Note:
This commentary is the opening
Presentation by James Jennings to the
Convening: Environmental Justice and Housing
Equity: Building Power for Communities, on
behalf of Alternatives for Community &
Environment (ACE)
held
in Worcester, Massachusetts on October 21,
2025. ACE is an
Environmental Justice Grassroots
Organization based in Roxbury, Massachusetts
with over 40 years of local activism.
I would like to share three
observations with you related to our Convening
today: Environmental
Justice and Housing Equity: Building Power
for Communities. But first
I want to emphasize the importance
of struggling and fighting back during the
current period of growing authoritarianism
that many, many, many people over decades
believed would never happen in this country.
For the sake of continuing to expand
Democracy, social and economic justice for
everyone, we must continually challenge and
question authoritarian bullies and their
minions, regardless of the government
positions they might hold.
Today, there are millions of Americans who
are concerned about the attacks on BIPOC
communities. We need to develop a civic and
political framework which will sustain this
local and national mobilization. Let us not
forget that Trump won the presidential
election by 49.8% of the popular vote, not
99.8% - it was 49.8% of the popular vote.
Despite this, the national administration is
curtailing Democracy and attempting to roll
back key Civil Rights victories which benefit
everyone in this nation.
As noted recently by the
Massachusetts Office of Environmental Justice
in their report, Multi-State
Guidance Affirming the Importance and
Legality of Environmental Justice
Initiatives: “The federal actions attacking
environmental justice have created concerns
about, but do not
impact – the
continual legality and importance of
environmental justice efforts… These
[federal] actions include several executive
orders issued by President Trump, as well as
memorandum issued by U.S. Attorney General
Pam Bondi. These federal actions
inaccurately label environmental justice and
diversity, equity, inclusion, and
accessibility activities as “illegal
discrimination.”, or “radical and wasteful”,
“reverse discrimination.”
The
Guidance report proceeds to show that, in
fact, it is these recent, spiteful federal
actions and dictates that are are illegal and
contradictory to the U.S. Constitution and a
plethora of laws and judicial decisions and
regulations established, and reaffirmed, over
decades. And this is why, just last week, the
Housing Authorities of the cities of San
Francisco, San Diego, Baltimore, Los Angeles,
and Salem, Massachusetts filed a joint federal
lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of
HUD’s “vague and unauthorized conditions on
federal grants to coerce compliance with
executive policy preferences” and that are
inconsistent with constitutional and statutory
authority including the Fifth Amendment,
Separation of Powers, the Spending Clause, and
the Administrative Procedure Act.
My
three observations are in response to the
national administration’s attack on the
continuing Civil Rights Movement, the
historical and contemporary umbrella for
advancing affirmatively furthering fair
housing, fair lending, and environmental
justice.
Observation #1: Organizing on behalf of
affirmatively furthering fair housing,
environmental justice, and fair lending must
re-emerge as a collaborative undertaking in
local communities, and across racial and
ethnic communities. These three spaces are all
related, “joined at the hip” to quip legal
scholar Tim Iglesias. It is critical that
activists across these three spaces work
together to fight direct attacks on the lives
of Black and Brown people as illustrated in
the recent General Iron case in Chicago (2016)
where a federal judge found that environmental
injustice and racism are fed by federal
lending exploitation, and lack of strong
monitoring and enforcement of affirmatively
furthering fair housing. Now, HUD is refusing
to honor this case, erase it from our
collective civic memory. Local and state
governments must be pressured to resist this
kind of attack.
As
much as it is trying to be erased from
collective civic memory, a historical and
contemporary context of environmental
injustices, including practices such as
redlining and discriminatory zoning laws have
led to the concentration of environmental
hazards in marginalized neighborhoods.
Communities affected by environmental
injustices often face significant health risks
due to exposure to pollutants, toxic waste,
and inadequate infrastructure. These health
disparities are exacerbated by socioeconomic
factors, limiting access to healthcare and
resources for affected populations. Poor
housing conditions and the location of
affordable housing often correlate with
environmental hazards, leading to increased
health risks for residents. Limited access to
financial resources can hinder communities'
ability to improve their living conditions and
advocate for environmental protection.
Observation #2: Affirmatively Furthering Fair
Housing, Environmental Justice, and Fair
Lending are critical parts of the not yet
ending Civil Rights Movement. The nation - by
Black and BIPOC communities and supported by
many in White communities - has realized
important progress related to anti-racism and
expansion of social and economic democracy.
But this progress has also been continually
resisted by interests that support,
perpetuate, and defend White supremacy and the
continuing concentration of wealth, here and
around the world.
Yes,
the Civil Rights Movement dismantled a system
of physical brutality based on white
supremacy; it strengthened a moral critique
about the weaknesses of U.S. Democracy; it
highlighted race as a fundamental dynamic, key
issue in U.S. society; it led to electoral
breakthroughs for BIPOC communities; but, most
important: it considerably expanded social and
economic rights and benefits for everyone, for
all groups.
A
few examples…
· The Civil
Rights Act of 1960: expanded protection for
African American and Mexican American voters;
illegal to destroy election records.
· The Equal Pay
Act of 1963 prohibited wage
differentials based on sex.
· The Civil
Rights Act of 1964: outlawed discrimination based
on race, color, religion, sex, and national
origin; targeted discrimination in schools,
public accommodations, and employment.
· The Voting
Rights Act of 1965 (based on the US
Constitution’s 15th Amendment in 1870): “The
right of U.S. Citizens to vote shall not be
denied or abridged by the United States or by
any State on account of race, color, or
previous condition of servitude.” Further, it
outlawed literacy or good character tests as
requirements for voting rights.
· The Fair
Housing Act of 1968: prohibited the use of
housing to sustain racial segregation; it
illegalizes discriminatory real estate
practices; later amendments prohibited housing
discrimination based on sex; and then, people
with disabilities and families with children.
· The Clean Air
Act of 1970: helped to ensure that everyone,
regardless of location and status, could
breathe clean air.
· 1972 Education
Act Amendments/Title IX: banned sexual discrimination
in education institutions receiving federal
funds; later strengthened by The Civil Rights
Restoration Act of 1987 requiring entities
receiving federal funds not to discriminate
throughout the entire organization, not simply
a particular program receiving federal funds.
· The
Rehabilitation Act of 1973: prohibits discrimination
against people with disabilities; requires
affirmative action in federal agencies to
ensure participation of people with
disabilities.
· 1977: U.S. Supreme Court rules that
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
prohibited height requirements for police
officers as discriminatory against women [as I
recall this also triggered a class action suit
against the New York City Police Department
because it was used to keep Puerto Ricans -
citizens of the United States since
citizenship was imposed in 1917, by the way, -
from the possibility of becoming police
officers.]
· 1977 Community
Reinvestment Act: addressed loan discrimination
and redlining in low-income and BIPOC
communities.
· 1978 Pregnancy
Discrimination Act: prohibited discrimination
in employment based on pregnancy as protected
in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
· Civil Service
Reform Act of 1978: prohibited discrimination in
employment based on sexual orientation.
· McKiney-Vento
Homeless Assistance Act of 1987: expanded considerably federal
responsibility to address homelessness.
· American with
Disabilities Act of 1990: required that employment,
public services, and public accommodation and
telecommunication services be made available
to persons with hearing or speech impediments;
and that ‘reasonable accommodations’ be
available.
· The Civil
Rights Act of 1991: reaffirmed that hiring and
promotion requirements have to be related to
the actual job.
· 1991: Executive Order 12898,
titled Federal
Actions to Address Environmental Justice in
Minority Populations and Low-Income
Populations emerges from Title VI of
the 1964 Civil Rights Act and represented a
major advancement towards environmental
justice for everyone.
This very abbreviated review of the Civil Rights
Movement and some of its associated
legislation makes clear that this was not a
Movement simply aimed at desegregating
society, or desegregating lunch counters, but
more fundamentally, a vision associated with
the establishment, sustenance, and expansion
of social justice and economic democracy for
everyone. And the spaces for fighting for
environmental justice, fair housing, and fair
lending were and remain critical to continual
expansion of social justice and economic
democracy for everyone.
One can see how continuing, expanding, and strengthening the Civil Rights Movement
across communities is a major social,
economic, and political threat to the
defenders and apologists of white supremacy
and the immoral greed associated with
super-concentrated wealth.
Observation #3:
There are at least two
guardrails that must be reflected in our
collaborative work: - ensuring
resident empowerment; and - framing
place-based work and activism that directly
improves, substantially, the quality of life
in communities. These guardrails mean that
residents must be involved in defining and
prioritizing the problem or challenges to be
undertaken. And they must be involved in
reviewing and participating in decision-making
about appropriate strategies and action plans.
They must be involved in implementing
strategies and actions. And they must be
involved in) evaluating or assessing the
impacts of adopted strategies.
With
this Convening today, and others around the
country, we are hoping that a Civil Rights
Movement framework will continue to frame
efforts and struggles to expand social and
economic democracy. Greater collaboration
among those fighting for fair housing,
environmental justice, and fair lending
represents a key tool for struggle along these
lines.
