Field Hearing Agenda - Houston, Thursday, July 31, 2008, 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Continental Room, 3rd Level
Westin Oak Towers
Houston, Texas
Commissioners:
Okianer Christian Dark, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law at the Howard University College of Law
Gordon Quan, Houston, Former Mayor Pro Tem and Chair of the Housing Committee for the City of Houston
Guest Commissioners:
Charles McMillan, President-Elect of the National Association of Realtors
Moderators:
Barbara Arnwine, Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
John Payton, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
2:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Welcome and Opening Remarks
John Payton, President and Director-Counsel of the
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Statements from Commissioners
2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Panel 1: Racial Discrimination in the Post-Katrina Era
An examination of racial discrimination and opposition to integration by state and local governments; systemic discrimination and the failure of state and local governments to support integration in the wake of Katrina; the right not to be displaced as part of integrative housing strategies; and federal enforcement of the Fair Housing Act.
Cathy Cloud, National Fair Housing Alliance
James Perry, Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center
Reilly Morse, Mississippi Center for Justice
Judith A. Browne-Dianis, Advancement Project
3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Panel 2: Planning for Inclusive Communities: Failures and Successes
This panel will explore the effects of discrimination on people since Katrina, as well as federal, state, and local government actions that have succeeded and failed in affirmatively furthering fair housing.
Daniel Bustamente, Greater Houston Fair Housing Center
David Kahne, ACLU of Greater Houston
Demetria McCain, Inclusive Communities Project
4:30 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.
Public Comment Period
4:45 – 5:00 p.m.
Closing Comments
Barbara Arnwine, Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law