Everyone is at home, with a paid day off, and I am at work. DAMMIT.
I didn’t think to take today off because I never remember holidays that don’t apply to me.
But also, since I’m off on Friday and NEXT Monday (so don’t be looking for a fact), I guess I won’t complain too loudly.

NORMALLY, I’d just do a random black fact because after all, that’s what I do.
BUT TODAY IS PRESIDENTS’ DAY.

And really, I COULD talk about our only black President to fulfill this requirement…
For instance: I looked up little known facts about my President, and did you know he says he says he hasn’t liked ice cream since working at Baskin-Robbins as a teenager?
It also said that his childhood nickname was Barry and let’s be honest, that is NOT a little known fact, nor is that at ALL surprising. His name is BARACK FFS. What the hell ELSE would they call him?

ANYWAYS. I’m not counting those as THE fact. Even though, those ARE facts.

Today, I’ma talk about President John F. Kennedy. And his part in Black History.

On this day in 1962 , President John F. Kennedy issues Executive Order 11063, which mandates an end to discrimination in housing. The order, which came during the burgeoning Civil Rights movement, prohibited federally funded housing agencies from denying housing or funding for housing to anyone based on their race, color, creed or national origin.

Since the 1950s, American minorities, particularly African Americans, had been largely relegated to living in overcrowded inner-city ghettos or impoverished rural areas. The “American Dream” of owning a house in the suburbs, or even a small apartment in a safe city neighborhood was unobtainable for many minority families because federally funded lending agencies often refused to give minorities home loans. Although Kennedy’s order was largely a symbolic landmark for ending de facto segregation in housing, the policy was never enforced. The order left it up to the individual housing and funding agencies to police themselves, leaving much room for non-compliance from state to state. After his assassination in 1963, civil rights activists continued to lobby for integrated neighborhoods*. It took Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, until 1968, however, to get a majority of Congress to support a fair housing law.

ALSO.
Speaking of this being Presidents’ Day and The Fair Housing Act and alladat, I have another President that I want to talk about and HIS part in Black History:

In 1973, Justice Department lawyers filed a case against y’all’s (NEVER MY) president (us v. fred trump, donald trump, and trump management, inc) for a constant pattern and practice of discrimination. The Justice Department then issued a news release that said the trumps violated the law “by refusing to rent and negotiate rentals with blacks, requiring different rental terms and conditions because of race, and misrepresenting that apartments were not available.” The suit was settled after almost two years, and on June 10, 1975, the trumps signed an agreement prohibiting “discriminating against any person in the terms, conditions, or priveleges of sale or rental of a dwelling.” The agreement also required the trumps to place ads informing minorities they had an equal opportunity to seek housing at their properties.

Another fun fact: Did you know that donald trump did not want to pay for the ads? “This advertising, while it’s, you know — I imagine it’s necessary from the Government’s standpoint, is a very expensive thing for us,” Trump said, according to a court transcript. “It is really onerous. Each sentence we put in is going to cost us a lot of money over the period we are supposed to do it.” [funny, he wasn’t so worried about the cost of ads when he did this.]

So there you go. I know I usually focus on black folks ‘cause the lordt only knows we only have one (very short) month to show off all the shit black folks be doin’ for the culture. But every once in a while, I want white people to know that y’alls names be going down in black infamy history too. You’re welcome!

Happy Monday, guys! You’ve almost made it to the end of another black history month.
*white flight: migration of middle class white populations out of cities to avoid the influx of minorities and return to more racially homogeneous suburban regions. However, some historians have challenged the phrase “white flight” as a misnomer whose use should be reconsidered. In her study of Chicago’s West Side during the post-war era, historian Amanda Seligman argues that the phrase misleadingly suggests that whites immediately departed when blacks moved into the neighborhood, when in fact, many whites defended their space with violence, intimidation, or legal tactics.

*see also: Gentrification: The Same. Only, backwards.