Monday, August 06, 2012

Winchester, Connecticut, 'Systematically' Discriminated Against Minorities: Lawsuit

Winchester, Connecticut, 'Systematically' Discriminated Against Minorities: Lawsuit: A Connecticut town has been accused of working to keep predominately white neighborhoods just that way.

The Housing Authority of Winchester, Connecticut, "systematically and unlawfully" discriminated against minorities in its administration of a federal housing subsidy program, according to a new lawsuit. By giving housing vouchers to mostly white people, the town was "ensuring that overwhelmingly-White communities remain overwhelmingly-White," the lawsuit says (h/t Courthouse News).

The Winchester Housing Authority requires applicants to its Section 8 housing choice voucher program to live in one of 17 Connecticut towns in order to be eligible to receive the vouchers, according to the lawsuit. This residency requirement discriminates against African-Americans and Hispanics because all those towns are more than 91 percent white, the lawsuit says. Winchester itself is 94.5 percent white, and roughly zero percent of Winchester households are African-American, according to the lawsuit.