This sign seems so appealing doesn’t it?
“Welcome to Beautiful Baldwin!” One would expect Baldwin, New York to be a town of great achievements and wonderful stories. Although, it does contain those features in its history, it was not always so perfect and cookie cutter as it seems. There was a great amount of racial segregation that occurred in the housing system in Baldwin and this all started with creation of Levittown- also known as the first suburbs.
Levittown created the foundation for the principles used in Baldwin. I have lived in Baldwin, for 17 years of my life not knowing the struggle that those before me, may have gone through in order to get a home.
In the 1920s Baldwin, New York came about, but it was not considered a suburb until the 1950s .
To begin my research, I spent a lot of time looking for census data on Baldwin. I tried to go from the very beginning and find the 1950s, which was when the housing segregation was beginning to be very prevalent, but I could only go as far back as the 1960s, which still provided very useful results .
By looking at the census data it can be seen that Baldwin was a place mainly inhabited by white people, and this resulted from a covenant that started in Levittown. In a lease agreement that was signed by the first homeowners of Levittown, Clause 25 contained the restrictive covenant which stated that the home could not “ be used or occupied by any person other than members of the Caucasian race.”
~William Levitt, the creator of the suburb Levittown, stated that segregating individuals was a way to keep the value of the properties.
Although this photo is not extremely visible, it can be seen that the title alone is very discriminatory and exclusionary. As a result of polices like these, racial tension was formed and income inequality was implemented.
“Unenforceable as law and contrary to public policy”
In 1948 the Clause containing the covenant was set to be illegal. The United States Supreme Court, stated that it was ”unenforceable as law and contrary to public policy.” However, after this was passed there were still issues that went on in the housing system that included segregation. Then in that same year the decision in the Shelley vs. Kraemer case stated that covenants that were exclusionary were illegal under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Although those two laws above were passed and affected the housing system. The Fair Housing Act of 1968, made a grand difference. It prohibited discriminating someone based on race, religion, sex, or natural origin when buying a house.
I had interviewed a realtor, asking about what had occurred in the 1950’s in Baldwin. She had told me a lot about the Fair Housing Act. This act made a large difference in the realty world, and it is something that everyone must abide by. If an agent does not adhere to the act they can be fined and reprimanded, and can have their realtor license revoked. In addition, every realtor office must have the Fair Housing poster placed and visible in their office. If it not posted, then that office is committing an illegal act. Each office must show that they have equal opportunities for housing for everyone. Lastly, the realtors make it of central importance to teach their agents about fair housing and the things that they should and should not do. Although the agents must sign a contract upon beginning the job agreeing to be ethical and follow the Fair Housing Act, this message is reiterated multiple times by the realtor to the agent so that the right laws are always instilled in their brain.
Ultimately, today there has been a great difference in the demographics of Baldwin, New York. This stems from the fact that there has been a grand increase in minorities. This resulted from housing prices decreasing and most importantly, there is no longer a covenant that excludes minorities from receiving housing.
Although there is no longer a covenant, there are still differences in the demographics that show the whites are owning more houses than the minorities and how the ratios between the whites and minorities (mainly African Americans) are still very far apart. However, black population increased by 30.24 % and white population decreased by 45.04% in the past 59 years. Which nevertheless, is still a is a big change.
The reason why the white population decreased so much is a question in which the answer is still unknown. However, one reason could be due to “white flight”. This is when Caucasians tend to move to a different location when a great number of minorities come to an area. Although this is one theory, there are most surely other reasons in addition to that one as to why the whites are fleeing Baldwin; however, researching that will be saved for another day. I am grateful to have had the opportunity, to complete this project. I was able to gain a lot of insight on where I live, that I would not have known about before this project. In addition, through this assignment, I have learned that precedents are very important. As a result of the precedent made by Levittown, many towns have been affected by it and this affects all of the people inhabiting the town, or are planning to. This important lesson, I will carry into my personal life. I will stress its importance and always try to practice doing what is right, because of the type of precedent I could be setting for others. Lastly, taking the chance to learn and uncover this other side of the history of Baldwin is also important because it shows how crucial equal opportunity is and that I am lucky to live in a time where equal opportunity is spread throughout the world, and most specifically, Baldwin, New York.
