Asian Law Caucus Settles Housing Suit
By Janet Dang

A class action lawsuit brought against San Francisco Housing Authority on behalf of six Vietnamese American families who lived in the city’s housing projects was settled Monday with a tentative consent decree that, if approved this summer, would integrate some of the city’s most crime-ridden housing projects.

The settlement in the suit, filed by the Asian Law Caucus in February 1998, would establish a court-appointed monitor for three years to investigate reports of racial discrimination and to recommend reforms to the agency and the court. The settlement requires the Housing Authority to fund two community agencies for three years to assist families on the waiting list for public housing and to assist victims of harassment. At least one agency must have Asian language skills.

In addition, the authority must establish a system for receiving and investigating reports of racial incidents and to keep records of those reports. It is to review claims of housing applicants claiming to have been denied preferential status on the waiting list for being unable to speak English, a problem advocates say is prevalent.

The proposed resolution to the suit stemmed from allegations that the authority had discriminated against Asian American residents by failing to address a history of racially motivated attacks at predominantly African American projects after more than a half dozen residents, mostly of Vietnamese descent were attacked at public housing sites in the Hunter’s Point, Porter Hill, Visitacion Valley and Candlestick Park neighborhoods. Reports over the years indicate assault ranging from racial epithets, rock pelting, home invasions and shootings.

The lawsuit had contended that harassment has persisted for more than 15 years and that the Housing Authority has placed Asian American tenants in high-risk areas.

“The goal of the lawsuit has been to change the housing opportunity for low-income families in housing and to remove barriers of violence and harassment and discriminatory treatment that has been endemic in a lot of the developments,” said Gen Fujioka, staff attorney for the Asian Law Caucus, and lead counsel in the lawsuit.

Over the past two years, the number of Asian Americans living in housing projects has declined, said caucus lawyer Victor Hwang.

Although the housing authority had denied allegations of racial discrimination, saying that residents of all races could be victims of crimes in pubic housing, the settlement reflects a consensus on its part to acknowledge that projects need to be diversified and safely integrated. By agreeing to the settlement, however, it does not concede to any wrongdoing.

“This settlement is designed to foster a non-adversarial and constructive approach to the long-standing problem facing public housing agencies across the country on how to more successfully integrate developments, given the wide ethnic and cultural diversity of public housing,” said Housing Authority Executive Director Ronnie Davis.

Said Mayor Willie Brown of the settlement: “The lawsuit has produced a settlement today that I think represent a new method by which to address the issue as it relates to race in public housing in America and in particular in San Francisco.”

The estimated $1 million program is contingent upon funding from federal department of Housing and Urban Development. Early reports say HUD does not have the resources to fund for the cost of the programs established in the settlement, but Brown was confident in refuting that finding, “HUD will fund the settlement, he said twice. “This settlement will and should be funded and it will be funded in partnership with HUD.”

The settlement still needs to be approved by U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken, who is expected to issue an opinion on the tentative agreement in late August or early September.

The consent decree is not expected to assign racial quotas or preferences, and instead will focus on diversity initiatives for all residents and applicants on the waiting list.

“The key part to this is that there are no quotas, there are no preferences and the procedures and policies and resources that are provided by this agreement apply to all residents regardless of race,” said Ed Harris, a member of the Housing Authority Commission.

Around the same time last year, the Vietnamese American Coalition for Civil Rights filed an administrative complaint with HUD, making similar claims. They have since dropped the complaint in light of the settlement, considered a victory, said Thanh Ngo, an attorney with the Civil Rights Coalition.

“For decades, the city and the Housing Authority have refused to acknowledge that there is discrimination of Vietnamese Americans living in public housing,” he said. “The (settlement) will address issues of racial violence and access for many Vietnamese families.”

Since the highly publicized attacks against Asian Americans, security has been improved, according to Ron Sonenshine, spokesperson for the Housing Authority. Moreover, efforts to increase diversity and outreach to an increasing number of Asian immigrant residents have resulted in staff members who speak Southeast Asian languages.

But others are skeptical that a consent decree will help make the southeast neighborhoods of San Francisco safer and more accessible to an increasing number of Asian families. “Unless they really have a good way of handling it -- I’m not that optimistic about it,” said Marlene Tran, a spokesperson for the Visitacion Valley Asian Alliance, a group instrumental in shedding light to racial tension in the area.

Tran says the main concern is to make the neighborhood more accessible to immigrants by implementing more bilingual outreach programs about crime for non-English speakers and include more bilingual police on the beat to help make it easier for residents to report on crime. She asked: “When are these people going to have access to anything?”