{"id":8527,"date":"2014-04-22T18:22:13","date_gmt":"2014-04-22T22:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/?p=8527"},"modified":"2014-04-22T18:22:13","modified_gmt":"2014-04-22T22:22:13","slug":"25000-worth-of-discrimination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2014\/04\/22\/25000-worth-of-discrimination\/","title":{"rendered":"$25,000 Worth Of Discrimination"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the first time that I’ve ever heard about a case like this getting to court in Danville, and it’s about time.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Here’s the full media release from Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia. Inc<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Danville Man\u2019s Racially Discriminatory Housing Practices Cost Him $25,000 in Court.<\/p>\n

Housing Opportunities Made Equal was awarded $25,000 this month in a case in the Circuit Court for the City of Danville against John Sylvania Matthews III.<\/p>\n

Mr. Matthews, a landlord of multiple properties in the Danville area, has been held accountable for discriminating against African-American home seekers. When he advertised one of his units for lease in September, an African-American woman called and was told it was already rented. Within the hour, a white applicant called the same number about the same unit and was told it was indeed still available.<\/p>\n

HOME then investigated and confirmed the allegations of housing discrimination. Mr. Matthews told HOME\u2019s white tester that the property was move-in ready and located in “a good neighborhood” that was nice and quiet. He discouraged the African-American tester from renting the same property. He then steered her to other properties that were not yet available as he was still cleaning them out because “a bunch of damn n****** were living in ’em.\u201d<\/p>\n

The court held that Mr. Matthews violated two counts of the Federal Fair Housing Act. 42 U.S.C. \u00a7 3604(a) prohibits any person or entity from refusing “to negotiate for the sale or rental of, or otherwise make unavailable or deny, a dwelling to any person because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, or national origin.” And, 42 U.S.C. \u00a7 3604(c) prohibits any person or entity from making any statement “with respect tothe sale or rental of a dwelling that indicates any preference, limitation, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin, or any intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination.”<\/p>\n

Judge James J. Reynolds found that HOME established that Mr. Matthews discriminated based on race by saying, \u201cObviously, one of the hallmarks of our society is we adopted a creed that all men are created equal, and what that means is that everybody, regardless of race, regardless of gender, is to be given the same opportunity. That’s not to be construed with guaranteeing results, but rather opportunity. The opportunity to rent or acquire housing is well established in both federal and state law, and it is something that has to be diligently protected, because there have been in the past certainly well-known instances where individuals’ right to obtain housing has been denied, based solely on an improper discriminatory purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n

HOME is represented by the law firm of Clement & Wheatley in Danville. Contact: W. Huntington Byrnes at (434) 793-8200 or byrnesh@clementwheatley.com. Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia, Inc. (HOME), founded in 1971, is a statewide fair housing non-profit. HOME’s mission is to ensure equal access to housing for all people. HOME investigates housing discrimination and provides support for discrimination victims. You can learn more about HOME and all of its services at www.HOMEofVA.org<\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Although I’m saddened by the discrimination proven here, I’m not surprised.<\/p>\n

I had no idea that this group even existed before today so I started checking things out. They’re a non-profit organization that partners through local attorneys to file and lawsuits like this. The proceeds from the judgment go back into the non-profit and they use them for anti-discrimination classes and other agency programs. Although the victim in the case doesn’t get any money from the judgment, it’s not a money-making scam for the non-profit. You can find out about their programs at their website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the first time that I’ve ever heard about a case like this getting to court in Danville, and it’s about time.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[58,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-danville","category-newscentral","odd"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pwqFk-2dx","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4491,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2009\/07\/04\/dumbass-of-the-day-74\/","url_meta":{"origin":8527,"position":0},"title":"Dumbass of the Day! (7\/4)","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"July 4, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"A drunk driver crashes his new truck into the Dan River. He's lucky that a police officer noticed the guard rail damage. From a Danville Police Dept. press release Around 3:00 AM, Corporal T.J. Hawkins noticed damage to the guardrail near the intersection on Memorial Dr. & Primrose Lane. After\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Danville"","block_context":{"text":"Danville","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/locations\/danville\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5408,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2009\/09\/27\/danville-prefers-crack-cocaine\/","url_meta":{"origin":8527,"position":1},"title":"Danville prefers Crack Cocaine!","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"September 27, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Running out of time to get that perfect Christmas gift for your favorite Danville resident? Crack Cocaine: Danville\u2019s drug of choice It's a well-written article so far. We'll be looking for the 2nd & 3rd part in the newspaper. I am waiting to see the proof of this opening statement,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Danville"","block_context":{"text":"Danville","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/locations\/danville\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5850,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2009\/11\/18\/blue-ridge-fiberboard-to-reopen-knight-celotex-plant-in-danville\/","url_meta":{"origin":8527,"position":2},"title":"Blue Ridge Fiberboard to reopen Knight-Celotex plant in Danville","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"November 18, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Great news for Danville today! From our friends at Danville's Office of Economic Development... DANVILLE \u2013 Construction products industry leader W. R. MEADOWS, INC. today announced the formation of a new subsidiary, Blue Ridge Fiberboard, Inc., to resume the manufacturing of Celotex\u00ae branded fiberboard products in Danville. The company made\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Breaking News"","block_context":{"text":"Breaking News","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/newscentral\/breaking-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5321,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2009\/09\/13\/a-sneak-peek-on-danville-city-councils-meeting-915\/","url_meta":{"origin":8527,"position":3},"title":"A Sneak-Peek on Danville City Council’s Meeting (9\/15)","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"September 13, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Danville City Council's got a regular meeting and a work session coming up on Tuesday (7:00 PM) and SouthsideCentral will be there with a LIVE! session. Let's take a look at what's on tap... In the regular session, they'll be locking in a $283K+ grant for the Westmoreland project. New\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Danville"","block_context":{"text":"Danville","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/locations\/danville\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5383,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2009\/09\/22\/danville-police-report-a-strange-abduction\/","url_meta":{"origin":8527,"position":4},"title":"Danville police report a strange abduction","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"September 22, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"This one is edging over to the \"bizarre\" section on the Strange-O-Meter. From the Danville Police Department... Danville Police were alerted to a disturbance on Court Street just outside the Police Department at about 7:30 pm (Monday) where a Danville man reported he was forced into a vehicle against his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Danville"","block_context":{"text":"Danville","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/locations\/danville\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11624,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2014\/12\/19\/breakdown-danville-city-council-meeting-12162014\/","url_meta":{"origin":8527,"position":5},"title":"BreakDown – Danville City Council Meeting (12\/16\/2014)","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"December 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"We told you what happened at Tuesday's Danville City Council meeting. Let's do a BreakDown and go in-depth to analyze it. Big board for the BreakDown! The housing survey that was presented at the special work session before the council meeting has a lot of painful truth in it. 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