Doctrine of Discrimination

Opening Prayer

Holy Spirit, thank you for your abiding presence. Increase my awareness of your leading, guiding, and compelling me to walk in the good works that you prepared for me ahead of time. You are faithful. Amen.

Scripture: Genesis 1:26-28

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Reflection by Rev. David Bailey

Throughout the Old Testament, God commanded the people to show mercy and compassion, and to turn from oppression and evil. It’s a mandate for justice that enables the mutual flourishing of all humanity, including the poor and marginalized. However, as in the day of Zechariah, there have been continued attempts to disregard this call for justice. Preferential treatment for those of European descent in America can be traced back to the Doctrine of Discovery. First expressed in a Papal Bull, issued in 1452 by Pope Nicholas V, the doctrine states that any land not inhabited by Christians was available to be “discovered,” claimed, and exploited by Christian rulers. It was also articulated in 1496 by King Henry VII of England in a patent granted to John Cabot, which “authorized and justified the destruction, killing, and appropriating of the lands of indigenous peoples and nations” (PCUSA).

This doctrine became the basis of European claims in the Americas, including the United States’ western expansion. In the 1823 case of Johnson v. McIntosh, the U.S. Supreme Court held that “the principle of discovery gave European nations an absolute right to New World lands” (U.S. Supreme Court 1823).Under this doctrine, Europeans gained rights over the land they “discovered” while the pre-existing natives “lost their rights to complete sovereignty” as well as rights to the land they occupied (Newcomb 1992, 18-20).

This doctrine continued to influence American thought and practice for centuries with European descendents establishing laws and systems that would limit indigenous, immigrant, and African American access to land and property, while facilitating access for whites. By 1877, Jim Crow laws became the primary legislative mechanism of limiting black access. These codes intentionally and severely restricted the flourishing of the black community. From the 1800’s up through the 1950’s, banks and realtors legally blocked African American access to housing and land. For example, many developers enacted “protective covenants” or restrictions which prohibited the selling of lands or homes to minorities. Here are two sample covenants from developments in Seattle, Washington:

“No person other than one of the Caucasian race shall be permitted to occupy any portion of any lot in said plat or any building thereon except a domestic servant actually employed by a Caucasian occupant of said lot or building” (University of Washington).

“This property shall not be resold, leased, rented or occupied except to or by persons of the Aryan race” (University of Washington).

It wasn’t until the passage of the 1968 Fair Housing Act that African Americans were technically able to purchase a home wherever they desired. However, local policies and practices continued to restrict their access to homeownership, especially in predominantly white neighborhoods. One tool of discrimination was the practice of redlining, which was common in the property appraisal and mortgage industry. Housing values were rated according to a racial hierarchy that granted higher values to white neighborhoods and lower values to black and immigrant neighborhoods. These practices did not become illegal until the passing of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 and the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977. (For more on redlining, see Color of Law.)

Although the legislation changed in the seventies, it did not alter the underlying ideologies and practices (both institutional and individual) that restricted black property ownership. Even today, research continues to show racial discrimination in mortgage lending. A study published by the The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics found that “black borrowers on average pay about 29 basis points more than comparable white borrowers” (Cheng, Lin & Liu 2014). They also found that “black women seem to receive much more disparate treatment.” Michael Harriot gives a human face to this data, in his article “Redlining 2.0.” In it, he shares the story of how a qualified black women was repeatedly denied a home loan while her less qualified half-white, half-Japanese partner was approved. In addition to discriminatory mortgage lending, legal loopholes further permit discriminatory policies such as property confiscation. An example is the case of the Reels brothers in North Carolina. In 2011, Melvin and Licurtis Reels were jailed for eight years—without ever being charged with or convicted of a crime— simply for attempting to hold onto their family land.

In addition to the institutional obstacles, blacks have also faced much interpersonal violence over the years as white neighbors harassed and violently attacked African Americans in their neighborhoods. One of the most famous cases was of Carl and Anne Braden in Louisville, Kentucky. Carl was prosecuted after selling a house in a white neighborhood to Andrew Wade, an African American Korean War veteran. The white neighbors violently harassed Andrew and his family after they moved in, burning crosses in their yards and eventually dynamiting the house. Although none of the white neighbors were ever arrested, Carl was charged with sedition for selling the home to a black family and sentenced to 15 years in prison. While the charges were eventually overturned and he was released from prison after eight months, the Wades moved away and remained traumatized by the event.

On a larger scale, the destruction of African American property by whites has been a common form of racial violence since the abolition of slavery. This includes incidents such as the Tulsa massacre (which destroyed 35 square blocks of the wealthiest black community in the U.S. known as the Black Wall Street), the Rosewood massacre (which resulted in the decimation of a black town in rural Florida), and Red Summer (in which there was mass violence against black communities across the country). Even today, there continue to be reports of black families being harassed in white neighborhoods. Consequently, through both institutional restrictions and interpersonal violence, African Americans have had their access to property ownership and wealth development continually impeded.

Response

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy” (Proverbs 31:8-9, NIV).

“Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place” (Jeremiah 22:3-5, NIV).

Both of these scriptures encourage God’s people to speak and act on behalf of the exploited and oppressed. Ask God in what ways He is calling you to speak and act on behalf of the marginalized and persecuted. Pray about how you may be able to help right the wrongs of housing discrimination.

Closing Prayer

Lord, thank you for calling us to repentance. Forgive us for wrongfully standing in the way of your promise for the fruitfulness of all people made in your image. Thank you for the changes that have been made to right this wrong. We ask you to breathe on our right actions and multiply the fruit of repentance toward good works in your church, and in our nation. Show me how to practice “gleaning” and generous stewardship for the benefit of the poor and oppressed. I yield to your guidance. Amen.

Additional Resources

Gordon, Wayne and John Perkins. 2013. Making Neighborhoods Whole: A Handbook for Christian Community Development. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Natelli, Michael. 2018. “What You Need to Know about Redlining and Gentrification.” The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, September 5, 2018.