PILLARS OF JUSTICE

did Hawkins take on this case, he also represented another Black resident who had been indicted for violating the same ordinance 1913. Both the City Criminal Court and the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that the City’s ordinance was unconstitutional. Given that similar laws were on the books throughout the apartheid South, the NAACP took up the battle for fair housing, and Hawkins continued to be on the front lines in this battle. In the landmark 1917, U.S. Supreme Court case Buchanan v. Warley, 245 U.S. 60 (1917). In this case the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on the constitutionality of racial segregation in residential areas by local governments. The case originated in Louisville, Kentucky, where the city enacted a law prohibiting the sale of real property to Blacks in all white communities.

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Blacks could live, while protecting white homeowners and their wealth. Those areas that were restricted for Blacks were denoted in red on the maps. This gave birth to the practice of redlining, which can trace its roots right back to Baltimore City. As a result, by the 1930’s Baltimore’s Black citizen made up 20% of the City’s population, but was restricted to 2% of the City’s land area. The practice of redlining and the Federal government’s enforcement of this policy has greatly contributed to inability of Blacks on a large scale to obtain generational wealth from the 1920’s to present day. It was not until 1968, after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, and the Civil Rights movement, that the Fair Housing Act was passed, making it unlawful to discriminate in residential real estate and housing based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or handicap.

Because of Hawkins’ work in Baltimore, and serving as the legal counsel for the Baltimore Branch of the NAACP, Hawkins filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court. In a unanimous decision, the Court ruled that ordinance violated the Fourteenth Amendment, particularly the freedom of contract clause; thereby, decreeing that such local laws in the United States were unconstitutional. Hawkins had struck another blow to segregation; however, the war was not over. In fact, the Court rendered its decision not to be fair to Blacks seeking housing, but it found that the ordinances prevented white property owners from profiting from their property; because they could not exercise the freedom of contract clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Since racial ordinances were declared unconstitutional, Baltimore, and other cities and states would enact racial covenants to prohibit Blacks from moving into white communities. These covenants would gain popularity as a result of the Great Migration of Blacks from the deep South, and also with Black men returning home from World War I, and to prevent Blacks from obtaining housing through Federal programs during the Great Depression.

The Federal government through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and the Veteran’s Association (VA) established mortgage insurance programs that systematically excluded Blacks from gaining access to these funds. Whites were about to use these programs to purchase homes, and build wealth that could be passed on their children, and thereby creating the middle-class after World War II. To promote housing segregation, the Federal government developed color coded maps in cities to denote places where

A historical line can be drawn from the Fair Housing Act of 1968, back to the legal battles won by George W.F. McMechen and William Ashbie Hawkins in 1913 and 1917. These two Prince Hall legal pillars for justice tilled the soil and planted seeds that would grow into legal giants like of Thurgood Marshall, Charles Hamilton Houston, and Constance Baker Motley, and continue to use the law to fight for the rights of Black Americans. Like our noble Brother and founder Prince Hall, McMechen and Hawkins were inspired by the tenants of Freemasonry of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth. Their love for their community gave them the courage to stand up for justice. Their desire to relive the burdens of discrimination and injustice from the lives of Black Baltimoreans won them the respect and admiration of a community. And the quest for truth served as the sword and shield in the courts and they fought back laws to keep Blacks as second-class citizens. Neither of these Brothers would live to see the fruition of their labors, but we can reflect on their lives, acknowledge their sacrifices, and never forget that our quest for liberation and self-determination must continue. As Prince Hall masons we stand on the shoulders of giants, therefore it should be antithetical for us to play small in our communities. The legacy of Prince Hall masons standing on the front lines for civil rights is deep, and goes to the very formation of African Lodge No. 459. The burden is now passed on to us in this day to use our working tools to build up our communities and leave our mark of consequence. To paraphrase the Honorable Marcus Garvey, rise up you mighty craft, you can accomplish what you will!