Are alaskans prejudiced against eskimos & blacks? (lawyer, gated)

[Siouxcia]

...during the tour they ask about his hertiage..

It is not legal in most states to ask about sexual orientation, race, or religion. Alaska is one of the states that allow one party consent to telephone conversations. I'm not sure if this apply's to face to face conversations but if it does, your husband shoud carry a small recorder with him when he goes to look at apartments. When asked about his heritage, he can politely decline to answer. If he doesn't get the apartment, and he truly believe it's because he's Native American, he should file a complaint with the local housing rental authority.

[karibear]

Originally Posted by Siouxcia

It is not legal in most states to ask about sexual orientation, race, or religion. Alaska is one of the states that allow one party consent to telephone conversations. I'm not sure if this apply's to face to face conversations but if it does, your husband shoud carry a small recorder with him when he goes to look at apartments. When asked about his heritage, he can politely decline to answer. If he doesn't get the apartment, and he truly believe it's because he's Native American, he should file a complaint with the local housing rental authority.

It's not supposed to be legal, but if you check the classifieds in a lot of major newspapers, you'll still see jobs divided between men and women. Not like that in AK. A woman can drive a Cat or a cement truck, she can get hired. A man is an excellent secretary, he can get hired. No stigma either way - the only thing that counts is how well they do the jobs they were hired for. Back before I moved to AK, I was evicted from a place because the owner didn't like the religion of one of my roommates, or the parentage of her children, either. But the place was in my name, so I was the one who lost out.

[Siouxcia]

Of course it still happens. And it will continue to happen untill there are enough complaints to make it stop. You don't need an attorney to file a complaint or to keep pushing to get something done about it. Everybody has a boss. You don't get results from somebody, go to his boss, and his boss, etc. Write to the papers, call in to talk radio, try to get on the news. There are a lot of routes that can be taken. Where kids and animals are involved it is a lot easier than for adults to get the same attention. It entails a lot of calls, letter and time though. That's why most people just say the heck with it and move on. That's not how change comes about.

[rotorhead]

Megansmom,

It's pretty hard to pin any number of "just rented it" turndowns on race alone unless it's explicitly mentioned, and I'd be very surprised to see any landlord, no matter how ignorant and prejudiced, state that out loud. It's likely that there are other factors as well, like how he's dressed, what he's driving, the fact that he's been in-state a very short amount of time, and a lot of other things. Wrong or right, if you show up to a rental driving a junker and wearing ratty clothes the first thing that goes through a landlords mind is "this guys got no money" and that's the absolute last thing they want to see.

Another huge factor is if he's a smoker or not. It's been my experience that most smokers are completely unaware that they reek of cigarette smoke all the time, even if they haven't been smoking recently. If the place is advertised as "non-smoking" and you show up stinking of cigarettes, it's a done deal. You're not gonna be renting it unless the landlord is really hard up at the moment, despite any number of promises to "always go outside to smoke". Even in the exceedingly remote possiblility that a smoker would actually keep that promise in a Fairbanks winter (builds character?), everywhere a smoker inhabits will eventually stink of cigarettes and landlords have to pay to try and get that smell out to rent it again.

Same goes for booze, it shows up on peoples breath for a long time and they're generally not aware of it. Attitude might just be part of it too, the typical NY "tude" doesn't sit particularly well with many Alaskans, or anyone else for that matter outside of NY or NJ. If you've got pets thats another complication, landlords hate paying to clean up pet stains in carpets and such, nothing but problems no matter what the renter promises. Covered in prison-style tattoos? You might think they look great but you're not giving prospective landlords the "warm and fuzzy" about what a great renter you are.

I'm certainly not saying that just because your husband is native he's got any or all of these issues, it's just that sometimes people don't think of things as a landlord would. Once you've got a solid local track record of always paying on time and keeping the place in good shape, most landlords will bend over backwards to accomidate a good renter. When they don't know anything about you, it's much harder since they have to guess based on first appearances and whatever references they think they can trust.

[megensmom]

Actually most of the time he goes to look at places is after work he puts in 10hrs a day so he has to go directly from work or its to late. He doesn't smoke and has been asked that. Most of the time before he has even went they ask about where he is working and I tell them I also offer references if they would like them. He puts in over 50hrs a week so no time for boozing it up,LOL. He has no pets either nor tattoos but he is a big guy that I guess could be a little scary to some. I also tell the people when I call that we just moved this year to AK and that we do own our own home but that he needs the place for himself due to work.
I might add that these are ads out of the paper not going to Apt. communities because our budget won't allow for us to pay $800 per month for a place just for him.
We had one guy Friday call his work and get a good reference and even called my hubby to make sure he was going to come and look at the place. And once my hubby showed up,he showed him the place and once they were done he said Oh by the way someone else looked at the place yesterday and if they don't take it I will call you. I am like WTH? I am totally disgusted with this renting business.

[Marty Van Diest]

Megansmom. I would not put it past landlords in Fairbanks to be prejudiced. I think most of them would not be, but I would wonder if someone asked about his heritage.

The best he can do is keep looking, I know its frustrating. I once had someone who worked for me who had a strong southern accent. I really felt that it was a hindrance to him in real estate here. I think there is some latent animosity toward the Okies and Texans who came up during pipeline construction days.

So, while Alaska is pretty "live and let live", we aren't immune to prejudice either. I feel that there is more prejudice against Alaska Natives here than against anyone else.

[megensmom]

Just had to update; Hubby found a great place less than 1 mile from where he works. It was an older couple and the man was "impressed" that my husband was dirty from work and not some guy wearing the latest fashion. He told my husband that he has some strings with another local company and that if things go well with my husband in a few weeks he will see if he can get him into a better company that pays REALLY well. The owner had been a welder just like my husband so he totally meshed with him infact they seemed to hit it off so well that he even knocked the rent down $50 per month and is sending some some home grown veggies with the hubby on Friday.And his rent includes everything so no extra deposits to pay... YAY for cool dude that knew a hard working family guy when he seen one.

[Katsmeeyow]

Originally Posted by wehotex

what a joke! their time would obviously be better spent by encouraging certain unmarried young women to keep their legs closed.

My my my, what a fine thing to say. You are obviously a fine example of someone who is legitimately interested in an answer. Are you now grinning and laughing that you have caused some trouble? Enjoy it.

[Siouxcia]

Originally Posted by megensmom

Just had to update; Hubby found a great place less than 1 mile from where he works.

WooooWhooooo!!!!!!!

[Marty Van Diest]

megansmom...that's fantastic. Sounds like it was a good thing that he was turned down by the others.