New Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey could be a significant leader on housing and civil rights

The Minneapolis mayor's office holds a unique role in the history of civil rights. In 1948, Mayor Hubert Humphrey, only 37 years old and running for Senate, implored a divided Democratic Party to give up the segregationist rhetoric of states' rights and "step into the bright sunshine of human rights."

Humphrey helped to seal the addition of civil rights to the party's platform and to change the course of the nation. It took decades for his bold stand for justice to blossom, but blossom it did. The 1960s finally saw passage of three landmark federal civil-rights laws.

Nearly 80 years after Humphrey's speech, Minneapolis again has a young mayor who has spoken passionately about civil rights. Jacob Frey's tenure on the City Council was marked by a noteworthy focus on the problem of housing segregation. In a Star Tribune profile before he even took office in 2013, he described "combat[ing] persistent segregation" as a top priority. He has consistently cited the need to eliminate Minneapolis' racial enclaves of poverty and affluence, particularly by encouraging affordable-housing development in high-income areas.

In his speech at the 2017 DFL city convention, Frey's first policy promise was the elimination of Minneapolis housing segregation.

Frey's words echo the aims of another piece of Minnesota's civil-rights legacy: the Fair Housing Act. Authored and sponsored by U.S. Sen. Walter Mondale, it was the final great civil-rights law of the 1960s. In Mondale's words, it sought to eliminate residential segregation and transform racially divided cities into "truly integrated and balanced" communities.

Yet too often we have overlooked the Fair Housing Act's directive to work proactively to create stable integration. As neighborhood segregation has intensified, little has been done to stop it. At times, Minneapolis and other cities have pursued policies likely to increase, rather than reduce, racial isolation — for instance, concentrating large amounts of subsidized housing in lower-income neighborhoods, where there are no rich neighbors to complain.

Frey has cut against this political grain. He has called out segregation by name and has spoken for fair housing that provides access to opportunity for all residents. In doing so, he invokes the weighty legacy of Humphrey and Mondale alike.

Additionally, we want to draw Frey's attention to the close link between housing and school segregation. Research shows that white flight from schools can cause racial concentration in the neighborhoods they serve. It's true that the city government does not have direct authority over the Minneapolis School District, but it's a powerful stakeholder that can command the ears of both district leaders and state policymakers. Housing policy efforts will go further and work better if the city also takes a stand against school segregation.

Above all, we expect and believe that the new mayor will hold true to his commitment to fair housing and integration. We need local leaders committed to a diverse and integrated region — leaders willing to prove the skeptics wrong and show that segregation is not destined to forever increase. Time and again, Mayor Frey has shared his vision of a Minneapolis where racial justice, integration and prosperity all go hand-in-hand. By achieving that vision, we can restore the city's tradition of extraordinary leadership in civil rights.