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| Racism in the House: Glimpses of racism in Miami's public housing and private housing; Community organizing to expose and fight back. |
Miami Workers Center
-According to a 2000 analysis of U.S. metropolitan areas by researchers at the State University of New York at Albany, Miami is the 7th _most segregated city, by neighborhood, for black and white children. |
Public Housing |
| Justice for Scott Homes The historic Scott Homes were demolished by Miami-Dade County using money destined for the provision of public housing (HOPE VI). 850 African-American families were displaced and the Miami-Dade Housing Agency lost over 600 families they were responsible for. Through organization and pressure, former residents were able to win an agreement requiring the County to rebuild every unit of housing lost. Nationwide, over 106,000 families have been displaced by the current HOPE VI program of the United States. |
| Fill the Vacancies In 2003, Miami Workers Center found 20% of the county's public housing stock was vacant, despite over 64,000 families on a waiting list. Public housing is disproportionately used by African-American residents of Miami. Low-income families organized to pressure the county to invest $1.5 million in an investigation of the vacancies and mismanagement. In three years of organizing and pressure, the vacancies reduced to 5%. The recent housing boom has pushed low-income families into crisis. We anticipate a waiting list now would hold no less than 100,000 families. |
| House of Lies In 2006, Miami Workers Center collaborated with the Miami Herald, local newspaper, to investigate the Miami-Dade Housing Agency. This agency is meant to manage federal funds and local programs to support the housing needs of low-income families. Most of their clients are people of color. Instead, these investigations found that close to $100 million of federal and local taxpayer money was siphoned off to private developers and sham contractors. Thousands of homes meant for low-income families were never constructed, included Scott Homes. This investigative series later won the Pulitzer Prize, a coveted national journalism award. |
Private Housing |
Slumlords Miami Workers Center aims to fight back against landlords, in primarily Black and Latino Liberty City and Wynwood neighborhoods, who refuse to maintain and repair their buildings. Most multi-family apartment buildings in the urban core are owned by white landlords and out-of-town absentee landlords. Families are currently living in unsafe, unhealthy, and substandard housing and have little option to move elsewhere due to housing crisis. Many live with raw sewage, lead poisoning, and no water or electrical service. MWC is building tenant unions and a renter's rights movement with Right to the City Miami to combat slumlords, build tenant oversight and protect mobile home parks.
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What we are Fighting for:
-The Right to Affordable and Adequate housing for all. Housing is a human right, as attested in Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
-One to One replacement and Right of Return. All residents of public housing that is taken down need to be guaranteed that their units will be replaced on a one to one basis, i.e. the same number of housing units that are torn down need to be replaced and provided to those persons displaced. Support the Reauthorization of HOPE VI that includes one for one replacement and the right to return.
-Right to Democratic Governance and Community Control. Community residents need to be involved in the making of decisions that affect them. Effective democratic participation is a prerequisite for development that takes social justice and the well-being of people as the measures of success. Community control is also essential to combating racial disparities and racist public policies.
-Regional equity. The rapid destruction of historically Black and Latino neighborhoods due to gentrification must end. Many such neighborhoods in Miami are being displaced and emptied of their residents in order to make space and land available for speculators and disproportionately white and upper-income occupants.
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Contact: Miami Workers Center: 6127 NW 7th Ave, Miami, FL 33127. USA; 305-759-8717; 305-759-8718; info@theworkerscenter.org;
http://theworkerscenter.org/ |
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