Longest-running housing discrimination case outlives judge

In this May 2, 2019, photo two Muslim women walk past a business in Hamtramck, Mich. The city agreed to build 200 units of single-family housing as a remedy for destroying black neighborhoods in the 1960s. Three houses still remain to be built, decades after the lawsuit was filed. It's the longest-running housing discrimination case in the U.S. Hamtramck now is much more culturally diverse. A majority of city council members are Muslim. Federal Judge Damon Keith recently died at age 96 without seeing the end of the case. (AP Photo/Ed White)

HAMTRAMCK, Mich. – A federal judge in Detroit worked until his recent death at age 96. But one case outlived Damon Keith: the longest-running housing discrimination lawsuit in the United States.

Hamtramck, a tiny Detroit-area city, must provide 200 family housing units to atone for discriminating against black families that were forced out in the 1950s and '60s.

Hamtramck still has three houses left to build — 48 years after Keith said the city had intentionally removed blacks.

Officials predict the remaining homes could be built this year. Chronic financial problems and political battles had prevented Hamtramck from fulfilling the remedy much earlier.

Mayor Karen Majewski (My-ES'-ski) says it's unfortunate that the judge won't see the finish. She says, "The end really is around the corner."