ââËJones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co. (1968)ïœĄââ
đ„ Ę Ë Creation Date: đ„ Ę Ë: December 2, 2024, 12:28âŻPM
đ„ Ę Ë Summary đ„ Ę Ë: In 1968, Joseph Lee Jonesâa Black manâsued Alfred H. Mayer Co. for refusing to sell him a home in a white St. Louis County neighborhood solely because of his race. The landmark Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co. case hinged on 42 U.S.C. § 1982, which guarantees equal property rights to all citizens. The Supreme Court ruled in Jonesâ favor, affirming that racial discrimination in housing violated federal law. This decision was a huge win for African Americans, dismantling decades of systemic exclusion from homeownership, fair housing, and economic mobility. Today, it remains a cornerstone of anti-discrimination lawsâthough the fight for equitable housing continues.â
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A real estate company in Missouri's St. Louis County was sued by Joseph Lee Jones, a black man on April 1-2, 1968 due to the real estate company refusing to sell him a home in the Paddock Woods community of St. Louis County for the sole reason that Joseph Lee Jones is black. John the plaintiff (a person who brings a case against another in a court of law) had his attorney Fees, Owen M. (District of Columbia) Leff, Arthur A. (Missouri), Liberman, Samuel H. II (Missouri), Norman, David L. (District of Columbia), Spritzer, Ralph S. (District of Columbia) go against the defendant (an individual, company, or institution sued or accused in a court of law.) Alfred H. Mayer Co and his attorney Treiman, Israel (Missouri). The judges were Blackmun, Harry Andrew (District of Columbia), Douglas, William Orville (District of Columbia), Harlan, John Marshall, (District of Columbia), Lay, Donald Pomery (Minnesota), Mehaffy, Pat (Arkansas), Regan, John Keating (Missouri), Stewart, Potter (District of Columbia) and White, Byron Raymond (District of Columbia.Â
The specific legal issues that the court had to decide if the real estate company in Missouri's St. Louis County refused Joseph Lee Jones to sell them a home in the Paddock Woods community of St. Louis County for the sole reason that Joseph Lee Jones is black. The court in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri had to look at 42 U.S.C. 1981, 1982, 1983, and 2000e, which states alleging that a race-based denial of a home purchase violated federal civil rights laws.Â
On June 17, 1968, The Court sided with Jones and held that Section 1982 of the congressional act was intended to prohibit all discrimination against blacks in the sale and rental of property. Therefore the real estate company in Missouri's St. Louis County had to sell a house as a person, not by his race. The court's decision and the legal reasoning behind it is because in 42 U.S.C. § 1982 all citizens of the United States shall have the same right, in every State and Territory, as is enjoyed by white citizens thereof to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey real and personal property. Luckily Joseph Lee Jones was a citizen of the United States. The court had pretty much no choice to side with Jones because if they didn't the public would have called them out and said that they are not following the U.S code.Â
I believe this case has a Positive impact on african americans because for over a century african americans weren't allowed to have FHA which is a mortgage insurance on loans and buy a house because of the color of their skin. The government's efforts and focus was to provide housing to white, middle-class, lower-middle-class families," which lead the african americans to live in poor neighborhoods that have no good medicine, grocery stores that provide fresh healthy food, and a school system. This case helped protect African Americans rights in the housing market and encouraged them to buy a house of their own.Â
This case affects housing policies, future legal cases, or the way society views housing discrimination in the future is that real estate companies canât scam African Americans looking for a house for double the price or refuse them for buying a house because of their skin tone. The government would separate black people from white neighborhoods, while at the same time withdrawal/reduction of an investment in Black communities, kept them out of the best-funded schools and highest-paying jobs for decades of disinvestment and institutional neglect. Â
Now that the Title VIII of the 1968 Civil Rights Act, more commonly known as the Fair Housing Act, passed every company including real estate companies have to give services to everyone no matter on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. After many years of this terrible abuse and neglect that African Americans have faced, realtors still charge African Americans unreasonably high prices for lower in quality or below the usual standard properties, knowing that they had nowhere else to go due to many African Americans being poor or not having transportation.Â
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https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title42/chapter21&edition=prelim#:~:text=%C2%A71982.,convey%20real%20 and%20 personal%20property.
