Property owners and real estate brokers in suburban Grosse Pointe, who use a special “screening” system to keep Jews, Negroes and Orientals out of their residential area, are under orders from the State of Michigan today to abandon their method of discrimination in 30 days, or face “sanctions.”
The order was issued this weekend by Michigan Attorney General Paul L. Adams and State Corporation Commissioner Lawrence Gubow. The two officials issued their order after a six-day hearing during which details of the “screening” system were revealed publicly.
Under this system, a detective uses a point system to “rate” prospective purchasers of homes in the five Gross Pointe communities. To buy property there, an applicant, under the system, must be rated on his complexion, accent, education, occupation, neatness of dress, and country of origin. A point rating of 50 percent makes a prospective purchaser “eligible.” However, Jews must have 85 points. Negroes and Orientals are excluded altogether.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
