On April 11, 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1968 — also known as the Fair Housing Act. The Civil Rights Act of 1968 defines housing discrimination as the “refusal to sell or rent a dwelling to any person because of his race, color, religion, or national origin.” This month marks the 50-year anniversary of this historic national document.
Fighting for Fair Housing: A conference on the 50th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act, will provide an opportunity to review past struggles for fair housing and to discuss future efforts needed to insure fair housing in our communities. The conference is being sponsored by the University of Notre Dame’s Center for Civil & Human Rights, Department of Africana Studies, Center for Social Concerns, and Office of Community Relations, as well as the IU Civil Rights Heritage Center, Notre Dame Clinical Law Center, and the St. Joseph County Bar Association. The event is planned for Thursday and Friday, April 19th and 20th. There is no charge for admission and community members are welcome to participate in all sessions.
Thursday’s event (April 19) will be held at the IUSB Civil Rights Heritage Center (1040 West Washington Street, South Bend). The reception will begin at 6 pm. The panel, “Our History of Housing Discrimination,” begins at 7 pm. Housing activists from the Contract Buyers League (West Lawndale, Chicago) and Better Homes South Bend will share their experiences in their historic struggles for Fair Housing.
Friday’s Panels (April 20) will be held at the Eck Hall of Law at the University of Notre Dame. The final panel, “Where do we go from here?” is scheduled for 3 pm. It will be an open discussion among policy makers, academics, and local residents on what discrimination looks like today and how we can combat it. For more information about the Fair Housing Conference: https://humanrights.nd.edu/news-events/fighting-for-fair-housing-conference/