NIMBYism, Racism Called Out By Coachella Valley Housing Coalition

Press release from Coachella Valley Housing Coalition:
June 11, 2020

The shocking and tragic murder of George Floyd in police custody highlighted to people all over the world the centuries’ old inequalities in American life. Sadly, we know it is not just in the criminal justice system that people of color suffer from unequal and unjust treatment. As the world also faces a deadly pandemic which has already ended the lives of over 108,000 Americans, it is clear that African-American and Latino communities have disproportionately carried the burden of the disease and the economic dislocation that has accompanied it. Limited access to healthcare, obstacles to high quality education and unfair treatment in the workplace have perpetuated the legacy of inequality faced by African Americans from the very founding of our nation.

Academic studies have concluded the zip code of your youth is the strongest determinant of the path of your life. Your zip code determines your health, your educational experience, your career opportunities, and your financial success. Why is that? It is because so many important pursuits we all depend on for ourselves and our families are based on where you live: access to safe places to play, public libraries, good schools, internet access and healthy housing.

What we are learning from the tragedy of brutal police treatment of persons of color is it is not enough to consider oneself “not a racist” but rather the moral imperative for us all is to actively be anti-racist. Since the location of your housing is so critical to determining the course of your life, how does being anti-racist apply to housing?

For 38 years, Coachella Valley Housing Coalition has created over 5000 affordable homes for low income households in Riverside and Imperial Counties. Years of discrimination and limited opportunities have resulted in over-representation of persons of color among low-income populations. We are proud of the high quality of our rental and single-family communities and the awards we have won; we’d like to build more to house working families. Most members of the public think that the limitation on how much we build is not enough money or land. That is not the case. The biggest obstacle in the creation of more affordable housing in our severe housing crisis is lack of community support which manifests as reluctant city councils and outright NIMBYism: Not in my Backyard attitudes.

It is time to call out NIMBYism for what it is: racism leading to segregation and substandard housing. Although some who oppose more affordable housing say right out loud that they don’t want “those people” in their community, most couch their opposition in more general terms. Here are some of the more common ones: “it will lower our property values”, “it will increase traffic”, “it will change the nature of our neighborhood”. These claims are not true and are disproven by experience, logic, and broad academic studies but they are heard when a city considers a new affordable housing proposal. We developers of affordable housing know it is not an objection to the buildings—we win awards for our attractive developments and they are built to the same codes and quality as other housing. The objection—stated or not---is to the people who will live there. Just who do these NIMBYs think that will be? Do they object to the bank teller, the person who cuts their hair, waits on them in restaurants or takes care of an elderly relative? Where do we think the people who work in our hospitality, tourism and agricultural industries will live? NIMBYism is the strong force that limits the housing opportunities for people of color and even in the 21st century results in segregation and limited opportunities.

So, here is an invitation: let’s all make a determination to be anti-racist. And, when we do and apply that to developing diverse communities where we and our children can get to know each other, it means that we support, encourage and say yes to the building of safe, decent and affordable housing for everyone—in every city. Everyone one deserves a healthy and safe place to call home.

This press release was produced by Coachella Valley Housing Coalition. The views expressed here are the author's own.