Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)

Citation: Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)
Jurisdiction: Arlington (municipal)
Source: Official source
Original Source: https://www.arlingtonma.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/57214/637641171662530000 ↗

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Race and Ethnicity
One participant cited landlord discrimination based on her name, which leads people to guess that she is Black.
She stated that when she used her given name on housing applications, she would not receive any responses. At
one point she tried using a name that sounded White and received a more positive response. As she put it,
“Everybody loves Kelsey Smith, but no one likes [name not used for privacy].” Currently when seeking housing she
simply uses her first initial to avoid potential discrimination.
Even after having found housing, participants observed that persons of color are often treated differently by
neighbors. One person of color said that, while neighbors weren’t outwardly hostile, she often found neighbors
staring at her or watching her as she walked to her building. Another participant noted the prevalence of coded
complaints. The complaints may be about noise or safety concerns on the surface, but there is a discriminatory
implication in many. According to this participant, the issue is not only the discriminatory sentiment itself, but that
neighbors feel that these sentiments are perfectly acceptable and have no issues airing them publicly. As one
participant put it, “I believe there are many people in Arlington that think it’s ok not to want people next door in
different classes, whatever the class is—whether it’s socioeconomic, physical disability, mental disability, people
of color, whatever the issue is. There’s a belief that change and allowing people into Arlington who are not just
like them would cause a problem for them.”