This month we celebrate the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., not just as a leader of the Civil Rights Movement, but also as a critical player in Chicago’s Fair Housing Movement.
Dr. King recognized the systematic relegation of Black Americans to substandard housing as a key component of racial injustice. In 1965, he brought The Chicago Freedom Movement to Chicago, which at the time, was one of the most residentially segregated cities in the U.S. The movement advocated for “open housing” – the right for Black Americans to buy homes regardless of location.
Drawn by Dr. King’s vision for a fairer Chicago as a young priest, Bernie Kleina ventured out with his camera to document the speeches and marches happening around him. At the time, the amateur photographer had no idea his photos would be some of the only color portraits of Dr. King in existence.
These rare photos aren’t the only contribution Dr. King had in Bernie’s life, though. This month, we had the chance to sit down with Bernie and discuss the lasting impact of Dr. King on his career and the legal field:
When you heard Dr. King speak in Chicago, you were just starting your career. What impact did hearing his speeches have on you?
It’s difficult to say how important Dr. King was in my life because he taught me everything. It was Dr. King who really taught me how to protest and how to march. I was a Catholic priest at that time, and I wasn’t that familiar with housing issues. Dr. King and his team reported the results from the testing they did in Chicago at a rally I attended. After hearing about the conditions they found, I spent the next 40 years working at Hope Fair Housing working on fair housing issues.
Can you describe the testing Dr. King’s team conducted?
Dr. King and his team would send Black men into white neighborhoods to look for housing. Every time, the Black man was turned away because ‘there weren’t any rooms available’ or another excuse. Yet, when they would send in a white man, they would start working on the move-in paperwork on the spot. In some cases, the Black men were attorneys who clearly could afford the homes, but that was never the issue. They were denied because of their race, because of their disability, etc.
Why was the testing so important for the future of the Fair Housing Movement? What impact did it have on your career at Hope?
Mostly white neighborhoods and cities were not aware of the reality of what was going when Black Americans tried to obtain housing. It wasn’t until I heard Dr. King say what he said, and I had a chance to talk with men and women who were denied housing that I realized, at least to some extent, what the problem of housing discrimination was. Then, people in DuPage County invited me to be the first executive director of Hope Fair Housing. We were involved in litigation against individual homeowners in DuPage County and a couple cities in this area who were denying housing to people based on their identities. Later, we got involved with policy change and I, along with my wife, produced more than 25 videos on housing discrimination.
How did your work at Hope overlap with LCBH?
No organization can do it all. Hope and LCBH collaborated on a number of housing discrimination cases, as well as policy advocacy. We could not have made the impact we did without the attorneys and other professionals who volunteered their time.
As we approach MLK Day, how do you think LCBH, and other attorneys, can honor Dr. King?
Dr. King said, ‘I have a deep and abiding admiration for the legal profession, and the tremendous role it has played in the service of the cause with which I have been identified.’ At one point, he had 55 attorneys, some of whom had never worked in housing, but they stepped up to protect Dr. King and other organizers. It is the calling of the Law Center for Better Housing and their task to find equitable laws and solutions that protect, because it is justice that redeems, compassion that heals, courage that inspires, and mercy that forgives.