One Strike and You're out of Public Housing: How the Intersection of the War on Drugs and Federal Housing Policy Violated Due Process and Fair Housing Principles
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ONE STRIKE AND YOU'RE OUT
OF PUBLIC HOUSING:
HOW THE INTERSECTION OF THE
WAR ON DRUGS AND FEDERAL
HOUSING POLICY VIOLATES
DUE PROCESS AND FAIR
HOUSING PRINCIPLES
Michelle Y. Ewert*
IwrRODUCTION
[T]he racist virus in the American blood stream still afflicts us: Ne-
groes will encounter serious personal prejudice for at least another gener-
ation.' Written in 1965, this dire prediction contained in the
introduction to the Department of Labor's Moynihan Report proved to
be both right and wrong in chilling ways. It proved true because racism
still permeates our society at all levels. Rhetoric by national leaders and
the general public alike demonstrates race-based animus, and that ani-
mus has fueled public policy. The prediction proved wrong, however, in
its anticipated duration. Fifty years later-long past the generation ref-
erenced in the report-many of the barriers identified in the report con-
tinue to limit low-income African American communities' opportunities
for advancement.
The Moynihan Report identified both systemic problems (such as the
history of slavery, unemployment, and racial discrimination) and cultural
problems (the pathology of low-income African American families, ex-
* Clinical Fellow, Civil Advocacy Clinic, University of Baltimore School of Law. J.D.
University of Wisconsin, M.P.P. University of Minnesota. I would like to thank the
University of Baltimore clinical faculty for their feedback and support; D. Merrill
Ewert, Michele Gilman, Mario Barnes, Valerie Schneider, Michael Pinard, Jaime Lee,
Norrinda Brown Hyatt and Garrett Epps for their thoughtful review of drafts; Larry
Dupuis, Karyn Rotker and Edward Goetz for fueling my passion for housing jus-
tice; Christopher Sweeney for his excellent service as a law clerk; my parents, Mer-
rill and Priscilla, for raising my sister and me to believe that we could make a
difference; Adam Pfeifer for accompanying me to conferences at which I presented
parts of this article; and Marcus Lewis, Ponce Cade and the other men of the Chi-
cago Public Housing Buy-Back Recycling Program for being my guardian angels
and teachers during my time as an AmeriCorps VISTA.
1. OFFICE OF POLICY PLANNING AND RESEARCH, U.S. DEP'T OF LABOR, THE NEGRO FpAM-
ILY: THE CASE FOR NATIONAL ACTION (1965).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/hblj32&div=4&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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