Facts on Housing for Negros

              Northeast Park Hill Civic Association
Park Hill Action Committee (Interdenominational), Inc.
The Facts on Housing for Negroes
WHY MOVE WHERE IT CAN HURT INTEGRATION. . .
WHEN WE CAN MOVE WHERE IT CAN HELP?
The Problem:
How to use the New Fair Housing Law to make an OPEN CITY a reality and prevent NEW DE FACTO
SEGREGATED SCHOOLS . . .
The Law:
Negroes and other minorities now have a Colorado state law with teeth in it, which assures us the
right to live anywhere we can afford. It is strong; it is fair. IT WILL WORK - IF WE USE IT - to live
where we like - close to our jobs, close to good, reasonably priced houses or apartments, in the city
and surrounding area.
The Schools:
More East Denver schools are in real danger of becoming re-segregated (from all white to mostly
Negro).
 Smiley Junior High is now 50 per cent Negro.
 Smith is about 60 percent, Hallet about 30.
    Stedman  has   already  re-segregated   (from 10 percent Negro in 1960 to 90 percent Negro last
year).
  Harrington (which feeds kids into Smiley) is already segregated.
    Park  Hill,   Ashley  and   Philips   -  the  other elementary schools which feed into Smiley Junior
High - are all integrated.
What Does This Mean?
It means that if Negroes don't stop moving into Northeast Park Hill and Park Hill, Smiley this fall
will pass the 50 percent mark. Once a school passes that mark, it is very difficult to keep it integrated -
too often   it   becomes   re-segregated.   And   Smiley  students   eventually make up over half of East High.
Why Did This Happen?
Re-segregation got such a big start because until this spring we didn't have a strong FAIR HOUSING
LAW.
BUT WE HAVE A STRONG HOUSING LAW NOW!
Let us use it to make Denver the first really OPEN CITY in the country. We can, with
the help of sympathetic white people.
Our Danger!
If   more   schools re-segregate now, NEGROES, for the first time, will be responsible - not whites.
Negroes   cannot  blame whites for new ghettoes, now that a strong Fair Housing Act has made NEGROES
FREE TO LIVE WHERE THEY LIKE.
Do Negroes Dare Be Responsible
for making new ghetto schools like Cole or Manual at East or Smiley? Do negroes want, by their
own actions, to undercut their campaigns against de facto segregated schools?
Do   Negroes   want   to   undercut  their  hard-won   Fair   Housing Act? Do they want to give ammunition  to
bigots who say *Negroes REALLY prefer segregation?"
Our Opportunities:
We can make all Denver area schools the shining examples of good integration which Smiley and
East High are now, where Negro and white students learn together in harmony.
We Can Reverse The Trend to Segregation!
And we can make the whole metropolitan Denver area the model of what an open American city should be.
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