Two sides to every story
The National Fair Housing Alliance is not happy with my (or the Times's) "renewed interest" in ABC's reality show "Welcome to the Neighborhood" (see previous). The spokespeople point out that "the Asian American family, Wiccans, and Latino family are all rejected and leave the program long before the 'enlightenment' about gay couples takes place." Hello, it's an elimination reality show. And anyway, the NFHA has won: I seriously doubt ABC will release the show, even if it means eating a million or two in off-net sales.
National Fair Housing Alliance Expresses Dismay over Renewed Interest in
“Welcome to the Neighborhood”
WASHINGTON, DC, January 27, 2006 – In recent days, there has been renewed media interest and speculation around ABC’s canceled series “Welcome to the Neighborhood.” Critics are revisiting ABC’s decision to pull the series and endorsing its potential value as a conduit to opening up a dialogue on tolerance and diversity. The National Fair Housing Alliance (“NFHA”) played the leading role last July in persuading ABC’s entertainment division to cancel the show on the grounds that it violated federal, state and local fair housing laws. In light of renewed media interest and the attempt by some people to use the Christian right’s bigoted position about gays to resurrect the series, Shanna L. Smith, NFHA’s President and CEO, issued the following statement:
The most important point in this debate is that “Welcome to the Neighborhood” violates the federal Fair Housing Act. If race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability or family status factor into any decision to grant housing, it violates federal law.
Some argue that a newly enlightened attitude among White Christian participants of the series should justify airing the show to a broader audience. However, such an argument carries with it an underlying presumption that the value of this transformation should come at the expense of African Americans, Latinos, or Asian Americans or because of a person’s sexual orientation or religion. That premise is not only troubling, it is illegal and discriminatory. Housing discrimination and residential segregation are serious problems in the United States. Airing a show that perpetuates hostility and reinforces stereotyping does nothing to overcome these problems. There is no valid argument for people of color to be humiliated in order for Whites to learn a lesson of tolerance and acceptance . The specious argument that the neighbors come around in the end and embrace people different from themselves doesn’t work here. The Asian American family, Wiccans, and Latino family are all rejected and leave the program long before the “enlightenment” about gay couples takes place. Surely there are better, more effective approaches to educating White America on the benefits of multicultural and multiracial living.
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About the National Fair Housing Alliance (www.nationalfairhousing.org)
Founded in 1988, the National Fair Housing Alliance is a consortium of more than 220 private, non-profit fair housing organizations, state and local civil rights agencies, and individuals from throughout the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., NFHA, through comprehensive education, advocacy and enforcement programs, provides equal access to apartments, houses, mortgage loans and insurance policies for all residents of the nation.
