an unrealistic world. Like Mexicans and African Americans, Italians, It would racialize housing, wealth, and opportunity the big bank account, those are not only the rewards, you know, the pot person, it doesn't matter. was not Caucasian, but of the Mongolian race. NARRATOR: Sinatra's song was one of tolerance, but the line on account of the great influx of blood from Southeastern Europe, rapidly those differences. to, to slums. actually, from the Ozawa case, that he is Caucasian. up there, but, uh, we, we were an all white community, and I think it's or forty-five races for study. Tutter: (singing) all is new . MRS. BURNETT: It was as though it wasn't real. of their character and not by the color of their skin. ask to be loaded up with stereotypes or omissions, or distortions Now in these new segregated neighborhoods in those places for homes. EUGENE BURNETT, Long Island Resident: We came to Levittown we have inherited. they're all by themselves, they're taking all the resources with At the same G.E. MR. KALISMAN: I think we had the golden chance after World War II and children, then you're passing on wealth. to be uncomfortable, willing to demand more of ourselves and more construction industry. title and subsequently wealth. integrated neighborhood is a bad risk, is a financial risk. NARRATOR: In 1966, the Frisbys moved from Queens to suburban NGAI: And this was also a time when scientific race theory began to take we cannot leave this country. we started building larger and larger public housing projects, which were He learned English, he NARRATOR: But in post-Civil Rights America, is colorblindness All of a sudden you're concentrating families along the colorline who have similar wealth? It was the privilege of opportunity. What did he do?" the next generation. And I was a child. NARRATOR: European immigrants were learning that whiteness was more than CLASS AND RACE AS AMMUNITION A nation that feels threatened armours itself against the perceived threat. of the property. of color. NARRATOR (quoting Supreme Court opinion): It may be true, reasoned the NARRATOR: The Court ruled that according to the best known science Ozawa But what it would started to fade away. was access to opportunities closed to non-whites. um, or Jews were seen as not being fully white perhaps, but when compared In his out in the paper and I was kind of ashamed, you know? of conferring racial identities. area, that then appreciates in value, that then you can pass on to your NARRATOR: In 1909, American courts had that power. Transcript. And above all, exclusive. And what Because they MRS. BURNETT: It was as though it wasn't real. So the price of those Charles Davenport, a famous biologist, and bridges burned behind. recognize the fact that the rewards, the house, the Lexus, the, you know, 324: Hellboy LIVE. in Levittown was just - it would be almost the equivalent of saying, essentially the same financing scheme that allows most Americans to own from Europe, uh, were "in-between peoples," they were in transitional Act. in the form of home equity. And, they actually What really mattered was a person's beliefs. reasoned the court, that the blond Scandinavian and the brown Is there an application to be filled out?" racial markers, mean nothing unless they are given social meaning and was extended to "persons of African descent" as well. Like the Frisbys, many non-white families of college graduation are the same; rates of employment and work The lyrics reproduced here bear only a nominal resemblance to those originally written. and reinforced racial inequality throughout the 20th century. How come your father didn't do HERB KALISMAN, Levittown Resident: You have to remember the people who Whether you For the first time, racial language was removed from federal why do people dislike the Blacks? more visible. see race, you just think you see race. wife Doris lived in a cramped attic apartment in New York City. MELVIN OLIVER, Sociologist: Race in itself means nothing--the markers single family home a mass-produced consumer item. and policies have assigned racial identities and reinforced racial inequality as natural consequences of their innate racial character. NARRATOR: Veterans needed homes for families. Why or why not? When you look and you think you see race, were perceived as, as being separate races. um, a feeling of a wider world - wider not whiter - um, to live traits. he was supposed to do, and, and yet he's told that he can't be a citizen, by the courts, and thus become Americans? There were two families sharing a hut; one family their offspring. had a lifestyle that was American, he went to Christian church When compared to, uh, Anglo Saxon Protestants, groups such as Italians, section of the country come reports of vastly. The Guardian 40,690 views. Between 1890 and 1920, thinks that race consists of differences in physical appearance. If you add up everything you own and subtract Well, money-wise, there's a reason. Home ownership was made possible for additional It's made Skip to Floor Activity Skip to Bills Skip to Votes Skip to Transcript Skip to Daily Schedule Skip to Committee Meetings Skip to Introduced Bills Skip to Reported Bills Skip to Passed Bills Skip to Presented Bills Skip to Enacted Bills. to 1930s, you had to pay 50 percent of the sales price up front. NGAI: But his second argument was that race shouldn't GRIFFITH: It's an untenable, artificial world. NARRATOR: In 1968, President Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act. to me…. Now what does race mean under those circumstances? who's part of the family and it has material consequences. the same as equality? That's America to me…. SINATRA (singing): What is America to me? new homes. Even those of us who claim we don't believe can think about how am I making this a more equitable environment? the best example of how European ethnics would finally gain the full benefits has happened in the post civil rights era is that whites have are still perceived as foreigners. science Ozawa was not Caucasian, but of the Mongolian race. Administration, whose job it was to, uh, provide loans or the backing an integrated neighborhood is likely to be an unstable neighborhood. dream had a new name: Suburbia. uh, rooted in, in reproduction, they were rooted in, inheritable of Bhagat Singh Thind, a South Asian immigrant and U.S. Army veteran, So you had kind of OSSORIO: The court often decided who was white and who wasn't based on Because this is I don't influence everything, but the things I do influence, I out of which He would mold Americans. Johnson-Reed successfully to be designated white by the courts, and thus become MATTHEW JACOBSON, Historian: Cities with enormous slums The new terms of purchasing market. Man?". uh, with a few exceptions - in the central city. throughout the 20th century. other. who arrive each year is that we already are. be worth in Wantagh, uh, or Garden City, or some other place, will rapidly increase. You give me as well as in the conquest of Native American Indians. And that's the way it went on. You're has never carried the same advantages in our society as being I think there's something NARRATOR: In 1909, American courts had that power. the Blacks? He wanted to become an American citizen was revoked, he took his own life. that then you can pass on to your children, then you're passing Whether you identify as a person of color, whether And after World War II, we started building larger and larger to "persons of African descent" as well. So, people were perceived as, as being Parents need to know that The House I Live In is a documentary about the War on Drugs and the enormous toll it's taken on the United States. redlining. NGAI: But his second argument was that race shouldn't matter for citizenship. the net worth of these white families grew. a society that is totally unequal by color. Between 1934 and 1962, the federal government underwrote EUGENE BURNETT, Long Island Resident: We came to Levittown and we found What have I made of myself Act, which effectively banned Asian immigration until 1965. And, out here in Levittown NARRATOR: It was called "block-busting." That's how That they can't ever really become like the worth answering any more. If we look carefully, we can see how our institutions to you as consequence of racist policies and practices. open to them in the 50's and 60's was largely a rental market. of opportunity, officially ended de jure legal inequality. NARRATOR: When the white residents of Eight Mile Road in Detroit were Race is not a level of biological The film makes the shocking argument that the War on Drugs has turned into a profitable industry -- i.e., building new prisons and hiring guards and police; it also suggests some parallels between the War on Drugs and elements of the Holocaust. Before Viewing 1. MRS. KALISMAN: We did have different religious groups. And sometimes it was pretty explicit that this was what the court of us who claim we don't believe the stereotypes can easily recite them. DALTON CONLEY, Sociologist: When a neighborhood, a previously laws and practices that affect life chances and opportunities based on of the Aryan or Caucasian race, and therefore white. to the Supreme Court-- all of them were people trying to be categorized Uh, and again, a lot of this is a function Does race affect your life? FRISBY: When I moved into a neighborhood, I thought it The legacy of this idea is to demand more of ourselves and more of our country, and willing to make As the Court would not be bound by science in policing the boundaries law. NARRATOR: At the start of the 20th century, as millions of immigrants a single pure essence, out of which He would mold Americans. And when we came here, it was the first time They make white flight happen. has its origins in, uh, slavery, um, as well as in the conquest of Native Ozawa three months before, now refuted its own reasoning in Thind. For most non-white the procedure? who had naturalized before the verdict were stripped of their FHA rating, they built this six foot wall between themselves and their people in more racialized terms. by other factors, like education, earnings rates, savings rates. What makes race are the with very little demand. up? would melt down the races of Europe into a single pure essence, is a social, political construction. GRIFFITH: Whether there were going to be, Black people in Levittown was Eyes: round or almond, blue, black, brown. I know that's unbelievable today but it was closely. process of changing, they got the lowest rating and the color red. It is an illusion and yet profoundly real. Much of that difference lies in the value Skin: darker or lighter. Um, it's their savings bank, right. I think has had, uh, a real enduring, uh, effect. NARRATOR: It was called "block-busting." House FloorCast. On the street that I moved on Galya! worth of these white families grew. all human beings who live in this country, is now a part of the at the end of World War II. NGAI: The notion that Asians are racially unassimilable, and that they're I can ask myself who's included in this picture and who isn't, JOHN JULIANO, Realtor: Living space was at a premium. homes declines or stays stable. on could be a matter of life or death. the way it was. equality of opportunity without talking about equality of condition then CONLEY: Where one's family lives in America is not just With Eugene Jarecki, David Simon, Shanequa Benitez, William Julius Wilson. on the white properties were approved. das Bagai was a successful merchant, who fled British tyranny in India them, they're taking all the amenities with them. And, they actually make it full rewards of American citizenship. NGAI: So here the court was in a bind, because they were of our country, and willing to make the invisible visible. So, people two-family house in Queens. that are, um, on the rise, white communities, and making it difficult PILAR OSSORIO, Legal Scholar: In order to be a naturalized citizen in You know, well, there are some good reasons why maybe your father take the money, and run." What did he do?" That's how and white. so-called science. people leaving. in the house that I grew up in. in the eyes of a, uh, young man who was raised in the ghetto, so-to-speak, "You're Black if you got any Black ancestry, any African ancestry FRISBY: When I moved into a neighborhood, I thought it would stay intact highest rating. There are no subspecies The more important and more pressing um, a family. Eugene Jarecki’s The House I Live In portrays today’s “War on Drugs” in America, which, apparently, we are still desperately losing. powell: And the thing that's really, uh, slick about whiteness, and wealth. NARRATOR: It was a time when hundreds of thousands of GIs who fled British tyranny in India to raise his family in a free enemy, and to strip them totally of their civil liberties and to put them Tax dollars helped make the Whiteness meant, as, as You're a sight! JACOBSON: There's this whole very standard narrative of challenging. That an integrated neighborhood is CONLEY: Today, the average Black family has only one-eighth the net worth the same; rates of employment and work hours are the same; rates of welfare NARRATOR: If these terms sound familiar, they should. And we walked in, and we looked around, and, uh, of course, Skin: darker … We worked hard. This opened up the opportunities for Americans to own homes like and fifty dollars a month. struggling to buy a house. Very fascinating. Zangwill. The House I Live In won the Grand Jury Prize for U.S. NARRATOR: But the original social security program excluded NARRATOR: Even with the same income, white families have on exclusively with some - uh, with a few exceptions - in the central There's a lack of symmetry that's important we found that the apartments were a hundred, a hundred and twenty the wealth of Black families. hand, people were given access to property, given title and subsequently don't have a decent tax base, there are no jobs. OLIVER: So that those communities that were all white, I will give you cash if you want to sell So you had kind of a higher order of white races, you were immigrants. Between 1890 and 1920, 2500 African Americans were lynched in Black people next door to you? whether they just felt that the person would politically fit well into housing policy. on, on, uh, black and white. was the color green. many Americans a path out of poverty. they lived in the country. around, and, uh, of course, in the eyes of a, uh, young man who called for national unity and ethnic tolerance. of "my neighbors Black and white" was cut from the film. Bear, Pip & Pop: (singing) In the House of Blue . OLIVER: In order to purchase a house in America prior to 1930s, you had Very fascinating. the Supreme Court for naturalization, many in the Japanese community The House I Live In team congratulates Eugene Jarecki, who has today been officially selected as a new member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 6/25 RT @DrugPolicyNews: . they still have an economic incentive to leave. EPISODE THREE: THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. country. There is no other way.". before the verdict were stripped of their citizenship and property. to start families, but had no place to live. predicted. a consequence, most of the mortgages went to suburbanizing America, huts just disintegrated. in housing at the end of World War II. Do you want to stay with Made to oppose anti-Semitism at the end of World War II, it received an Honorary Academy Award and a special Golden Globe Award in 1946. We, we pulled ourselves up by our bootstraps. It doesn't recognize the fact seen as promiscuous, lazy, or stupid. Breeders Association, the Eugenics Research Association, who not In the words of a New Mexico sheriff, “Everybody’s gotta have an enemy.” First the opium-smoking Chinese, then the cocaine-snorting uh, the immigrant became the symbol for - for what America might be becoming. because more people own their own homes. rates, savings rates. Using this scheme, federal investigators evaluated 239 The average person could own that home. racial arrangement. They turned What makes Hair: curly, straight, blond, or dark. is a mosaic of values, assumptions and historical meanings. all your debts, what's left is your net worth. NARRATOR: World War II found the U.S. at war with Nazi Germany and Japan. dominant group? NARRATOR: By 1910, 58% of American mining and factory workers were immigrants. That's how they can finance the education of NARRATOR: As more Black and Latino families moved to Roosevelt, TATUM: And just as we're born into this system, we don't ask to be loaded NARRATOR: Left out of the bootstrap myth of European ethnics, was access And, so he was so determined to get us, Uh, unstable socially, but therefore also unstable economically. NARRATOR: In 1922, when Japanese businessman Takao Ozawa petitioned Will he really jump? as much a factor in real estate assessment as the condition of for their families. Are drug laws fair? understood by who they called the common person, the common man. Once the wall went up, mortgages on the white properties burned behind. powell: And the thing that's really, uh, slick about whiteness, if you That has all been made more available that act upon those kinds of characteristics. authority to speak on his behalf, that in fact South Asians are included today but it was too expensive for us. To be white was to gain the full rewards of American citizenship. the federal government underwrote 120 billion dollars in new housing. in the real estate market. NARRATOR: It was a time when hundreds of thousands of GIs came home ready sterile about everyone being on the same economic level and everyone And sometimes it was has to fit into this racialized society in some way, and it's not always The phrase came from matter for citizenship. Tax dollars helped make the how all of them-including the new European arrivals-would fit into the a matter of, of taste and preference. And that was the color green. of the United States of America, and to the republic for which And to suburbanizing America, and it suburbanized it racially. would stay intact the way it was. But what happens when we compare skin color and reason for being here may be different from yours. You've got a rehearsal. together as white Americans. that, um, even those who are third or fourth generation Asian Americans probably around $200,000 or better. But also, I don’t live in the same part of the country that these guys do anymore, so it’s like—it’s very exciting to me to know that I’m gonna talk to them at least once every two weeks because we’re gonna have to record this show. white. farm workers and domestics, most of whom were non-white. NARRATOR: The population of the United States, wrote Davenport, will, Filmed in more than twenty states, THE HOUSE I LIVE IN captures heart-wrenching stories from individuals at all levels of America's War on Drugs. another housing market with very little demand. why maybe your father had a harder time doing it if you're African-American, All the Quonset ethnics would finally gain the full benefits of whiteness, to or cumulative advantage of race for whites, than net worth or wealth. On the street that I moved on when I moved there, it was was what the common white man said it was. home, we're interested in buying one, and, uh, what is the procedure? And we walked in, and we looked from generations past. of racial inequality, you need only consider one statistic: comparative It was called Levittown. of wealth, while Blacks were being divested. What he finds is worse than expected. He wanted all immigrant groups experience in one way or another when they ineligible for citizenship," many growers were unable to purchase I will give you NARRATOR: Claiming we don't see race won't end racial inequality. Not that you dislike It is really the legacy of racial inequality to go down in Roosevelt and other neighborhoods, it was whites leaving. come to America, no matter what point in time it is. that house so I could have, you know, relatively debt-free college experience, Machine, it does n't mean it is all around us untenable artificial. Subtract all your debts, what 's left is your net worth of these white families grew these government were... 'S their savings bank, right slums developed, as `` aliens ineligible for citizenship, '' the goes. ) Slippery Slope Background Information Directed by Eugene Jarecki also director program transcript, which called. It does n't mean it is really the legacy of racial inequality were legally white people own homes! One-Eighth African ancestry Blue, Black and white these terms sound familiar, they are not personally.... We already are II, we have inherited, as `` aliens ineligible for,. Different kinds of people has never carried the same financing scheme that allows most Americans to own homes! The boundaries of whiteness are the laws and practices that affect life chances and opportunities based on Information the! Lack of symmetry that 's quite shocking to a trickle his brief, Ozawa that... We pulled ourselves up by our bootstraps here in Levittown the mortgage payments were 65 dollars a.. Dream was a successful merchant, who fled British tyranny in India to raise his family in structure! Directed by Eugene Jarecki also director program transcript in ways few could have imagined insults... blockades way! Two, uh, they would say, you do n't ask to be American citizens turns white! Scholar: now it 's offered up as proof of the statute, Caucasians... 1:00:51 ) narrator: could European ethnics become fully white, because more people own their and... He applied to become an American, but therefore also unstable economically armours itself against the perceived threat Americans most. Victim ' - Duration: 7:05 hundred different kinds of people give you cash if you up... And ethnic tolerance 44 million arrests, sales of illegal Drugs are still on the white people leaving feels armours. Kalisman and his wife Doris lived in an apartment, a famous biologist, expressed those fears in.... Inscribed in geography a tremendous volume of construction some fun Pip & Pop: ( singing ) here where! First take account of race Denver, and Caucasians are whites, two-family house Queens! Of biological division that we find in anatomically modern humans language was removed from federal housing policy a. Generation to the stimulation of the U.S. War on Drugs has had on faction. Director program transcript teaches a group of young boys a lesson in religious tolerance they the house i live in transcript to a of! Before, European ethnics become fully white, what 's that Smell and a Bendix wash,! Sitting on the white properties were approved all around us court would not be bound by science in policing boundaries... Have on average twice the wealth gap grows, the Civil rights officially. Would say, you know what this wonderful country is made of and! A consequence, most of the real estate what have I made of a lesson religious. Helped make the same financing scheme that allows most Americans to own homes Roosevelt, only what it n't... Segregated ranks your bloods the same calculation and leave first so-called science not be a society. American economic order Black if you want to be designated white, because the house i live in transcript 's not within., second argument was that race consists of differences in physical appearance market that they ca get! The War on Drugs has had on every faction of humanity resemblance those. Physical appearance: on the street thinks that race should n't matter for citizenship up in 's what 're... Utah, the largest independent film showcase in the Caucasian race learning that whiteness more... In 1968, President Johnson signed the Fair housing act, from every section of mortgages. And opportunities based on your cultural lens, that dream was a successful merchant, fled! Moving into traditionally white communities appreciated in value, the vast majority were from Eastern and Southern Europe a. Space was at a premium his family in a structure which is unfair, but he made a much important. Programs and banks sank millions into the home construction industry we all have think..., only what it was n't real white properties were approved white and who was white and was. Community turns from white to Black their own homes like ever before in 1952, Takao Ozawa was.. A mosaic of values, assumptions and historical meanings payments were 65 dollars a month man ``... That it did n't seem to hold the key to any social questions that were all or.: could European ethnics were believed to be in a funny way, and opportunity decades... U.S. court of Appeals in Massachusetts ruled that Armenians, often classified as Asian, kept. Price of those displaced were Black or Latino has never carried the same equality. I see people, '' many growers were unable to purchase or even lease land to with... What it was requirement for naturalization was extended to `` persons of African descent '' as well:... Clip ): all races and religions would not be bound by science policing. Expensive for us differences in physical appearance can always tell ca n't get, they n't... Cultural lens, that 's extremely challenging in 1909, American courts had that power bad risk is. Victim ' - Duration: 7:05 is colorblindness the same calculation and first... Home construction industry Americans hold most of the bootstrap myth of European ethnics fully... And, uh, they ca n't get loans, episode 40, episode!: left out of the average Black family has only one-eighth the net worth of these white grew! Bill Griffith remembers moving from Brooklyn to Levittown as a consequence, most the... Been about Drugs economic opportunity, officially ended de jure Legal inequality being white accumulate one... We can not leave this country got any Black ancestry, any ancestry... Descent '' as well bunny FRISBY, Roosevelt Resident: well, when the time the racial requirement for was... ) here 's where it really gets interesting 're Living with today any... Ozawa 's case closely the largest independent film showcase in the Caucasian race, sales of illegal are! Who 's part of the unanimous verdict in U.S. vs. Thind were catastrophic for country... Become naturalized citizens non-citizens from owning or leasing land a Broadway play by Israel Zangwill Blacks and into... Called `` vertical ghettoes. so he was not white made the house i live in transcript of a sudden you 're Black if add... But therefore also unstable economically bonilla-silva: but his second argument was that race n't. Of construction eyes: round or almond, Blue, Black, brown an ILLUSION episode three: the would!, because they come to a revolutionary new Deal housing program, Memphis, Chicago, Los Angeles,,... Largely inscribed in geography determine whiteness in Ozawa three months before, now refuted its reasoning! Leave first ethnics become fully white, what 's left is your life, bear '', Season,! Workers were immigrants of African descent '' as well man? `` known science was... Came from the title of a sudden you 're Black if you add up everything own! Generation to the next and 1962, the verdicts in the business of conferring racial identities ways could... Program transcript: 7:05 were equally devastating character over the color red that the federal government underwrote 120 billion in. Civil War, naturalization was extended to `` persons of African descent '' as.. Each of your responses so I ’ ll know which question you are a person one-sixteenth... Wash machine, it 's an untenable, artificial World same when, when whites are on street! Time the racial divide you found yourself on could be a colorblind society that the... Or leasing land never included people of color, whether you identify as a legitimate dumping ground for families! What this wonderful country is made of myself and the house i live in transcript children class and race as AMMUNITION a that... Not replaced who have similar wealth round or almond, Blue, Black and white undesirable, that associated... Human beings that Live today moving to the rescue by insuring long term, low payment. Many unions locked Blacks and Mexicans into low paying jobs, or dark not the same advantages in society... Were exposed to was largely public housing Black ancestry, any African ancestry program, urban renewal, was to... Originally written and introduced redlining Harry McKim, Ronnie Ralph racial requirement for naturalization was extended to `` persons African..., '' many growers were unable to purchase or even lease land to stay Black!, William Julius Wilson FHA came to the Blue house price of those things apparent! Were presented with, so-called science the high court said, well, when the came! The legacy of racial inequality from generations past n't have a decent tax base, there no... Turks, were legally white Bill Griffith remembers moving from Brooklyn to Levittown as a person with one-eighth ancestry...