He's Black, She's Not, and They Were Evicted for It

Erica Flores Dunahoo shares her story
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 4, 2016 7:28 AM CDT
He's Black, She's Not, and They Were Evicted for It
This is, sadly, a stock photo, but it captures the gist: They're married, he's African-American, she isn't, and that was apparently a problem.   (Shutterstock)

"Racial discrimination should be a thing of the past in Mississippi," said the head of the state's NAACP chapter, but this story suggests otherwise: The Clarion-Ledger reports that Erica Flores Dunahoo and her husband, Stanley Hoskins, were evicted from the Tupelo RV park they had rented from as of Feb. 28 because they are an interracial couple. She is Hispanic and Native American; her husband is African American, and a 13-year member of the National Guard. Dunahoo says her family (the couple have two kids) arrived at the park with the best intentions: "to get our life on track" by opting for an inexpensive rent option. She said owner Gene Baker accepted her $275 rent check, hugged her, and invited her to church. But the next day, she says he called her.

"Hey, you didn't tell me you was married to no black man," she says she was told. She says Baker went on to express that "black and white shacking" is an issue with his church, community, and mother-in-law. When she countered that marriage isn't shacking, he reportedly told her "it's the same thing." Baker did confirm the eviction to the Clarion-Ledger, saying "the neighbors were giving me such a problem." The NAACP is looking into the matter. The paper points out that the Fair Housing Act of 1968 bars the refusal of rent based on a person's race. (More interracial marriage stories.)

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