The Native American Press (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1992-01-24

              Report on housing in Phillips reveals discrimination, unfit housing
By Sue Hamre
A recent report provides' the
strongest evidence yet that housing
discrimination practices are
commonplace in the Phillips
neighborhood.
The People of Phillips Fair
Housing Report was done by a
private contractor with money
obtained in a grant received by the
Minneapolis Civil Rights
Department. In the as yet
unauthorized report, at least 24 of 82
audits done in the Phillips
neighborhood showed probable
cause that discrimination has
occurred against minorities and
people in other protected classes
who applied for housing.
Twenty-one cases are still pending
(whether or not cause has been
shown). Thirty six cases showed no
probable cause.
When applying for housing in
Phillips, minorities and other
protected classes of individuals face
outright discrimination from
landlords and their rental agents in
the Phillips neighborhood.
Trained auditors also reported that
40 percent of the apartments they
went to were in poor condition,
including having "broken and
missing appliances, roaches, urine
odor, dirty apartments, and
apartments in need of repair work."
In the 25-page report, 31 trained
auditors applied for housing in the
Phillips neighborhood. A total of 82
audits were completed. The types of
discrimination ranged from the more
obvious to the subtle kind in which
agents (of rental units or properties)
"suspicious of the African American
auditors' life style,..." the agents
asked detailed questions about
applicants' source of income, and
life style, and about their personal
relationships "with the oposite sex."
And the pattern of the questioning
itself was "disrespectful." The
questions asked by rental agents
varied depending on the auditor.
Caucasian auditors were given
applications and provided with
information about specific
apartments, while "protected class
persons were not."
Director of the People of Phillips,
Don Vargess, would not comment
on the report and said it was "not yet
authorized." He asked the News to
refrain from publishing the
information as did the party who
completed the report, saying that if
released too soon, the information
could jeopardize the cases of some
individuals who are being
discriminated against.
But Gary Blair, a Native
American, and a familiar name to
the Phillips neighborhood, who has
been actively pursuing local
politicians and neighborhood groups
in an effort to put an end to
discrimination in Phillips, said he
has known all along there is
discrimination going on there. He
said he is glad the public is finally
going to hear about it.
"In the last three years, over 18
discrimination suits were filed, and
over 35 percent of all housing
discriminations suits come out of the
Phillips neighborhood," How can
they ignore those figures," Blair
said, quoting information released in
a Minneapolis Community
Development Agency proposal that
was made public in June 1990.
In fact Blair has carried out what
some have labeled a "personal
vendetta," to get the housing issue to
the forefront in local politics and
community organizations. He has
written dozens of letters over the
past four years and attended
meetings with state representatives,
senators, officials of council,
member Tony Scallon, the
Department of Housing arid Urban
Development, the Minneapolis Civil
Rights Department, and leaders in
the Native American community,
among others. In those letters,
meetings and in a videotape that he
had made, Blair has cited case after
case of what he believed to be
discriminatory practices against
renters in the Phillips neighborhood.
He has repeatedly accused Native
American leaders and city
politicians of sitting back "collecting
their salaries," while the people in
Phillips are being victimized. Blair
said a major problem in the Native
American community is that the
American Indian Center is funded
by the city, which is choosing to
ignore the problems of residents in
Phillips.
But Blair isn't the only one who
Protesters call press conference
White Earth, Minn. - White Earth
Reservation protesters reinforced
their call for tribal government
reform last Tuesday, a day after
Becker County District Court Judge
Kathleen Weir dropped the petty
misdemeanor trespass charges against
them. 41 tribal members staged two
sit-in protests at the Reservation
Tribal Council (RTC) building last
summer and they were arrested. The
group is seeking solutions in a
peaceful manner to perceived
problems within their government.
During a press conference at the
RTC, leaders of the anti-government
movement said they will push on
with reservation reform. For years
they have claimed corruption, fraud,
and abuse of tribal power has
infiltrated reservation politics.
In their opening remarks the group
stated, "Our responsibility is to
ensure that the Anishinabe will live
with dignity, respect, and peace. Our
decisions today affect the lives of
our children, grandchildren, and the
people of the seventh generation.
Our decisions must be good. We are
not criminals, terrorists, dissidents,
protesters, activists, sore losers, or
sour grapes. These are the names put
on us by the outsiders, including the
corrupt White Earth tribal Chairman,
because we stand for democracy and
justice."
Many of the group want Darrell
"Chip" Wadena removed from office.
Erma Vizenor said that tribal
members will disrupt this summer's
scheduled elections to re-elect
Wadena if that is what is necessary.
"We will exercise civil disobedience
to impede and stop any attempt to
hold a tribal election without reform,"
she said. "We must not have any
more rigged elections." She called for
the removal of Wadena and
committeeman Dan Stevens if a "fair
tribal" election is not held.
"If we have to go to jail, then we'll
have to go to jail. We need a process
that is fair. Last year's election was
rigged, a White Earth woman
admitted she was paid to stuff ballot
boxes in favor of Secretary-
Treasurer Jerry Rawley."
The group also said the tribe could
expect more protests at the
tribally-owned Shooting Star Casino
in Mahnomen, although nothing is
planned at the moment.
The protesters claim the Bureau of
Indian Affairs (BIA), Area Office in
Minneapolis, did not approve the
management contract between
Gaming World International of
Ellwood City, Penn. and the White
Earth Reservation. It is alleged that
Gaming World International has ties
to the underworld, but that has not
been proven. BIA approval is
required for any management
agreement under the 1988 Indian
Gaming Act. Furthermore, that Earl
Barlow (BIA Area Director) is
holding off on the approval with
Gaming World International because
there is no FBI clearing.
The protesters allege that Gaming
World International has not invested
any money in the Casino, yet it takes
40 percent off the top of casino
proceeds for the next 7 years. The
White Earth Reservation alone is
putting up the $20 million to build
the casino, the money coming from
White Earth Land Settlement Act
(WELSA) monies and other loans.
On December 19, 1991, the White
Earth Reservation Business
Committee passed a resolution to
amend the WELSA Investment Plan,
then borowed an additional $4
million dollars as partial funding to
prepare the site and construct a
casino facility.
In their discussions with Barlow,
protesters stated that, White Earth
tribal officals waived sovereign
immunity for the $4 million dollar
loan. The White Earth Tribe is
solely liable for any losses. That
tribal resolution passed 4-0.
Protesters also claim the WELSA
Investment Plan was arbitrarily
amended by the tribal officials, with
no participation from tribal members.
The group went on to state, "our
participation is required. First, Chip
Wadena sold out our land. Now
Chip and the other corrupt officials
are spending and throwing away
WELSA funds without our approval
again! We must step up and say, 'No
more, it's all done.' Tribal members
will not see any per capita payments
from WELSA for at least 7 years.
WELSA has been amended so
Gaming World International gets its
share first."
The press conference disclosed
other demands including:
• immediate suspension of Rawley
pending an investigation into the
September, 1990, election as.well as
other elections as far back as 1982.
• a constitutional convention
creating a new form of government
representing the will of the
reservation residents.
• full disclosure of the financial
dealings of the Shooting Star Casino.
• and a complete audit and
disclosure of all revenues and
expenditures of the White Earth
RTC.
"This is a battle to reform our
government," Dale Hanks said. "It's
not so much Wadena that we are
opposed to, but all the crookedness.
We can live a better life here at
White Earth."
Wadena was unavailable for
comment.
Vizenor said she and others have
asked the Becker County Board to
set up a meeting to discuss the future-
of the reservation with the state,
federal, and reservation officials.
The meeting has been scheduled for
March 21, and Becker County is
sending out requests for those
officials involved to attend.
has been fighting the housing
issue.'Tm aware that the report is
probably going to add some spice to
what we want to say about PNHT
(the Phillips Neighborhood Housing
Trust)," said Mike'Hall, an
employee at the People of Phillips.
The PNHT is the major manager of
rental properies in the Phillips
neighborhood. Hall said he was
aware of the housing report, but was
not able to discuss it.
"Probably, the report will
implicate PNHT as being
discriminative, but I don't know that
yet because I haven't seen it," he
said.
Hall said the People of Phillips,
which placed a moratorium on the
PNHT last fall, formed a task force
to investigate the PNHT more than a
year ago. Undoubtedly, some of the
task force's findings have led to
further investigations resulting in the
report. The News was unable to
determine what the POP plans to do
with the report.
The PNHT has also been under
attack by Blair for years as being the
main perpetrator of racism in the
neighborhood. Blair is a former
PNHT employee who was fired by
director Chris Owens, the target of
many of Blair's accusations. The
PNHT was not referred to in the
report.
Eighty-six percent of the 8,752
housing units in Phillips are rental
properties.The neighborhood, which
is racially and ethnically diverse,
contains the highest percentage of
Native   Americans   in   the
metropolitan area and a
"disproportionate" number of
African Americans and Asians when
compared with the rest of the Twin
Cities area, according to the report.
It reads, "Overall housing issues in
Phillips are serious," but the
problems are even greater for many
residents who are people of color,
people with disabilities and families
with children all of whom face the
additional barrier of discrimination,
sometimes in subtle, hard to detect
forms."
Specific incidents of racism
included agents telling Caucasians
they could pay their deposits on an
installment basis, but neglecting to
tell auditors of the protected classes
HOUSing/see page 7
^IrX
By and for the native American Community
The
f tee
native
American
Press
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Copyright, The native American Press, 1992
11.1. i i i.i"
in m%
Volun
je10
January
The Phillips neighborhood Housing Trust is a major land lord in the Phillips Community.
«
High court ruling validates Indian taxing procedures
By The Associated Press
County tax assessors were
vindicated by a U.S. Supreme Court
ruling that says counties can impose
property taxes on reservation lands
privately owned by Indians, some
county officials say.
"It allows the county to do what
it's been doing for the past 60 or 70
years, which is to tax Indian-owned
deeded land," said Alvin Pahlke,
Todd County state's attorney.
Frank Pommersheim, a law
professor at the University of South
Dakota, said the 8-1 ruling handed
down this week will heighten
tensions between Indians and
whites.
"The net result is it exacerbates
tribal-state relations," he said.
A lawyer in Gov. George
Mickelson's office, Grant Gormley,
said the ruling allows counties to
continue taxing privately owned
reservation property. He said he
thinks the ruling will benefit
reconciliation in South Dakota.
"This action will mean everybody,
no matter what, their race, will pay
their fair share of the taxes to pay for
all the benefits that come from local
governments," Gormley said.
But a lawyer for the Cheyenne
River Sioux Tribe, Steven Emery,
said: "I'm really very saddened Mr.
Gormley is rejoicing in the opinion
because I think it just shows how far
apart the state and the tribes really
are."
Assessors say tribal members can
pay the property tax assessment on
privately owned land or turn it over
to the tribe to hold in trust and not
pay taxes on it.
"Quite a few of those tribal
members have land assessed by their
own consent and pay taxes. They
feel more a part of the community,
and they drive on those roads, too,"
said Jackson County Assessor John
Healy.
Forty-two percent of 679,000 acres
in southern Jackson County are
assessed and taxed, while the rest is
held in trust, county officials said.
About half the county is in the
Cheyenne River Indian Reservation.
County Assessor Mike Burgee
said privately owned Indian land is
assessed. He said tribal members
who pay the property taxes can get
clear title to the land, making it
easier to sell.
Burgee said tax liens are placed on
the land if property taxes are not
paid. He also said there are lots of
gray areas in the law.
The U.S. Supreme Court decision
upheld property taxes on Yakima
Indian Reservation land in
Washington state. South Dakota was
one of 10 states supporting Yakima
County's power to collect the taxes.
Ron Schreiner, South Dakota's
secretary of Revenue, said the state
thought counties could assess the
Indian-owned land but that counties
would have to decide how
aggressively to do it.
Media will get leaflets on Indian nicknames afterall
Minneapolis, Minn. (AP) - The
National Football League has agreed
to allow distribution of American
Indian leaflets announcing a protest
outside the Metrodome on Super
Bowl Sunday at its media center.
Indian leaders were upset Monday
when they learned that their leaflets
weren't on the tables with other
literature at the media center at the
Hyatt Regency Hotel in Minneapolis.
Clyde Bellecourt, national director
of the American Indian Movement,
charged that the NFL had agreed
earlier to allow the distribution of the
leaflets to the more than 2,000
reporters in town to cover the Super
Bowl. The NFL said it hadn't agreed
to the language used in the leaflet, but
decided yesterday afternoon to allow
them. Before they were put on the
table, Bellecourt held an impromtu
news conference in die media center
and handed the leaflets which
accused Washington Redskins owner
Jack Kent Cooke of "racist and
ignorant remarks" to die reporters.
A coalition of civil rights groups, led
by the AIM, is planning a noon rally
Sunday at the Peacemakers Center,
2300 Cedar Av. S., Minneapolis,
followed by a 1:30 p.m. march to the
Metrodome to protest the use of the
Redskins' and Kansas City Chief's
names. "Indians are people. We are
not mascots for America's fun and
games," the leaflet said.
Indian leaders had asked NFL
officials earlier this month if
information could be put on its media
tables about the protest and this
week's National Summit on Racism
in Sports and the Media, said Greg
Aiello, NFL director of
communications. Bellecourt provided
the task force with about 2,000
leaflets. Bur Aiello said their content
"goes way beyond" the agreement,
and at first they were not put on the
table. The NFL had not decided what
to do about the leaflet, Aiello said,
but since "They were certainly going
to hand it out, it was immaterial
whether it was on the table or not.
We said it could be on the table."
Vemon Bellecourt, Clyde's brother
and another leader of the American
Indian Movement, said the accusations
against Cooke stemmed from a 1988
letter he wrote to Minnesota's
Concerned American Indian Parents,
who object to the use of Indian sports
names. The letter said in part, "I find it
difficult to accept your statement that
the name 'Redskins' is racist,
derogatory and demeaning to
American Indians," and "I am totally
out of sympathy with your project"