Human Relations Commission Quarterly Newsletter - October 2021

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Human Relations Commission

 

From the Director

Verna Goatley, Executive Director

Hello and welcome to the 2021 Fall edition of the Louisville Metro Government-Human Relations Commission (HRC) newsletter. Our office is busy working with our citizens conciliating discriminatory complaints, assisting individuals with filing complaints with LMPD-PSU, certifying diverse suppliers and monitoring Metro’s contracts that exceed the $30,000 mark for equity and inclusion.

Our office is excited with Chanca Sears joining the team. Her knowledge and background are an asset to HRC. As we welcome Chanca, we say goodbye to Rachel Anger, HRC’s Education and Outreach Coordinator. Rachel came to this department last year and gave the HRC’s social media presence a new look. The staff and I would like to thank Rachel for her hard work and wish her the best as she pursues the next chapter in her professional career.

Next, I would like to say thank you to the Commissioners rolling off the Advocacy and Enforcement boards. Their expertise and volunteer hours help support the work of HRC. Last but not least I would like to welcome aboard the new individuals joining the Advocacy and Enforcement boards and our members returning for an additional term. We have a full agenda of meaningful work ahead of us, and the staff of HRC and I look forward to you working with us.

Enjoy this fall weather and let’s get ready to make some strides in making our community better. Take care and stay safe.

Verná Goatley, Executive Director, Louisville Metro Human Relations Commission


HRC Welcomes New Assistant Director

Chanca Toni Sears

Sears brings with her 15 years of experience from the Kentucky Small Business Development Center where she served as Assistant Director, Management Consultant, and International Trade Lead. During her tenure, she helped area entrepreneurs launch 50 businesses, create 314 full-time jobs, and secure $16 million in financing.The Human Relations Commission is proud to welcome newly-appointed Assistant Director Chanca "Toni" Sears to its team.

Sears brings her talent and experience to the recent expansion of the city's equity initiatives in business and entrepreneurship. Mayor Fischer's Equity in Contracting and Procurement Task Force and its member organizations are committed to spending more equitably among the Metro Service Area's skilled diverse-owned and operated businesses. With her dedication to further diversifying Louisville's business community, Sears joins the Commission in its mission and vision to promote equal opportunity for all; to eliminate discrimination, segregation and exclusion in our community; and to ensure that a person's make-up does not determine their life outcomes, even in our business sector.

Sears is a Louisville native and two-time alumna from the University of Louisville. She holds a Master's degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in marketing and management, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. 


What is the Human Relations Commission (HRC)?

Human Relations Commission

The Louisville Metro HRC is granted both the legal authority and responsibility to investigate claims of illegal discrimination in Jefferson County, and to enforce anti-discrimination law in housing, employment, public accommodations, and hate crimes.

In order to increase the visibility of businesses owned by people belonging to certain protected classes: minority, women, and disabled business owners can certify their businesses with Metro through the HRC. In March of last year, we began issuing reciprocal certifications to local LGBT-owned businesses that are already certified with national organizations. We also monitor compliance with businesses that are awarded contracts with Metro Government.

We also promote civic activities, work to make them accessible, and to foster unity and understanding between diverse groups of people. Our goal is to ensure equitable opportunity and life outcomes for everyone in Louisville.

The HRC staff takes discrimination complaints from everyday people just like you. If you have questions about a recent discrimination action you have experienced, or if you are not sure whether something that happened was illegal discrimination, we are here to help. Call us at 502-574-3631 or email hrc@louisvilleky.gov.


Avoiding Unlawful Income Discrimination:
Guidelines for Landlords and Property Managers

Avoiding Income Discrimination

Effective March 2021, Louisville Metro amended its ordinance on discriminatory housing practices making it a violation to deny housing opportunity to an applicant based on participating in the Housing Choice Voucher program. 

Market tenants are often required to earn a gross income of 3 times more than market rent, but this same requirement is commonly misapplied to Voucher holders. 

To avoid inadvertent, unlawful income discrimination, consider only a prospective tenant's portion of the rent when calculating 3-times rent income. 

For example, if rent is $1,000/mo., and the tenant has an $800/mo. housing choice voucher, the tenant's portion of the rent is only $200. The correct, legal income requirement would be $600/mo. In this example, requiring the tenant to earn 3-times the market rent, $3,000/mo. is a discriminatory action under Louisville Metro Amended Ordinance No. 146-2000

After adjustment, if a prospective tenant still does not meet the lawful income requirement, please follow these helpful tips:

  • Do not immediately deny the applicant.
  • Advise the applicant that further review is necessary.
  • Refer the applicant to their case worker to determine eligibility.
  • Landlords may continue to screen applicants using neutral criteria. Document these criteria in the event you are ever accused of discrimination.
  • Always process a rental application for a prospective tenant with a Voucher, and treat the tenant as favorably as you would treat market tenants.

If you are a landlord or property manager and have questions about these guidelines, or if you are a renter and are experiencing unlawful income discrimination in housing, please call us at 502-574-3631, or email hrc@louisvilleky.gov.


National Hispanic Heritage Month

September 15 - October 15

Hispanic Heritage Month

Nationwide celebration of Hispanic heritage began in the U.S. when President Lyndon Johnson signed National Hispanic Heritage Week into law in 1968. Twenty years later, in 1988, National Hispanic Heritage Month was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan.

Hispanic Heritage Month wasn’t assigned to a calendar month like other observances. It begins on September 15th, which marks the 1821 independence of five Latin American countries from Spain—Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Mexico, Chile, and Belize celebrate their respective independence on September 16th, 18th, and 21st.

Hispanic and Latino Americans are the second-largest ethnic group in the United States, descending from 20 nations in the Americas of diverse cultures, backgrounds and experiences, and comprise 16.7%, or 60.48 million people in the U.S., 47 million of whom are American citizens (2019).

National Hispanic Heritage Month provides a month of opportunity to celebrate Hispanic Americans’ contributions to our collective American culture. How can you celebrate? Shop a Latin American grocery and try your hand at creating authentic, cultural dishes. Read about Hispanic American heroes of the Latino Civil Rights movement or read authors with important stories to tell. Learn new Spanish words and phrases, and then join the 13% of families in the U.S. who speak Spanish at home every day.

For virtual events, arts, information, and educational resources about Mes Nacional de la Herencia Hispana, visit HispanicHeritageMonth.gov.


Did you know? Hate Crimes on the Rise

Hate crimes are crimes with an element of bias towards a person because of personal characteristics, actual or perceived. Bias-related crimes can be physically violent, like assault and battery; non-violent but intimidating or threatening behavior that inflicts mental distress, whether in person, online, or via telecommunications; or damaging, destroying, or defacing property. A hate crime can happen anywhere: in or near homes (24.6%); highways, roads and sidewalks (18.2%); places of worship (4.4%); even pharmacies, doctors' offices and hospitals (1.3%) (FBI, 2019 statistics).

With the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, investigations of hate crimes grew to include bias-related incidents against actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or gender, joining the traditional investigations of bias-related crimes against people's race, color, religion, and national origin. 

In 2020, reported bias-related incidents reported nationwide totaled 7,759, an increase of 6% from 2019, and the most reported since 2008, according to the FBI in this September 2021 article from NPR: https://www.npr.org/2021/08/31/1032932257/hate-crimes-reach-the-highest-level-in-more-than-a-decade.

To date in 2021, victims of hate crimes have reported 28 bias-related incidences to the Louisville Metro Police Department, 19 of which have been race-based. LMPD hate crime data can be found here: https://data.louisvilleky.gov/dataset/lmpd-hate-crimes.

When hate crimes and other types of illegal discrimination occur, the best way to fight hate is to report it. Please view the Human Relations Commission's Hate Crimes brochure for more information, or call us at 502-574-3631 for assistance with any kind of discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations in Jefferson County. We also accept your reports through our website https://louisvilleky.gov/government/human-relations-commission.


Business Certification with Louisville Metro Government

Certified Business Seals

The Human Relations Commission certifies diverse-owned businesses that are at least 51% owned and operated by minorities, women, and people with disabilities, and it offers reciprocal certifications to LGBT- and veteran-owned businesses who are already certified by national organizations. Certification offers greater public visibility to business owners belonging to socially disadvantaged groups, and inclusion in a public database helps companies registered with Louisville Metro to find diverse contractors to satisfy equity goals in contracting and procurement.

HRC certifies all kinds of diverse businesses, from bakeries and catering services, to graphic design and construction. Learn more about what business certification can do for your business at https://louisvilleky.gov/government/human-relations-commission/contract-compliance-program.

Last quarter the Human Relations Commission welcomed the following minority-, women-, disabled-, LGBT-, and/or veteran-owned businesses to Louisville Metro's certified businesses:

July

Avenue Fabricating, Inc. Bailey Safety, Inc.
Bluegrass Electrical Consultants, Inc. Crane Environmental Services, LLC
Culy Contracting, LLC Eloquence Language Services, LLC
EMED Medical Company, LLC First Alert Wet Floor signs, LLC
Global Construction Transport, LLC Harmon Construction, Inc.
Incipio Workforce Solutions LC Hauling, LLC
Logsdon Endeavors, LLC Modern Manpower, LLC
One Hill Technologies, LLC Performance Exteriors, Inc.
Prideful & Inclusive International Staffing Roeing Corporation
Stragistics Technology Tri-a Solutions
TruTest, LLC Wheatley Roofing Co., Inc.

August

Bourke Accounting, LLC Construction MR, LLC
Davidson Interior Enterprises/Aztec Flooring, Inc. Global Water Technology, Inc.
Hydro Vac Services, LLC dba GroundBreakers Moore Accounting, LLC
Sparrow Waterhouse, Inc. The Baddest Stitch
United Integrity Construction and Property Management  

September

Apollos Waters, LLC CONCO Spray Solutions, LLC
eSense Incorporated Favour Transportations, LLC
Great Lakes Metals Corporation HLA Trucking, LLC
Integrated Power and Technology Jung Design, Inc.
Kestrel Company Ram Tool & Supply Co., Inc.
Redden Trucking, Inc. Ryan Consulting Group, Inc.
South Coast Paper, LLC Sustainability Management Partners, LLC

 


Community Events

Upcoming Events: 
Truth Be Told Exhibit Ali Center

Truth Be Told: The Policies that Impacted Black Lives
Muhammad Ali Center
Now through February 27, 2022

As the call for racial justice and equality in America is louder now than ever before, the Muhammad Ali Center has created an exhibition to educate and help others learn from the country’s past in order to foster a better future. Truth Be Told: The Policies that Impacted Black Lives is an exploration of those policies that are linked to systematic racism in America, from the early 1600s, up to present day. Truth Be Told offers visitors the opportunity to learn about the history of Black people in our country that is often left out of, misinterpreted, or even falsified in our history books. It is critical that the facts of our collective American history be told, so that the negative outcomes that these policies produced can be understood, recognized, and amended.

The exhibition’s content is posted on authentic plywood panels that were used on buildings in the Louisville protests and marches. These panels, originally used as barriers, have been repurposed as the platform on which we are sharing this important history. Truth Be Told also features a spray painted mural created by Louisville artist Braylyn Resko Stewart.

Learn more at https://alicenter.org/temporary-exhibitions.

 
MELANnaire Marketplace

MELANnaire Marketplace
Every Saturday @ 716 E. Broadway, Noon - 5pm
Every 3rd Saturday @ Fourth Street Live!, Noon - 6pm

The MELANnaire Marketplace formerly known as Black Businesses Matter marketplace is for local black artisans, creators, and entrepreneurs to expand their brand and exchange products/services for dollars.

2021 SCHEDULE through October

Manhattan on Broadway
Every Saturday | 12 Noon to 5 pm
716 East Broadway, Louisville, KY

4th Street Live
Every 3rd Saturday | 12 Noon to 6 pm
411 South 4th Street, Louisville, KY
*Alternate dates* August – Aug 14th will be on 2nd Saturday and October event will be Oct. 9th

 
Spooky Saturday

Spooky Saturday
Frazier Kentucky History Museum
Saturday, October 30, 2021 - 11am - 3pm

It’s Halloween Eve, and we’ve been preparing for a day of chills and thrills—but mostly thrills! Activities include:

-Spooky Scavenger Hunt
-Creepy Artifacts Tour
-Live performance of The Raven
-The History of Jack O’Lanterns craft
-Storytime: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

For more information about this and other programs, visit https://www.fraziermuseum.org/.

 

 
Louisville Pizza Week

Louisville Pizza Week
November 15-21, 2021

$9 PIZZAS FROM LOUISVILLE'S MOST POPULAR PIZZA JOINTS

Louisville Pizza Week is seven days of paying homage to all things ‘za, no matter how you slice it. Each participating restaurant will bake up their own spin on the wheel - from signature pies to secret menu specialties and more.

Let your Pizza Week Passport take you on a Louisville exploration; map out your week, try new restaurants, challenge your taste buds, and share your experiences on social with other Louisville pizza lovers.

For more information about Pizza Week, visit https://louisvillepizzaweek.com/.

   
Light Up Louisville

Light Up Louisville 2021
Friday, November 26, 2021

Holiday lights and a brightly lit Christmas Tree will adorn Metro Hall and its lawn. The festive light display will include a rainbow of colors to celebrate Christmas, along with holiday-themed gobo lights celebrating Kwanza, Hanukah and all of the seasons special days that seek to reflect the diversity of our community. Mayor Fischer is also encouraging residents and businesses to put up their own rainbow of colors at their homes and workplaces to Light Up Louisville’s neighborhoods.

For more information, visit https://louisvilleky.gov/government/city-events/light-louisville.

   

For Metro Department events, visit the Metro Events Calendar.


This Quarter in Civil Rights History

October

Margaret Sanger 1916

October 15, 1883 – On this date, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Civil Rights Act of 1875 that forbade discrimination and ensured equal public accommodations and transportation, and in the use of other public spaces, stating that neither the 13th nor 14th amendments authorized such protections. The Court ruled that the government could not control the prejudices of people or companies, and directly allowed for legalized segregation and discrimination. The U.S. Congress would not pass another Civil Rights law until 1964.

October 23, 1947 – The NAACP filed formal charges with the United Nations, accusing the U.S. of racial discrimination. "An Appeal to the World," edited by W.E.B. DuBois, was a study of the denial of the right to vote that included details of other discrimination. This spurred President Harry Truman to create a civil rights commission.

October 25, 1916 – On this day, birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger was arrested along with her sister for operating America’s first birth control clinic, the American Birth Control League, in Brooklyn, New York. Sanger violated state law, but was able to serve 448 clients. She rejected a plea bargain to avoid jailtime by simply agreeing to obey the law, but she refused and served a month in jail. Sanger’s organization evolved into ‘Planned Parenthood’, a euphemism for birth control that she did not accept.

November

Ruby Bridges 1960

November 5, 1917 – On this day, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Buchanan v. Warley that Louisville, Kentucky’s ordinance prohibiting the sale of real estate to African Americans was unconstitutional. The ordinance was determined to be a violation of “freedom of contract” under the Fourteenth Amendment, that no state shall “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” The decision protected property owners in selling without interference from the government; it did not protect African Americans from discrimination in obtaining housing.

November 14, 1960 – Six-year-old Ruby Bridges was escorted to her first day at the previously all-white William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans by four armed federal marshals. They were met with angry mobs shouting their disapproval, and, throughout the day, parents marched in to remove their children from the school as a protest to desegregation. Every subsequent day of that academic year Bridges was escorted to school, enduring insults and threats on her way, and then learning her lessons from her young teacher, Barbara Henry, in an otherwise empty classroom. Her bravery later inspired the Norman Rockwell painting, The Problem We All Live With (1964).

December

APA LGBTQ 1973

December 1, 1955 – African American civil rights activist Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a public bus to a white passenger. Her arrest helped spark the infamous bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. The protest began on December 5, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., then a young local pastor, and was so successful that it was extended indefinitely. In the ensuing months, protestors faced threats, arrests, and termination from their jobs. Nonetheless, the boycott continued for more than a year. Finally, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling that segregated seating was unconstitutional, and the federal decision went into effect on December 20, 1956.

December 15, 1973 – In a major move forward for LGBTQ rights in the U.S., the American Psychiatric Association removed the designation of homosexuality as a mental illness from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) after review of scientific literature and consultation with field experts. The American Psychological Association removed its designation of homosexuality as unhealthy in 1975.


Global Louisville Directory & Highlights

Global Lou Dir.

Louisville Metro Office for Globalization has launched the Global Louisville Directory of city services, educational institutions, professional and business services, stores, restaurants, and more, of, by, and for Louisville's diverse immigrant community. Immigrant business owners, and other organizations and business offering services for the immigrant community are welcome to register themselves on the directory. 

In Global Lou Highlights, find weekly suggests of diverse ethnic restaurants, bakeries, and groceries in Louisville. Try something new, find new favorites, and support Louisville's diverse small businesses. 


Get Involved and Make a Difference
- Civic Opportunities in Louisville Metro Government -

Work for Metro

Get Involved

Louisville Metro employees make a difference throughout the city every day. Find your next job at https://louisvilleky.gov/government/human-resources.

Boards & Commissions

Are you interested in serving on a Metro Board? Board appointments are volunteer opportunities where you can work alongside other citizens to improve the quality of life for all Louisvillians, improve your professional network, and enhance your professional experience. Metro has approximately 100 boards in many areas of interest including business and economic development, land planning, parks and recreation, and public health and safety. Learn more about boards & commissions, vacancies, and the application process at: https://louisvilleky.gov/government/mayor-greg-fischer/boards-and-commissions-list

Never Miss a Metro Council Meeting

Virtual Metro Council meetings have given the public more opportunity to see our local government at work, and to get involved. Keep an eye on the meeting schedule and never miss the discussion topics that are important to you. Members of the public can also request to speak at a meeting. Meetings are broadcast live on the Louisville Metro Council Facebook page.


How to file a Discrimination Complaint

File a Discrimination ComplaintIf you would like to file a complaint of illegal discrimination with the Human Relations Commission, please call us at 502-574-3631 and speak with one of our Intake Officers. Simply tell us your story, and be ready with details and dates about the incident. Or, use our new, easy-to-use, online complaint form, and we will contact you. 

In order to eliminate illegal discrimination, it is necessary to enforce the laws in place that protect our civil rights. If you're unsure if something you've experienced was discrimination, give us a call. We are happy to answer your questions, and if we cannot help, we will refer to you the appropriate agencies that can.

 
 

Louisville Metro Human Relations Commission
745 W. Main Street, Ste. 251
Louisville, KY 40202
502-574-3631

Follow us online:

Facebook: @LMHRC    Twitter: @HumanMetro
Instagram: @LouKyHRC
Visit our website: https://louisvilleky.gov/government/human-relations-commission