Feds say Texas discriminated against communities of color when it denied Houston flood aid

[TexasTowelie]

by Andrew Zhang and Joshua Fechter, Texas Tribune


A Texas agency discriminated against communities of color when it denied more than $1 billion in federal relief funds sought by Houston and Harris County to help hard-hit areas recover from Hurricane Harvey, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found.

The Texas General Land Office — the agency charged with distributing approximately $2 billion in federal funds for future flood preparation — initially awarded Houston and Harris County nothing when deciding where to send the money. At the time, local officials blasted the state agency, headed by Land Commissioner George P. Bush, for denying much-needed aid and called on the federal government to intervene.

HUD officials said the state agency’s method of doling out the funds “discriminated on the basis of race and national origin” and “substantially and predictably disadvantaged minority residents, with particularly disparate outcomes for Black residents,” according to a Friday letter detailing the result of a HUD probe. The land office is in violation of the Civil Rights Act as well as federal housing law, federal housing officials said.

Bush, who was born in Houston, is in the middle of a fierce runoff in the Republican primary for Texas attorney general against incumbent Ken Paxton. During the race, several of Bush’s opponents have criticized his office’s work in distributing the relief funds. Despite making it into the runoff, Bush placed third in Harris County in the March 1 primary.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2022/03/08/texas-houston-harris-HUD-harvey-flood-aid/

[dlilafae]

1. It's been done that way for years.

And what Ted Cruz did, was what all the people with expendable cash do, when a hurricane hits. They beat feet to higher ground, crowding the freeways, filling containers and each car up with gas, and overbook hotel rooms. The racism only now is getting exposed, but it has always been that way there, and in Louisiana. Neighbors in the same class help each other. People with expendable cash buy up all the generators and hog the food and supplies just like they did here during the pandemic. ~ Former Texan of 29 years, left there at the tail end of hurricane Ike.