Letter to the Editor, March 18, 2003, Rockford Register Star
Bias against west side
I live on the west side of Rockford, west of Main Street. Near to me are amenities such as the Riverfront Museum Center, the main branch of the public library, New American Theater, and the Coronado Theatre. I enjoy living here. Therefore, I was appalled when a new neighbor recently told me what a realtor said. The realtor suggested she buy east of Main Street. The realtor went so far as to say that she could lose her license telling this to a client.
This unethical, immoral, and simply unfair practice works to not only thwart positive efforts, but also encourages the preconceived notion that living in the west side of Rockford is somehow undesirable. This atrocious injustice MUST stop.
Pat Cunningham, in his book, "Rockford - Big Town/Little City," writes of the results from a 1947 Rockford Interracial Commission report concerning housing discrimination. "The commission warned that the community someday would pay a price for racism: 'But what is the price? Bigger jails, more taxes for penal upkeep...' " The 1947 commission prophecy was correct - right down to the one-penny jail tax.
--Margie Veitch, Rockford