Fair Housing and the Commission on Community Relations
Even though housing covenants were outlawed by the Supreme Court in 1948, discrimination in housing continued. Landlords could choose who they would rent to and homeowners could decide which buyer could purchase their home. In white communities, landlords and homeowners alike favored white people, and Midland was no different.
Ron Haughton explained that the first Black people who moved to Midland were very intentional about not creating a “ghetto” (the process which played out across the nation: when Black families moved in, white families moved out, and the process triggered a decline in city services). They deliberately chose to live in different neighborhoods, and therefore their kids went to different schools, and they chose different churches as well. Ron remembered feeling most comfortable with Rev. Glenn Bauman from the United Church of Christ, but the Dormans were already attending there, so his family joined the Presbyterian Church, the Lindseys joined the Methodist Church and the Greenes were Catholic.
Just like Dow demonstrated its ability to reserve policy when it came to hiring practices, Dow also demonstrated its ability to change when it came to discrimination in housing. Before 1948, Dow made liberal use of racial housing covenants in its new developments to house employees. However, they changed course, and it was Dow who helped their new Black employees find their first homes by offering them corporate housing leases.
Midland established a Commission on Community Relations in November 1963 in order to: “be aware of community needs and to communicate to the people of the City of Midland, through dissemination of information, discussion, and other proper means, to a greater understanding, appreciation and acceptance of human dignity with equal freedom and justice for all, to the end that the City of Midland will be a better place in which to live and to work.” Dr. Linneaus Dorman served as one of the first appointees to address housing and employment issues.
The Commission argued for state legislation for a fair housing act and investigated the feasibility of a local ordinance. They did most of their work quietly. The 1972 annual report summary notes that the Commission had examined many community problems including alleged discrimination in housing and employment, drug-alcohol abuse among youth, and complaints about police actions. The report states: “While the Commission regrets even one incident of discrimination, we believe that real progress has been made…”
Between July 1971-Novemember 1972, the subcommittee that handled housing and employment received four requests for help from nonwhite residents, and the committee determined that in all four cases, the complainant had been discriminated against.
A landlord withdrew a lease agreement one week before a Black family was set to move in, and one week later the owner placed the home for sale.
A Black person who had a master’s degree related to the job arrived at an interview only to be told that Midland was not ready to have a Black person in that position.
A Black professional responded to a housing rental listed in the Midland Daily News and was told “that the owners had never rented to colored.”
A Black man reported that it seemed the police were surveilling him and stopping him excessively.
After the committee investigated these reports, only the policing incident was apparently resolved to the satisfaction of all parties, though the committee did not disclose how. In regards to the other three reports, the committee noted that all parties cooperated with the investigation, that there was clear evidence of discrimination, and yet each party who had perpetuated the discrimination refused to acknowledge their wrong or make any type of restitution.
