NY Suburb Settles Discrimination Suit

(CBS)  Westchester County, is just outside New York. It's one of the richest counties in the country, and one of the whitest. The groundbreaking lawsuit charged Westchester County with failing to live up to its obligations to provide affordable housing as CBS News Chief National Correspondent Byron Pitts reports.

"They never tried to overcome barriers to fair housing that are based on race or based on municipal resistance to affordable housing," said Craig Gurian of the Anti-Discrimination Center of Metro New York.

Westchester County stood to lose up to $180 million dollars in federal funds if they lost this case, filed three years ago. Instead, they settled, admitting no wrongdoing but agreeing to major changes in seven years.

The county will spend almost $52 million to develop 750 affordable housing units that have to be marketed outside Westchester. At least 84 percent of those homes need to be in mostly-white communities. Neighborhoods where some minorities say they've felt unwelcomed.

The new housing isn't set aside for minorities. It's based not on skin color but on a moderate household income: $53,000 for a family renting, $75,000 for a family owning.

Larchmont, NY mayor Liz Feld says they're not small-minded, just a small town.

"We're a one-square-mile village, we're particularily small. Which makes it very challenging. We can't find housing for our own workforce."

The lawsuit has a national impact. More than 1,200 communities across the country receive federal funding for affordable housing. Now they're all on notice that they'll have to take these obligations seriously.

[edmundsingleton]

It is not easy living next to someone who does not share your outlook on life; my new neighbor is very nosy and noisy, we all would prefer someone next door more like ourselves...

[mrdck48334]

Hmmm... Obviously the people who made the case and pushed for it to be won, never lived near a black community. Anyone ever look at Detroit? The Blacks have done a wonderful job running and maintaining their city! Full of corruption and poverty! Way to go!!!

[OldJoeJunior]

They're going to spend $52 million so they don't lose $180 million? Now that doesn't even make sense. Kick this krud bunch of community clap trap out of the county and tell them to mind their own business!

If somebody wants a house there then they need to get to work and get the money! Nobody should have to provide anybody a house in the middle of their own neighborhood where they bought their property.

If I wanted druggies and thugs on every corner, I'd move into their neighborhood!

[wtcmedic911]

As a guy that lives in brooklyn i can truelly say. "there goes the neighborhood"

[russelllewis]

That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. I can't afford to live in Beverly Hills and I know it, I don't cry that someone needs to build me affordable housing there. Why the hell can't people live within their means? OK, yeah, if you make minimum wage, yes our government should be able and willing to help, just don't go demanding where the handout or help has to be delivered If those folks worked hard for their money or even if they happen to be born into wealth, I don't begrudge them the right to build themselves a community that makes them happy. If they had signs up that said no Blacks or Mexicans or any other minority, that would be different. If you can't afford to live with the rich folk, get a better job, do something different, invent a better mousetrap, whatever. Just quit complaining how unfair it is that you can't "move on up" with the Jeffersons.
And if you must know... I'm Black and feel this way!!!

[toldyouso29]

That is not the issue. The real issue is--if people don't want to dance to the tune that Federal money demands--why do they keep taking the money? If Westchester wants that money, then they have to produce--why should they get federal money that comes from people of all backgrounds--when the reason they are getting it, is not being lived up to?

[edmundsingleton]

Good points...

[rhs648]

Westchester County should simply forgo the one hundred and eigthy million dollars of federal money. If the residents with expensive homes don't want to provide "affordable" housing, just walk away from the federal money. They can pay higher taxes and not be pushed around by the government. In my last house, the city dotted our neighborhood with section 8 housing. Crime went up, vandalism went up, noise went up, and the property values went down. I spoke to the head of the section 8 program and he showed me every house in my development that was designated as section eight and it was shocking to see how many homes were designated as section 8. We moved to a more expensive neighborhood to get away from section 8 tenants.

[donbl1]

Gee, those white rich people need to get brought down.

It is important we all live with street people, drugs and drive by shootings.

[npkppprc]

When is this cr## going to stop let people live their lives and shut up. Getting very tired of the ethnic issues that seem to be always brought up by minorities. Live and let live and quit pushing your agendas on other people. Latinos think the southern US belongs to them, and illegal aliens demand rights they have not earned. Blacks are always looking for something to complain about and expect everyone to keep up with what they want to be called in this decade. Most African Americans were not born in Africa so why are they African Americans. Obama has a black father and a white mother yet he wants to be an African American. Time to be American and quit with the ethnic handles that only separate the races. We can always identify everyone by there ethnic background French, Jewish, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Asian, Chinese, Japanese. All of our families came from somewhere else so why do some continue demand to be anti-American.

[leggz1003]

Doesn't look like a minority issue to me. If Westchester wanted to avoid the lawsuit and complaints then it could have simply not taken Federal money for lower income housing. They took the money so they should provide the housing. Simple as that.

[toldyouso29]

npkppprc--just how ignorant are you, really? Obama is considered black based on US law which states that any person that has more than 1/16th black in them must be considered black. At 50% he is well over the mark and since we tend to treat people differently based on skin color, hair texture and nose width--Obama probably has been treated like most blacks in that he does not look biracial. That said--ask yourself this--until about 1940, we called Indians--red men and Chinese yellow men--now whites dictate that we still call blacks and whites by color--why is that?

Why have we singled out only 2 groups to denote by color--who are the "reds" or the browns or caramels or olives? Those groups who choose to denote a certain ancestry but also add they are American are doing so to identify to both groups and not only do blacks do this but also Greek Americans, Italian, Americans, Chinese Americans--etc--they add their ethnicity to differentiate from other groups who may look a lot like them (like blacks from Europe or the Carribbean or Latin America--but they want to be known by ancestry or origin. Instead of spending so much time wondering why blacks want to define themselves a certain way--why not spend more time trying to figure out why we think we should always be the ones to define others.