By jonetta rose barras on Jul 12, 2024 Last updated Jul 13, 2024For a group of homeowners in Ward 8’s historic Anacostia neighborhood, the answer to that title question is a resounding “Yes.” They recently filed a housing discrimination complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), asserting that the District’s “[Low-Income Housing Tax Credit] program administration, policies, and practices violate the Fair Housing Act by concentrating [LIHTC] projects and units in majority Black neighborhoods and keeping those projects out of White neighborhoods.”

“The District also engages in discriminatory zoning policies and practices that disproportionately provide for apartment housing in Black neighborhoods and single-family housing in White neighborhoods,” according to the complaint written and filed by Texas-based attorneys Laura Beshara and Michael Daniel on behalf of DC residents Bruce Holmes, Nikki Waddell, Kristina Leszczak and Camille Bourguignon.

After examining federal and local government documents, Beshara and Daniel concluded that DC is also violating several other federal laws, including portions of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 and Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The complaint is “the first step” in pushing for changes, Beshara told me during a telephone interview with her and Daniel earlier this week.

“We can always go to court anytime,” she said. However, “HUD has accepted the case and assigned an investigator.”

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