like the social engineering/racial balancing approach of the Center.

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Bishop, D
1988 Fair Housing and the Constitutionality of Governmental Measures Affecting Community Ethnicity. University of Chicago Law Review 55:1229-66.

Briggs, Xavier de Sousa
1998 Racially and Ethnically Diverse Urban Neighborhoods. A special issue of Cityscape: a Journal of Policy Development and research, vol. 4, no. 2 HUD.

Brooke, Lee
1996 Chronology of the Oak Park/River Forest Citizens Committee for Human Rights: 1964-1973. Oak Park: Oak Park Public Library.

Goodwin, Carole
1979 The Oak Park Strategy: Community Control of Racial Change. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Harvard Law Review - read 9/26
1980 Comment: Benign Steering and Benign Quota: The Validity of Race-Conscious Government Policies to Promote Residential Integration. Harvard Law Review 93: 938-965.

Raymond, Roberta
1972 The challenge to Oak Park : a suburban community faces racial change "A thesis submitted to the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences in candidacy for the degree of Master of Arts, Department of Sociology, Roosevelt University. Chicago, Ill.

Schelling, Thomas
1972 A Process of Residential Segregation: Neighborhood Tipping. in Racial discrimination in economic life, Anthony H. Pascal, editor. Lexington, Mass., Lexington Books.

Smolla, R.A.
1985 In Pursuit of Racial Utopias: Fair Housing, Quotas, and Goals in the 1980s. Southern California Law Review 58: 947-1016.

Meyer, Stephan Grant
2000 As Long As They Don't Move Next Door: Segregation and Racial Conflict in American Neighborhoods. New York: Roman and Littlefield Publisher.