 |
| Photo: vs148 | Shutterstock. |
Calling him “a great man,” Miami-Dade commissioners will name
a street in honor of José Milton. Milton was a Cuban-American developer who
built more than 50,000 South Florida rental units—but has also faced
allegations of racial discrimination.
Despite the passionate opposition of two black Miami-Dade
commissioners and the controversy surrounding Milton, the name changed passed
and will happen.
In the past, the U.S. Department of Justice has twice accused
Milton of discriminating against black apartment-hunters. The Beverly Hills
Club Apartments, where Milton was the owner in the mid ‘90s, was accused of
repeatedly turning away black apartment-hunters by falsely telling them that
there were no apartments available.
“No American should
be denied housing because of the color of their skin,” said Kendall Coffey, Miami
litigator who was a U.S. attorney at the time of the settlement’s announcement.
However, the other side of the story is the amount of
charity and community support that the Milton family has donated over the
years, supporting county parks and other charitable causes. These achievements created support for the proposed street naming among Cuban-American commissioners when the
votes were cast.
This is a murky situation: on the one hand, housing laws
shouldn’t discriminate—this is unquestioned. In fact, housing discrimination
laws were upheld in a 5–4
Supreme Court decision this summer.
However, Milton and his family also did good for
the community, which rationalizes why there is so much support for naming a
street after him.
One question that should be considered here is: regardless
of a positive reason for this decision, will renaming the street on some level
be supporting racism and discrimination?
Ultimately, the action will go through unless Miami-Dade
Mayor Carlos Gimenez vetoes it. If this doesn’t happen, then a portion of the
Northwest 9500 block at the intersection with Fontainebleau Boulevard will
become known as “José Milton Way.”
Post a Comment