April 2023 marks the 55th anniversary of the passage of the Fair Housing Act, also known as the Civil Rights Act of 1968. This landmark civil rights law, signed in the wake of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., made discrimination in housing transactions unlawful. The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, and familial status.
Fair housing is an essential part of our civil rights.
Even though the Fair Housing Act has been in place for over five decades, this law is not self-enforcing. Civil rights advocates across the country continue the fight to uphold fair housing rights, and this April the Fair Housing Center is honoring those in our own communities and throughout history who have been essential to our efforts to end housing discrimination.
Make a donation to honor your civil rights hero and their work in celebration of Fair Housing Month!
Cliff Schrupp
The late Cliff Schrupp is my fair housing hero. He was passionately committed to expanding fair housing enforcement. Under his direction, the Fair Housing Center of Metropolitan Detroit aided in the filing of over 400 lawsuits, with over $11,500,000 in settlements. He was my mentor and friend for over 20 years. I still miss his clear thinking on case strategy, his sharp analysis of race in America, and his constant encouragement to keep up the fight against housing discrimination.
Donor: Pam Kisch
Thurgood Marshall
I chose Thurgood Marshall because he is an icon of the civil rights movement. He experienced racism and racial segregation as a child growing up in Baltimore which fueled his passion and vigor to fight for civil rights during his lifetime. Thurgood Marshall argued the seminal Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education which ended racial segregation in public schools and invalidated the “separate but equal” doctrine. He went on to serve as the first Black Supreme Court Justice for over two decades.
Donor: Niki Green
Frederick Douglass
I have chosen Frederick Douglass because he spoke on what is right even though in that time others disagreed. He was not afraid to speak up on the injustice and discrimination that was occurring.
Donor: Ayden Salem
Marvin Thomas
The late Marin Thomas is my fair housing hero. For over twenty years Marvin Thomas was the Coordinator of Testing and Investigations for the Fair Housing Center of Metropolitan Detroit. I had the privilege of working with Marv for three years. He was a great teacher who led by example. He quietly got the job done– assigning tests, evaluating evidence, moving on to the next complaint. Marv loved his work, he found depositions and being a witness in court interesting and he passed his enthusiasm on.
Donor: Pam Kisch
Bryan Stevenson
Bryan Stevenson is a civil rights lawyer, who has dedicated his life to the pursuit of criminal justice reform, racial equality, and opposing the historical legacy of institutional racism in the United States. He is the founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative, a human rights organization in Montgomery, Alabama. He also led the creation of the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. These national landmark institutions chronicle the legacy of slavery, lynching, and racial segregation, and their connection to mass incarceration and contemporary issues of racial bias.
Donor: Kristen Cuhran