race-oregon-state-flag.jpg

White Segregation

Land and Housing Policies

 

Photograph: The flag of the State of Oregon, founded as a whites-only State, with a whites-only clause in its State Constitution.  Oregon passed a Black Exclusion Law passed while a territory in 1844.  Oregon was admitted to the Union on February 14, 1859, when Southern politicians agreed that Oregon would be a "free" State in exchange for opening slavery to the southwest States.  Oregon continues to be a locus of white supremacist activity. Photo credit: U.S. National Park Service, Wikimedia Commons. 

 

Introduction

Residential segregation through State laws, zoning policies, etc. are important to study because spatial, political, and economic separateness was at the very least a major factor in the construction of racial separateness.  U.S. housing policies were designed to promote and preserve wealth for at least certain white Americans. Historian Eric Foner, The Second Founding: How Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution, W.W. Norton, 2019, p.169 — 170 points out how segregated housing is a feature of slavery, even in American law from Reconstruction:

"In 1968, at the height of the civil rights revolution, the Court came to the verge of revitalizing the Thirteenth Amendment, then stepped back. In Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co, a 7-2 majority allowed suits for damages under the Civil Rights Act of 1866 (enacted under that amendment) for racial discrimination in the sale of homes. The majority identified such discrimination, which deprived blacks of the right to own property in the same way as whites, as a stigma that arose from slavery. But the Court has never gone on to define more broadly the "badges and incidents" of bondage [as housing segregation was defined as one of the "badges and incidents" of slavery]. As a result, the Thirteenth Amendment remains essentially a "dead letter" whose purpose was fulfilled when chattel slavery vanished. This is unfortunate because the amendment's language lacks any reference to state action [and could thus apply to citizens and housing developers and real estate agents and city ordinances, for instance]. Its latent power has almost never been invoked as a weapon against the racism that forms so powerful a legacy of American slavery."

See also more general resources on Housing Policy which explores issues that are less racially motivated. This following clip is from our 2019 Conference: Healing Atonement.

 
 

Messages and Resources on White Segregation and Housing Policies

Finding a Home in God’s Bigger Story

Intersection Journal, The Telos Collective, April 15, 2021. “Many Christian conservatives decry the decline of “culture”—while seeking “dominion” over media, government, etc.—without doing much to help local communities… More liberal-minded Christians often celebrate a little “diversity training” at work, while practicing NIMBY-ism (“not in my backyard”) in zoning, protecting their kids at all costs, and neglecting low wages and the high cost of living. Are we only interested in a middle- and upper-class diversity, in our unsustainable suburban lifestyles? God cares about our sense of home, place, and community.”

 

Slides of a presentation given to the 2022 Reconstruction class. The introduction features John Winthrop vs. Roger Williams to highlight the debate over freedom of religious Conscience vs. Christendom. The presentation highlights Christian accomplishments in health and hospitals, education and schools, land ownership and economic justice, and criminal justice reform.

 

A series of blog posts where we explore many issues as Christian heresy, for which Christians must take responsibility in the frame of repentance.  We have designed a study guide to accompany the blog posts.  Please consider using it for personal reflection or discussion in your family, church, organization, etc. As relates to housing, please see posts 5, 6, 7, and 14.

 

White American Evangelical Political Attitudes and Behavior: Explanation and Correctives

White American evangelical political attitudes can be characterized by the debate between John Winthrop and Roger Williams, and their respective attitudes towards Native Americans, slavery, fairness, and faith in civic space.  This is a presentation also explores Scripture and church history to argue that Roger Williams was correct.  Given to the staff of Emmanuel Gospel Center, Apr 18, 2018, as a follow-up to how Christian restorative justice impacts ministry; audio file here  

 
 
 
 
 

Race and Land: Topics:

 
 

Race: Topics:

This page is part of our section on Race, which contains the following:

 
 

Church and Empire: Topics:

Race is a construct created by European colonialism. For more background, consider the Church and Empire section of our website. This section reminds us what Christian faith was like prior to colonialism, and in resistance to colonialism, to show that Christianity is not “a white man’s religion.”