FHJC HOSTS SCREENING OF NEWSDAY’S TESTING THE DIVIDE

Documentary Screening and Panel Discussion Monday January 27 at Hunter College

The Fair Housing Justice Center (FHJC) will host a free screening of the Newsday documentary Testing the Divide at the Lang Recital Hall at Hunter College. The documentary is part of Newsday’s groundbreaking story Long Island Divided, the most exhaustive report on housing discrimination ever undertaken by a media outlet.

Three years in the making, the forty-minute film follows the Newsday team as they set out to discover what role real estate agents might play in keeping Long Island one of America’s most segregated areas. With guidance from the FHJC, pairs of undercover testers of different races and ethnicities are equipped with hidden video cameras and sent to meet with agents and brokers to record their interactions. The video evidence of disparate treatment is striking, as are the testers’ reactions when viewing each other’s taped interactions with the same agent. The film also examines Long Island’s history of housing laws and policies, the devastating generational harms of housing discrimination, and includes commentary by fair housing experts.

There will be a discussion and Q&A session following the screening featuring panelists who are prominently featured in the film, including Project Editor Arthur Browne, Long Island Deputy Editor and Investigative Reporter Keith Herbert, Undercover Tester Lenora Smith, and FHJC Executive Director Fred Freiberg. Rutgers Law Professor and civil rights expert Elise Boddie will be the host and moderator.

The event promises to be an evening of thoughtful reflection and engaging conversation. The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are encouraged.

Lang Recital Hall is located in Manhattan at 695 Park Ave, near East 69th Street.