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The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

The Nation's Premier Civil and Human Rights Coalition
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights & The Leadership Conference Education Fund
The Nation's Premier Civil and Human Rights Coalition
CommUNITY 2000: Building Community in a Nation of Neighborhoods

Cross-Cutting Themes

In this chapter, we explore the cross-cutting issues that were uncovered in the course of our research. These themes help explain the success (or failure) of effective inter-organizational collaboration in the communities we studied.

High profile bias-motivated incidents sometimes have the silver lining of catalyzing local coalitions, but more likely fail to serve as a catalyst to coalition-based response.
When we began this study, we assumed that high profile bias-motivated incidents might have the effect of triggering some sort of inter-organizational collaborative response. We found this assumption to be true in four of the cities we studied (Pittsburgh, Omaha, Cincinnati, and Houston), where vicious, violent hate crimes captured media attention as well as the attention of the community as a whole, leading to significant collaborative efforts in response to resulting community tensions.

Another issue that appeared to unify communities was police misconduct. In some cities (Louisville, Omaha, and Phoenix), incidents of alleged police brutality resulted in significant public outcry, discourse, and other collaborative action centering on the use of police power.

Our assumption proved to be unfounded in most of the cities we studied, however, where high profile incidents generally failed to catalyze a coordinated or collaborative response.

Unfortunately, high profile incidents that are generated by the police cause special problems since ideally, police departments should be represented in the coalitions addressing tensions, but often are not in cases involving police misconduct.
In Louisville, incidents involving alleged police misconduct has led to the creation of a coalition of more than thirty organizations, who have come together to demonstrate their outrage, call for more training for the police department, and more generally, give the community the power to hold the department accountable for its actions. The demands made by this coalition have met with much resistance from the mayor, several city aldermen, and the police department. However, even with powerful opposition, the coalition has had some formidable victories, which include mandating additional training for police officers and the creation of a civilian police review board.

High profile incidents generated by the police pose a special dilemma for those searching for reform or changes within the law enforcement infrastructure. On the one hand, working for a more efficient and community friendly police department may require constant battles with the police that perpetuate an "us vs. them" mentality. On the other hand, working with the police as an active and important component of community tensions prevention and response requires cooperation and collegial relations. Walking this narrow line can be especially difficult when an incident involving allegations of police misconduct occurs, as the battle lines are almost immediately drawn. More generally, working for change within a large institution such as a major city police department can be particularly daunting.

Our research did uncover places where community organizations have made positive strides with respect to seeking change within the law enforcement infrastructure, alongside working with the police as a partner in the community. In Cincinnati, the fair housing center (HOME) has made contact with police officers who are committed to enforcing fair housing and hate crime laws as well as promoting community harmony. Not only do these officers take the message of HOME and other organizations to their more skeptical colleagues, but they also work with HOME to conduct trainings of officers in other police departments in the greater Cincinnati region. Having a Cincinnati Police Department officer participate in the trainings makes the information more credible to other officers, creating an important link between HOME and the CPD. This process thereby allows each constituency—i.e, the police department as well as victims of fair housing violations—to view the other as a partner and not an adversary.

Additionally, we found that the Omaha Police Department itself took a proactive approach to hate crime law enforcement. In 1998, eight members of the police department formed a hate crime training committee to train other police officers in the OPD about hate crime laws and investigations. The committee collected training materials from other police departments, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Department of Justice and others regarding recognizing and investigating hate crimes. The committee then conducted a training for the entire police department that covered federal, state and local hate crime laws; recognizing, investigating and filing reports of hate crimes; and gathering intelligence on hate groups and symbols. The committee is planning on conducting refresher trainings and incorporating the information into police academy training.

Paying attention to only the most egregious incidents (e.g, hate crimes or other violent incidents) is insufficient because community tensions can surface in unexpected or subtle ways.
As discussed earlier, we asked our interviewees about recent "high profile incidents" that had raised awareness around community tensions issues. The advocates we interviewed tended to focus on only the most egregious, violent, or controversial incidents in their communities. This was in contrast to our working definition, which defined such incidents broadly to encompass a spectrum of situations, ranging from non-criminal evidence of tensions to widely publicized hate crimes. We chose this broad definition because housing-related community tensions can come to light in ways that are unexpected or hard to perceive, and often do not involve violence or even a direct threat of violence.

Stated another way, while hate crimes can lead to community tensions, they can also be a reflection of simmering tensions in a community. Thus, in order to ameliorate community tensions, it is important for advocates to also focus on any community activity that raises tensions between groups, such as racially-motivated rallies, name-calling, and other incidents not rising to the level of a hate crime. Not only can these incidents be precursors for more egregious activity to come, they themselves can send a message of fear and terror to their intended victims, as well as the broader community in which they live.

Coalitions must exist in opposition to a pervasive tendency for individual organizations to guard their "turf."
In several interviews, "turf" issues were mentioned as an impediment to the successful creation or operation of coalitions. Simply put, according to many of the individuals we interviewed, some organizations in their community have established a niche with respect to certain issues and are reluctant to allow other organizations to share in "their" work.

For example, in Pittsburgh, when asked the reason why the collaborative response to a Klan rally was not sustained after initial action was taken, one advocate stated: "People do not talk to each other unless something has happened — individual organizations have their own meetings, and don't meet with each other." This quotation is one of many from advocates across the country who highlighted a systemic problem that acts as an obstacle to more productive work. In Pittsburgh, however, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission is attempting to remedy this problem by holding regular meetings among advocates and organizations to formulate a comprehensive plan to address tensions.

In Richmond, one advocate mentioned that "Turf often gets in the way of working" in the area. She went on to note that an infusion of more resources is not always the answer, stating that "You can have an infusion of money and you just have a bunch of stronger groups fighting each other." This advocate emphasized the fact that while advocates must understand that it is in their best interest to collaborate with each other, "Many don't."

Several interviewees mentioned what they characterized as a chronic problem of organizations working within a vacuum. Thus, for example, according to many we interviewed, constituent-based organizations tended to deal solely with their membership, which does not allow for collaboration or a more broad based systemic resolution to tensions in the community.

On the other hand, this type of individual activity can have certain benefits. For example, in cases where different groups focus on specific sectors of the community, with ongoing communication, "maintaining one's turf " can evolve into an effective division of labor.

Thus, in Cincinnati, while the rich infrastructure enables each organization to focus on specific areas or issues, effective communication between the organizations prevents overlap, maximizes resources, and allows them to make referrals to clients seeking certain services. Thus, for example, with respect to bias reduction programs in the schools, the American Jewish Committee works specifically with middle and high schools on their "Hands Across the Campus" program, allowing an opening for HOME to work solely with elementary schools.

While collaborations of diverse housing institutions are difficult to create or maintain, broad-based community coalitions present even greater challenges.
Because the focus of CommUNITY 2000 is on housing-related community tensions, we were particularly interested in the types of linkages fair housing agencies were making, and in particular, whether they were able to connect both their issues and their organizations with the missions of other organizations in their communities.

Our field research revealed that most fair housing organizations have recognized that fighting to uphold the rights of individuals to live in the community of their choice free of discrimination requires more than enforcement efforts; education of the various sectors of the housing industry is also imperative. Accordingly, fair housing organizations view networking with real estate agents, banks, housing providers and managers, renters associations, and the like as a critical part of their mission.

Examples of fair housing centers that have made important linkages in their communities include the following:

  • The Omaha Fair Housing Center has taken the lead in forming coalitions with advocates concerned with the connection between fair housing and other housing related issues. The Center has formed partnerships with the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission, which receives funding to participate in fair housing enforcement efforts, as well as with the Family Housing Advisory Center and other organizations that address homelessness, housing and the mentally ill, and affordable housing issues.

  • In Pittsburgh, the Fair Housing Center works with housing providers and other members of the real estate industry to promote home ownership as well as fair housing, through housing seminars and expos.

  • The Richmond Fair Housing Center works with local government, church groups, and the board of realtors on the research and writing of the Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing report required by HUD.

Yet, in many areas of the country, despite the clear connection between housing discrimination and housing-related community tensions, these linkages do not extend to institutions critical to effective community tensions response. Our research demonstrated that in most of the cities we studied, with respect to community tensions issues, fair housing centers tended to operate in isolation, neither reaching out to, nor contacted by, other organizations, even in the wake of bias incidents that were related to housing. The reasons for this varied from city to city. In some cases, the failure to connect was attributed by interviewees to a lack of staff or other resources necessary to make effective outreach efforts; while in other instances, the issue of tensions response was simply deemed by interviewees to be outside of the fair housing mission.

There are signs that in Houston, however, critical connections are being made. There, the Executive Director of the Fair Housing Center of Houston has made initial contact with community based organizations, government agencies, civil rights organizations to create a task force to respond to community tensions. Significantly, this response contemplates the involvement of media, allowing for the task force to educate the community about their rights and offer some kind of public response. Acknowledging that this kind of organizing wasn't in and of itself new, the Executive Director told us that, nonetheless, "targeting housing is a new twist."

Cincinnati offers a model approach. As discussed earlier, Cincinnati employs a systematic approach to tensions response, which relies heavily on constructive working relationships among the various organizations, government agencies and advocates involved in this type of work. Whether the particular tension is housing-related, police-related, or related to the religious community, a cadre of organizations works together to create a coordinated response. In addition, the fair housing center remains actively involved in larger community issues, such as school desegregation, police-community issues, and hate crimes, and connected to the organizations that take the lead with respect to those issues.

Our research showed, however, that the problem of isolation is not unique to fair housing centers. In some cities, for example, language issues have served to inhibit the formation of pro-active and ongoing collaborations among diverse institutions. An advocate from Phoenix noted that while the Latino community is the largest minority community in the area, due in part to language barriers, there is often no Latino representation in the local coalitions that have been formed there. In Durham, language issues appear to impede coalition formation between Latino organizations and African American groups, as well as between Latino organizations and local governmental institutions.

We also found that in some cities, organizations and/or constituencies that are relatively new to the community are not always included in work conducted through constituencies other than their own. This appeared to be true for the Latino community in Durham, as well as for newer organizations like the fair housing center in Houston.

Finally, in some cities, coalition formation was impeded by the failure of certain sectors to take a leadership role, or to continue the leadership role previously taken. In Atlanta, for example, it was noted that the corporate community had stopped taking the lead in bringing together diverse coalitions, a role it had assumed in the past. And advocates in Omaha agreed that neither the business community nor local government were as involved in community tensions response efforts as they could be or needed to be.

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