Call for Accountability for RRHA Regarding Public Housing Evictions
We, the Initiatives of Change USA staff, recently received information from a community advocate who obtained documents via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that verified their suspicion that Richmond Redevelopment Housing Authority (RRHA) and its President & CEO Damon Duncan has been steadily increasing the amount of evictions since June. More troubling the FOIA request revealed that the RRHA has stopped leasing vacant units in Creighton Court since June without the proper approval from The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This very much resembles patterns of “Defacto Demolition” where in preparation for “redevelopment,” housing authorities simply take large actions to achieve a high level of vacancy to justify demolition without approval from HUD. Refusing to lease vacant units despite a long waiting list at least seems to constitute a potential violation of HUD laws (such as Code 42 U.S.C. 1437 p[d]) as well as potential civil rights violations of discriminatory impact depending on who constitutes the waiting list being denied the opportunity to the vacant units.
As an organization rooted in the principles of “honesty over deception and exploitation” as well as “contributing to the flourishing of others instead of continuing hierarchical abuse and diminishment of the other”, Initiatives of Change USA calls on Richmond City Council to hold RRHA accountable and to further discuss the concerns raised by Councilwoman Kim Gray in the October 28,2019 City Council work session concerning the RRHA’s rising number of evictions and their potential connection to the Navy Hill Development proposal.
On May 20th, 2019, a convening took place of the Faith Rooted Revolution, a multi-faith and multi issue organizational coalition, to discuss the power in coming together to recognize and disrupt historic patterns of oppression as they emerge in our current time. One of the concerns raised during the time was the potential impact the Navy Hill Coliseum project would have on the public housing that surrounds the proposed project. In their written response to the Navy Hill Independent Commission, the Navy Hill developers stated “a portion of the RRHA Gilpin Court public housing development site is also within one half mile of the Navy Hill development site and may also be impacted by the new investments.”
The acts of the Richmond Redevelopment Housing Authority and its CEO Damon Duncan in evicting and displacing families while refusing to lease vacant units in Creighton to new tenants have done more than just potentially unlawfully violate section 5 of the Annual Contributions Contract. The methods of how they have conducted these evictions have eroded the trust of those they are supposed to assist. From limiting public access to their September 18th board meeting around their five-year plan [1] to removing those offering legal support to Creighton residents at the October 30th meeting in Creighton Court, RRHA’s actions continue historic legacies of displacement against some of the most vulnerable in our city.
Just because something is current doesn’t mean that something is new. Eduardo Galeano once said “History never really says goodbye. History says, ‘See you later.” In the 1950’s this same Richmond Housing Authority destroyed 4,700 units of housing in black neighborhoods and only replaced them with 1,736 units of public housing. The city of Richmond and RRHA must not repeat the harms of the past of actors such as consultants Harland Bartholomew or R. Stuart Royer & Associates whose path towards “redevelopment” was paved over black people and their neighborhoods. Moreover, the City of Richmond certainly must not perpetuate historical harms while simultaneously claiming to honor the black heritage and neighborhood called Navy Hill. Navy Hill was destroyed in the name of Urban “Renewal” to clear the land for the current Richmond Coliseum.
As a peacebuilding and trustbuilding organization, we take a stand against all harmful legacies of violence. Coretta Scott King once stated “I must remind you that starving a child is violence. Neglecting school children is violence. Punishing a mother and her family is violence. Discrimination against a working man is violence. Ghetto housing is violence. Ignoring medical need is violence. Contempt for poverty is violence.” It is our great leaders of the movement toward liberation for black people that remind us that any project or 5-year plan presenting itself as redevelopment that leads to displacement rooted in contempt and criminalization of people in poverty is nothing but violence. James Baldwin in 1963 said that local governments involved in Urban “Renewal” were actually complicit in a process of violence whose impact truly meant and became “Negro Removal.” The acts of Damon Duncan and RRHA in evicting and displacing families from Creighton Court while refusing to lease vacant units to new tenants are not just potentially unlawful violations. They are also acts of violence.
Mayor Levar Stoney and Superintendent Jason Kamras recently had a beautiful program encouraging RPS children at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School to “stop the violence.” The leadership of the City of Richmond cannot invoke Dr. King to give a moral standard to the children, if the adults and leaders rebuke the moral standards of Coretta Scott King by committing the very acts of violence she defined and taught to Dr. King. On what moral authority can a city tell children to stop the violence, when it actively enacts violence against that same child’s family through policies of displacement?
As an organization “committed to ensuring the lessons of history are not forgotten by our institutions or communities,” we ask that you join us in writing your Richmond City Council member to demand that the RRHA “stop the violence” and increasing eviction rates. We demand more accountability and oversight into RRHA’s growing evictions and their ceasing to lease vacant units in Creighton Court since June. The issues raised in the October 28,2019 city council work session around the actions of RRHA must be addressed and also considered within the context of the Navy Hill Development proposal.
Attorney Bryan Stevenson says “we have a legal system that treats you better if you are rich and guilty than if you are poor and innocent.” The city is currently considering, through the Navy Hill Development proposal, paying over hundreds of millions of dollars in partnership with Tom Farrell and Dominion that has overcharged over $379 Million from everyday Virginians in overage charges from 2017-2018.[2] Yet the RRHA is evicting families, some only $87 short on rent, just for the “crime” of being unable to afford rent all in the name of “redevelopment” and a “pathway to more affordable housing.”
One of the core values of the Faith Rooted Revolution, is that we all have agency and the power to decide whether we simply continue the oppressive legacies we have inherited or whether we choose to disrupt those legacies of oppression with streams of justice. As the Qur’an instructs its followers “O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm in justice, witnesses for Allah, even if it be against yourselves or parents and relatives. Whether one is rich or poor…” (Surah An-Nisa 4:135a, Sahih International translation)
On behalf of the Faith Rooted Revolution, we call for RRHA to stop the violence and for Richmond City Council to investigate and hold RRHA accountable for their recent activity concerning not leasing vacant units in Creighton Court while increasing evictions. We leave you with the words of the prophet Isaiah later uttered by Jesus to his followers at the beginning of his ministry.
“The Spirit of the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor…, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve …— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.” (Isaiah 61:1a-4b, NKJV Translation)
May those trapped in the dehumanizing cycle of poverty be blessed and may those who contribute to keeping people in that cycle be transformed into vessels of peace and justice. “Redevelopment” that becomes bad news to people in poverty is not the work of justice. It is the work and extension of a legacy of displacement that we are all called to disrupt.
In greater understanding and solidarity,
Initiatives of Change USA
[1] http://richmondfreepress.com/news/2019/sep/27/rrha-changes-rankle-residents-activists-who-are-mo/
[2] https://wtvr.com/2019/09/09/protestors-want-refund-after-dominion-energy-makes-397-million-in-extra-profits-but-a-new-law-prevents-that/ .