BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - A housing program in rural Alabama has purposely segregated low-income apartment residents by race for years, with white people living on one side of town and Black people on the other, the federal government alleged in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
Black people seeking housing in Ashland, located about 80 miles (129 kilometers) southeast of Birmingham in Clay County, are sent to live in either of two mostly Black apartment developments, West Side and Pine View, while white people live at three overwhelmingly white developments, East Side, Ashland Heights or Clay Circle, the suit argued.
The arrangement has been used at least since 2012, the suit said.
The Justice Department lawsuit, which alleged the practice violates the Fair Housing Act, was filed against the Housing Authority of Ashland and three companies that were identified as owners of the apartments: Southern Development Company of Ashland Ltd., Southern Development Company of Ashland #2 Ltd. and Southern Development Company LLC.
“The U.S. Department of Justice will not stand for this kind of unlawful and intolerable discrimination. The Justice Department will continue to fight to protect the rights of all Americans to rent and own their homes without regard to their race or color,” Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband said in a statement.
No one responded to an email sent to the Ashland Housing Authority or a phone message left at City Hall in Ashland, a mostly white town of about 2,000 people. A phone message left at a number listed for Southern Development was not returned immediately.
The lawsuit seeks money to compensate the victims, fines, action to correct discrimination and a court order barring the practice.
A federal investigation accused a north Alabama housing authority of similar discrimination earlier this year. The review by Housing and Urban Development found the Decatur Housing Authority let white people live in towers with scenic views of the Tennessee River and other amenities, while segregating Black people in a separate, less desirable development.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.