March 29, 2021

MARYLAND COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS STATEMENT AGAINST ACTS OF HATE AND BIAS AGAINST THE ASIAN AMERICAN & PACIFIC ISLANDER COMMUNITY The Maryland Commission on Civil Rights stands in solidarity with the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community in condemning anti-Asian sentiment and any acts of racism throughout the region and the nation. In May of 2020, the Commission’s Executive Director, Alvin O. Gillard, issued a statement condemning the murder of George Floyd and the systemic racism that many people of color face in our communities. We feel troubled by these acts of racism standing in solidarity with these communities in seeking justice and equity. Moreover, these victims and their families shall remain in our thoughts and hearts. As the agency in State government with the statutory mission of enforcing anti-discrimination statutes preventing unlawful discrimination in the areas of employment, housing, public accommodations, and State contracts, we affirm our commitment in addressing unlawful discrimination throughout the State. This public agency remains focused and authentic in pursuing our statutory charge to represent the voices of all citizens. A critical part of MCCR’s mission includes promoting and improving the civil rights in the State. We recognize that racism has historically been cultivated by deliberate misinformation and a devaluing of the other that all who possess good will should condemn. As the Board of Commissioners, in partnership with the staff, we specifically recognize that COVID-19 as well as some in the past Administration have amplified the bias against and the barriers and disparities experienced by people of color and by immigrants. We reflect upon Edmund Burke’s quote that President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., relied upon in their public speeches, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing.” The Maryland Commission on Civil Rights calls on all people of our state, and especially those who self-describe as people of “good-will”, to join us in combating unlawful discrimination in all its forms. There are opportunities for you to join with Human Relations Commissions in your counties, as well as advocacy and service organizations around the state that promote equity, inclusion, and opportunity. In conclusion, we encourage all Marylanders to step-up and become a part of community efforts to promote sustainable change through the dismantling of systems of oppression, neglect, and inferiority. Let us all stand as good neighbors by showing our support for the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in our community with some acts of kindness. We stand with you!

Victim of Discrimination? Training & Partnerships

 

Register for the conference  The Just Economy Conference is the national online event for community, policy, government and business leaders working toward a just economy that not only promises but delivers to all Americans opportunities to build wealth and live well. Come to this national online event for community, policy, government, business and foundation leaders who work for fairness in lending, housing and business, and to make all Americans equal parts of the formula for national success. Speakers are: Nikole Hannah-Junes, Pulitzer-winning investigative civil rights reporter, The New York Times. Jerome Powell, Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chair of the Senate's Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs Committee. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Member of the Senate's Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs Committee. Advocacy Week is a special event that is available only to NCRC members: Join NCRC today to participate in this unique advocacy experience and virtually meet with your Senators, Representatives or Congressional staff to discuss a wide array of policy issues that affect all Americans, but especially have an impact on lower-income and Black and Brown communities. Join us online for two jam-packed days of keynotes and networking May 3-4, plus: April 22: Advocacy Week Prep Meeting  April 26-30: Pre Conference Advocacy Week May 5-14: Post Conference Just Economy Sessions Every year, we hear those who attend the Just Economy conference say participating in Hill Day and meeting their policymakers is their favorite part of the conference. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our Hill Day is not only all virtual, but it is an entire Advocacy Week April 26-30. There is still time to register. Join us and make your voice heard.  You will also receive the member registration rate for the conference, and all the benefits of NCRC Membership including:  National and regional research reports on important topics like gentrification, bank closures and housing affordability Trainings and technical assistance to help your organization build capacity Access to the new Member Hub and Just Economy Forum  Join NCRC then to get updates on when meetings with your policymakers will take place.   Register now NCRC 740 15th St. NW Suite 400 Washington, DC 20306 ***** Source: National Community Reinvestment Coalition, March 29, 2021

March 31st Listening Session: Access to Health Care through Insurance for Women and their Dependents

Individuals who sign-up will be allotted time to share their thoughts and experiences.

Date: March 31, 2021

Time: 1pm-4pm

How: Please register to get Zoom link: https://tinyurl.com/2msjxz5k

To Speak: To speak after the invited panelists, email joy.hatchette@maryland.gov.

Commissioner Kathleen A. Birrane and the Maryland Insurance Administration, together with the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange and the Maryland Department of Health, will hold the Session to hear from both invited panelists and consumers regarding the role that insurance plays in enabling women to access health care for themselves and their dependents – and where gaps, challenges, confusion, and barriers exist.

Throughout 2021, Commissioner Birrane and the MIA will hold a series of Listening Sessions to help the MIA more fully understand the experiences of specific communities relating to certain kinds of insurance. These Listening Sessions will assist us to fulfill our statutory mission to serve Marylanders both in our enforcement of Maryland’s insurance laws and in our development of tools, guides, and programs for consumers.

Confirmed Participants:

• CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield
• Chesapeake Health Care
• Disability and Health Inclusion Program Advisory Committee
• House of Ruth Maryland
• Johns Hopkins Health Care LLC
• Kaiser Permanente
• The Latino Health Initiative
• Maryland Coalition of Families
• Maryland Department of Health
• Maryland Health Connection
• Maryland Maternal Health Initiatives Program
• MedChi, The Maryland State Medical Society
• Meritus Health
• Mountain Laurel Medical Center
• Planned Parenthood of Maryland Inc.
• Public Policy Partners
• University of Maryland Medical System
• Weinberg Center for Women’s Health at Mercy
• Women’s Law Center of Maryland

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Source: Maryland Insurance Administration, March 29, 2021 

Traveling Black: A Story of Race and Resistance 

by Mia Bay 

Belknap, 2021. 400 pages. $35.00 hardcover.

Book Review

This is a very interesting and illuminating history of mobility and resistance in the civil rights movement. “Most studies of segregation are centered largely on the South, and are more grounded in the history of particular communities than in the experiences of Black people in motion,” Bay writes. “Once one of the most resented forms of segregation, travel segregation is now one of the most forgotten.”

The books covers trains, cars, buses, and planes in successive chapters, showing that each technology was initially embraced by Black travelers for its potential to offer an escape from the degradation and dangers of the Jim Crow car, only to find that segregation and poor treatment awaited.

Legalized by Plessy v. Ferguson by the Supreme Court, Jim Crow established “separate but equal.” The author traces the arc from Plessy in 1896 to the Freedom Rides of 1961, when volunteers traveled on buses through the South to test the enforcement of a 1960 Supreme Court decision that decreed that interstate passengers should be served “without discrimination.”

The history involves generations of Black Americans trying to navigate a jumble of segregationist laws and customs that varied considerably from state to state and frequently depending upon a particular ticket collector or railway conductor's decisions. Black motorists couldn’t be sure if they would find a safe place to stop. In the North, the lack of segregation signs basically said rules were unspoken and unclear. As one article put it, “You could never know where insult and embarrassment are waiting for you.”

 A SHORT HISTORY OF NATIONAL FAIR HOUSING MONTH

Prepared by the GBCHRB, 2021.

What is It? 

National Fair Housing Month celebrates the passage of The Fair Housing Act of 1968, which prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, and familial status in the sale or rental of housing. This Act was subsequently amended and revised by legislation in 1974 and 1988 to produce what is in 2010 the Fair Housing Law of the United States. The most recent change in the law was HUD's February 11, 2021 announcement that it would enforce discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity

Historical Background 

From 1966-1967, Congress regularly considered the Fair Housing bill, but failed to garner a strong enough majority for its passage. However, when the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson utilized this national tragedy to urge for the bill's speedy Congressional approval. Since the 1966 open housing marches in Chicago, Dr. King's name had been closely associated with the Fair Housing legislation. President Johnson viewed the Act as a fitting memorial to the man's life work, and wished to have the Act passed prior to Dr. King's funeral in Atlanta. Another significant issue during this time period was the growing casualty list from Vietnam. The deaths in Vietnam fell heaviest upon young, poor African-American and Hispanic infantrymen. However, on the home front, these men's families could not purchase or rent homes in certain residential developments on account of their race or national origin. 

Passage of the Act 

Specialized organizations like the NAACP, the GI Forum, and the National Committee Against Discrimination In Housing lobbied hard for the Senate to pass the Fair Housing Act and remedy this inequity. Senators Edward Brooke and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts strongly lobbied for the passage of this legislation. Senator Brooke, the first African-American ever to be elected to the Senate by popular vote, spoke personally of his return from World War II and inability to provide a home of his choice for his new family because of his race. 

Legally, the Act was a follow-up to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The 1968 Act expanded on previous acts and prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, sex, (and as amended) handicap and family status. Title VIII of the Act is also known as the Fair Housing Act (of 1968). 

The Act could never have been passed without both the strong leadership of President Lyndon B. Johnson and the creation of bi-partisan support in the Senate. The Majority Whip Senator Hubert H. Humphrey (D-Minnesota) and the Minority Leader Senator Everett McK. Dirksen (R-Illinois) were instrumental in forging a compromise that led to passage. 

Creation of HUD 

To aid community development and enforce the Fair Housing Law, the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was created. The department was established on September 9, 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act into law. It stipulated that the department was to be created no later than November 8, sixty days following the date of enactment. The actual implementation was postponed until January 13, 1966, following the completion of a special study group report on the federal role in solving urban problems (Wikipedia, 2010). President Nixon tapped then Governor of Michigan, George Romney (Mitt's father), for the post of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. While serving as Governor, Secretary Romney had successfully campaigned for ratification of a state constitutional provision that prohibited discrimination in housing. President Nixon also appointed Samuel Simmons as the first Assistant Secretary for Equal Housing Opportunity. 

Fair Housing laws now are enforced by a combination of federal, state, local, and nonprofit agencies and organizations. 

Celebration of the Act 

HUD initially held a gala event marking the first year of the Act's passage. The tradition of celebrating Fair Housing Month has grown larger and larger. Governors began to issue proclamations that designated April as "Fair Housing Month," and schools across the country sponsored poster and essay contests that focused upon fair housing issues. Regional winners from these contests often enjoyed trips to Washington, D. C., for events with HUD and their Congressional representatives. 

Under former Secretaries James T. Lynn and Carla Hills, with the cooperation of the National Association of Homebuilders, National Association of Realtors, and the American Advertising Council, these groups adopted fair housing as their theme and provided free billboard space throughout the nation. Every HUD administrative region across the country also has its own celebrations, meetings, dinners, contests and radio-television shows that featured HUD, state and private fair housing experts and officials. 

In Maryland 

In Maryland, Fair Housing Month also celebrates the passage of Article 49-B of the Annotated Code of Maryland prohibiting discrimination in the sale or rental of housing. The Governor traditionally issues a Proclamation declaring April as Fair Housing Month in the State, and various celebrations are held. 

The HUD Baltimore Office, several governmental agencies, nonprofit organizations, and private groups - including the GBCHRB - hold various events and webinars in connection with Fair Housing Month. Everyone is invited to attend these free events.

For More Information

Maryland

Baltimore City Office of Equity & Civil Rights Fair Housing Month Film Festival. For any questions,  contact Lauren Jackson in the Office of Equity and Civil Rights:  Lauren.Jackson@BaltimoreCity.gov.

National Fair Housing Alliance, “Seven Days - History of the Fair Housing Act”

Maryland Center for History and Culture, “Housing Discrimination"

The 2021 Fair Housing Month Exhibition Student Artwork Call for Entry seeks student art from Elementary School, Middle School, and High School students in Baltimore City for the 2021 Fair Housing Month Student Exhibition in April 2021. Students are encouraged to create artwork based on home, community, and housing discrimination. The exhibition will be a dynamic curated outdoor art event installed in the Parks and People Foundation location at 2100 Liberty Heights Avenue, Baltimore, MD, 21217 from Thursday, April 1, until Saturday, May 1, 2021. The deadline for submissions is Monday, March 1, 2021. Submit Your Artwork here!

National

US Department of HUD - The Department's main website.

HUD Fair Housing & Equal Opportunity National Office - For information about Fair Housing and Fair Housing Month.

2021 HUD Fair Housing Month 2021 Outreach Materials - A variety of materials free to download including posters, guides, PSAs, and others.

File with HUD a Complaint of Housing Discrimination - Description and form for filing a complaint.

Housing Discrimination Under the Fair Housing Act - Describes the various parts of the Law.

 APRIL IS FAIR HOUSING MONTH!

 HUD to hold Fair Housing Month Event on April 7th

The Maryland Commission on Civil Rights (MCCR) and the GBCHRB, among others, provide free Fair Housing training on a multitude of issues and laws. MCCR offers the following training nodules about Fair Housing and equity:​

• Know Your Civil Rights
• Conflict Resolution
• Dimensions of Diversity
• Disability Issues, Awareness & the Law
• Employment Discrimination Prevention
• Housing Discrimination Prevention
• Public Accommodations/Services Discrimination Prevention
• Race in America: Systemic and Structural Discrimination
• Investigating Complaints of Discrimination (4 hours)
• Religious/Spiritual Awareness, Accommodation & the Law
• Sexual Harassment Prevention
• Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity
• LGBTQIA Safe Spaces
• The Maryland Equity and Inclusion Leadership Program

For more information on MCCR’s Community Outreach & Education program or to make a request, please contact either:

Kara N. Hunt, Ph. D.

Director of Education & Outreach

kara.hunt1@maryland.gov​

410.767.7656

Keith Merkey

Education & Outreach Associate

keith.merkey@maryland.gov

410.767.8560

For Fair Housing training, contact the GBCHRB at 410.929.7640 or email wkladky@gbchrb.org.

 

 

Disability Advocacy Groups File Federal Lawsuit Alleging 6 Maryland Jurisdictions Discriminate in Vaccine Process

Baltimore, MD (March 9, 2021) ⁠— The Arc Maryland is suing Baltimore City and Carroll, Garrett, Queen Anne’s, Somerset, and Talbot counties, charging they have discriminated against people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) by denying opportunities for them to access COVID-19 vaccines. 

The lawsuit filed last night in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland Northern Division by The Arc Maryland – which is being represented by Disability Rights Maryland, The Arc of the United States, and the Brown & Barron Law Firm – asserts that the websites being used by the six named jurisdictions to convey information about coronavirus vaccines fail to include people with IDD as eligible for vaccines under Phase 1B of Maryland’s vaccine priority plan. This is not only inconsistent with Maryland’s Executive Order and Vaccination Plan, which specifies people with intellectual and developmental disabilities have priority under Phase 1B, but also violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

“Simply put, this discrimination puts lives at stake,” says Ray Marshall, Board President of The Arc Maryland. People with intellectual and developmental disabilities have faced and overcome incredible obstacles over the past year,” Marshall notes. “It is frustrating to have our state recognize people with IDD to be the 1B priority group for the vaccine, only for people with IDD to be denied equitable access to the vaccine from the counties in which they live. We hope this action will result in immediate change for the benefit of all.”

Numerous studies indicate that people with IDD face significantly heightened COVID-19 risk. That risk may be increased for those who rely on caregivers or direct support professionals to provide assistance with daily activities, for which social distancing is often not possible. This is particularly true for those people supported by a provider organization, such as one of The Arc Maryland’s local affiliates. According to a study published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine, Catalyst, COVID-19-related fatality rates among people with IDD nationally who have tested positive for COVID-19 are 2-3 times greater than mortality rates among the general population who have tested positive for COVID-19.

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Source: Disability Rights Maryland, March 12, 2021