TO: Mayor and Commissioners
FROM: Anthea Gianniotes, Development Services Department
THROUGH: Terrence R. Moore, ICMA-CM
DATE: March 5, 2024
Title
A DISCUSSION OF PROPOSED RESOLUTION NO. 71-24.
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Recommended Action:
Recommendation
Review and provide direction regarding Resolution No. 71-24, repealing Resolution No. 146, which was adopted on June 24, 1935.
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Background:
The City Commission should review and provide direction regarding the adoption of Resolution No. 71-24, repealing Resolution No. 146 (approved on June 24, 1935). Resolution No. 146 (1935) designated areas within the City of Delray Beach as the “Negro Settlement or Negro Area” and “all other lands lying and being within the City Limits of the City of Delray Beach” as the “White Settlement or White Area”. Resolution No. 146 was identified during research associated with the Frog Alley Historic Resource Survey.
At the February 20, 2024, City Commission Workshop meeting, a presentation of the status of the Frog Alley Historic Resource Survey project was made and included information regarding Resolution No. 146. At the regular City Commission meeting directly following the workshop, the City Commission directed staff to prepare a resolution formally repealing Resolution No. 146 (1935).
Resolution No. 146 stated it was “for the best interest” of people of the Black race and the White race that a “definitely described settlement and area” be platted and designated for the location of homes, buildings, and improvements, including use and occupancy limitations, for each race. Resolution No. 146 also stipulated ownership restrictions for each race, allowing people of the White race to own property anywhere in the City, including within the “Negro Settlement or Negro Settlement Area”, but limited people of the Black race to owning property only within the “Negro Settlement or Negro Settlement Area.” This type of restriction or “law” was not uncommon in this time period, associated with the Jim Crow Era, which forced segregation of Black and White people. At the time, this segregation practice was extended to schools, transportation, parks, cemeteries, theatres, and restaurants to prevent contact between Black and White people as equals.
The area defined by the resolution for Black people to live and own property in the City was generally bounded by NW 5th Street to the north, SW 5th Street to the south, and NW 2nd and 3rd Streets to the east and west to the City Limits at the time.
City Staff has searched historic City Commission resolutions, minutes, agendas, and other related records dating back to 1935, particularly focused on the years following 1954, and was not able to find a City action formally rescinding nor repealing Resolution No. 146. During this era, federal actions ended this type of segregation and discrimination, which led to changes in local practices.
"On May 17, 1954, U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education that state-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th amendment and was therefore unconstitutional. This historic decision marked the end of the "separate but equal" precedent set by the Supreme Court nearly 60 years earlier in Plessy v. Ferguson and served as a catalyst for the expanding civil rights movement during the decade of the 1950s". (United States National Archives) On September 28, 1961, then 15-year-old Yvonne Lee (Odom) became the first Black student to walk through the doors of Seacrest High School, effectively ending segregation in Delray Beach public schools.
On April 11, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which is now commonly known as the Fair Housing Act of 1968. The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, and sex. "The enactment of the federal Fair Housing Act on April 11, 1968 came only after a long and difficult journey. From 1966-1967, Congress regularly considered the fair housing bill, but failed to garner a strong enough majority for its passage. However, when the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson utilized this national tragedy to urge for the bill's speedy Congressional approval. Since the 1966 open housing marches in Chicago, Dr. King's name had been closely associated with the fair housing legislation. President Johnson viewed the Act as a fitting memorial to the man's life work, and wished to have the Act passed prior to Dr. King's funeral in Atlanta." (US Department of Housing and Urban Development) The Fair Housing Act was amended in 1988 to add protections to family status and those with disabilities.
Resolution No. 71-24 repeals Resolution No. 146 (1935) in its entirety.
City Attorney Review:
City Attorney recommends approval.
Funding Source/Financial Impact:
N/A
Timing of Request:
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