jennifer-roberts Racial and ethnic discrimination is a shape shifter but its motives are consistent: exclusion, oppression and subjugation. When some Americans think about discrimination and racism, they think about the overt variety that is undeniable. Their minds may go to the burning of crosses, the Ku Klux Klan in white hoods and robes, swastikas on public display or the use of the “N word” to inflict harm. Far too few people know enough about accurate American history or have the interest to examine what discrimination is and how it still runs rampant in every American system, especially at the local level.
Discrimination and it’s offspring, racism are thriving in our own backyards though they may be harder to recognize. Think about it this way, when a baker prepares to bake a cake, he may lay out all the ingredients: eggs, flour, sugar, butter and so on. Individually, these ingredients are easy to recognize and have distinct properties but once mixed, they become impossible to identify on their own. Easily identifiable properties disappear and are exchanged for a homogenized substance that looks completely different.
Similarly, overt acts of discrimination and racism are easy to identify. A racist teacher calling a Black student the “N word” is easily recognizable. Government officials violently denying Black people the right to vote is easily recognizable. Crowds of white people holding up hateful signs and screaming racial slurs at Black children who are simply trying to get an education are easily recognizable. But when discrimination and racism are mixed into to regulations, standards and laws, it becomes nearly impossible to identify.
Prince William County is the most diverse county in Virginia and the 10th most diverse in the country, due largely to its growing immigrant population. The county is one of the largest in the state stretching from the town of Dumfries on its eastern end to the town of Haymarket on its western end. While the county is home to a variety of races and ethnicities, the farther west you go, the less diverse the county becomes.
The western end of the county is home to Piedmont, one of two gated communities that boast exclusive golf clubs, tennis courts and pristine swimming pools. Amidst the well-appointed homes, manicured lawns and expensive cars, Piedmont also has something else, implicit bias baked into its Homeowner Association regulations. Based on the way the neighborhood’s 22-year-old administrative resolution is written it is clear what types of residents and business owners are deemed worthy to live and own a business inside its gates and which are not. Piedmont’s desire to maintain a neighborhood of white, professional residents is baked into its laws.
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, 50% of all small businesses begin at home. This is a practice with a long track record. Starting a business at home is economically wise and can help owners invest time and money into other aspects of the business without needlessly spending money on a brick-and-mortar location.
However, in Piedmont, the regulations regarding home based businesses have been written in such a way that they covertly prevent homeowners and potential homeowners from operating certain homebased businesses because homeowners are prohibited from parking company vehicles at their residences and most business owners are prohibited from engaging clients at their homes.
Haymarket, is a small town in the second largest county in the commonwealth and boasts a white population of 64.4%, 11.5% Asian, 10.4% Black, 4.13% White (Hispanic) and 3.75% two or more races including Hispanic. Piedmont was established in 2001 and includes nearly 29,000 residents living in 9,369 town homes and single family homes with an average value of $917,313. The Piedmont neighborhood is a microcosm of Haymarket.
According to www.point2points.com, 89.2% of Piedmont’s residents are white collar workers, while only 10.08% are blue collar workers. 57.25% of Piedmont’s residents work for private companies, 23.22% are government employees, 12.97% are self-employed and 6.56% work for non-profits. U.S. born citizens comprise 82.3% of the resident pool in Piedmont, while non-U.S. born citizens account for 14.08%. 3.69% of the population is represented by non-U.S. citizens.
On any given day in Piedmont, dozens of landscaping, car detailing, pet grooming, housekeeping and construction trucks roll through the gates driven by contractors arriving to serve the residents. While residents of this neighborhood patronize these businesses regularly, these same business owners who include Black and Hispanic people would not be permitted to live in Piedmont and park their company vehicle in their driveway or garage or engage clients at their residence.
According to the Homeowners Association Administrative Resolution NO. 01-2003 II C, “No company vehicles shall be permitted as accessory to a home occupation.” Other prohibitive regulations include,
II A: Signage is not permitted anywhere on the Lot.
II B: No employees shall be permitted to work on the premise, except for family members residing in the dwelling, except as permitted for homebased childcare.
II C: Outside storage is prohibited.
II D: No customers or clients may be seen at the home, except for customers of family-daycare or daytime adult care.
II G. Use of the Association’s Common Area by Home-Based Businesses is prohibited.
To some, these regulations may seem reasonable and may even appear to protect the appearance of the neighborhood but when I look at these regulations I see discrimination written all over them.
Many of the contractors who are hired by Piedmont neighborhood drive company vehicles. Some have signage while others are non-descript. Landscaping vehicles have equipment and tools on them that require storage and there is usually more than one person performing the service and they may or may not be related. Based on the HOA regulation, these business owners and their employees would not be allowed to live in this neighborhood and park their vehicle on their property. Who are these regulations more likely to affect? Black and Hispanic people. The message is clear, “You can work here but you can’t live here and operate your business.”
The covert exclusion tactic is like that of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. Many white citizens were able to benefit from the incentives offered by the New Deal while a large number of Black Americans were systemically excluded because the benefits didn’t extend to agricultural and domestic workers, jobs performed overwhelmingly by Black people.
Speaking of domestic workers, the same Piedmont regulation also has very specific language for would be entrepreneurs wanting to operate a home-based childcare business. In section III A of the same regulation, it states, “Prior to the conducting any Home-based Child-Care Business on any Lot, providers must obtain the signatures of all surrounding lot owners who shall acknowledge the existence and consent to the operation of such a business and that such operation may affect the quiet enjoyment of the neighborhood. For purposes of this requirement, “surrounding lot owners” means all lot owners whose lot or any portion thereof is within five-hundred (500) feet of the provider’s lot or any portion therof. A copy of the acknowledgment form containing the signatures of all surrounding lot owners must be provided to the Community Manager prior to conducting any Home-Based Child-Care services.”
While I certainly understand the value of the HOA being aware that a family day home is being operated in the neighborhood, the requirement that all surrounding lot owners within 500 feet must consent and that the operation may affect the quiet enjoyment of the neighborhood is discriminatory and unreasonable. The United States Supreme Court doesn’t even require unanimous decisions. The way this regulation is written gives the HOA and the surrounding neighbors a tremendous amount of power to influence a potential entrepreneur’s business with no accountability for their decision. It also plants the idea that a family day home is going to disruptive.
Both of my examples show that certain homebased businesses are deemed worthy and are not even monitored while other homebased businesses are scrutinized and subtly discouraged. For instance, if a resident is a real estate agent, tax preparer, attorney, author, pet sitter, online tutor, online teacher, online therapist, online event planner for example and is the sole employee according to the HOA regulation, these businesses are acceptable. But if a resident owns a landscaping, construction, car detailing, pet grooming, or is a family day home provider, adult day home provider, therapist, health care provider, in-person teacher, in-person tutor or massage therapist these businesses are scrutinized and can even be prohibited.
Many of the homebased businesses that are not permitted have a high probability of being owned and operated by non-white people which leads us back to systemic discrimination. It is up to us as citizens to check and challenge these violations when we see them otherwise they will persist and those affected by them will continue to be disenfranchised under the guise of, “We have these regulations in place to protect and preserve the appearance and safety of the neighborhood.” When in fact what is being protected and preserved is systematic discrimination.
