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Race Wed Aug 11 2010
Couple Allegedly Denied Bridgeport Home Sale For Being Black
Chicago consistently ranks among the most racially segregated cities in the country--which shouldn't surprise anyone who has traversed the city with their eyes open. But Chicago Breaking News is reporting a particularly bold case of alleged racial discrimination by two white homeowners in the Bridgeport neighborhood who, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, agreed to sell a home to a black couple for $1.7 million, then inexplicably took the home off the market.
According to the complaint, Lowe [the sellers' real estate agent] said in an interview while under oath that while he was representing the Sabbias [the sellers], Daniel Sabbia told Lowe "he would prefer not to sell the home to an African-American, though he qualified the testimony, saying 'but if it was for the right price he did not care who bought the house.' "
George Willborn, a local comedian who was attempting to buy the house with his wife, summed up his feelings on the case:
"It's amazing that in 2010, in this day and age, this type of thing is still going on."
Dennis Fritz / August 11, 2010 8:27 PM
That last sentence had me laughing. Still going on? Hell, it's not only still going on, it's common. It's routine. It's the norm. We live in the most segregated large city in America. Do people think that's by accident? What's a shame is that this is liable to turn into another story about how back-asswards people around Bridgeport and Canaryville are. Well, that's true as far as it goes. But the rest of the city is not all that different. They're just more subtle about it.