Presidents of Jewish congregations from all parts of the San Francisco and Bay area pledged their support today to defeat Proposition 14 in the November 3 elections, which would repeal the state’s Rumford Fair Housing Law.
The congregation heads met at the call of the San Francisco Jewish Community Relations Council. They agreed to bring the issue to the attention of their congregants and to urge strongest opposition to the measure. It has been condemned by the Board of Rabbis of Northern California, the Community Relations Council, and the leadership of the other major faiths. Approval of the proposition would bar state and county officials from legislation against bias in housing.
The JCRC said, in a message to leaders of all Jewish organizations in the area, that Proposition 14 would not only erase the fair housing law but that it would also “freeze into the state constitution a prohibition against any state or local public body from ever doing anything about the problem of housing discrimination, ” thus encouraging religious and racial bias.
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