Houston family and allies continue pressure campaign for reparations from the Renton School District

James Houston, John Houston, and Beatrice Hawkins at the Renton School District Board Meeting (photo Cesar Canizales)

By Cesar Canizales

(RENTON)—For the sixth consecutive month, John Houston addressed the Renton School District during its monthly board meeting to make his case for reparations from the district. 

Houston claims the district forced his parents to sell their 10-acre farm and home in 1968 under the threat of eminent domain.

Houston, his brother, James Houston, and their sister, Beatrice Hawkins, all attended Wednesday evening’s board meeting. John and James both spoke during the public comment period of the session. They pleaded with the board to act. 

Several supporters spoke on behalf of the Houstons, including retired Judge Jay Roof, who served on the Kitsap County Superior Court, and Renton City Councilmember Kim-Khánh Văn.

“I hope that somewhere in your heart that you show some empathy and not just say, ‘go away,’” John Houston told the board. “My parents’ lives did matter, and you have shown no respect for that. Sit down and talk to us. That's all we've asked. Sit down and talk to us.”

James Houston became emotional as he recounted a recent visit to what used to be his parents’ land – a 10-acre plot of marshes and swamps – that was also a farm that sustained the family and provided an income. 

James talked about going to his parents’ house the night a bomb went off on their porch shortly before his parents sold their land under pressure from the district.

“Then you guys come and take our property and took advantage—exploited—of a southern, uneducated Black kid,” James Houston said. “That’s what you did. And it's not fair. It's not fair. Where's the compassion?”

Hawkins, 81, is the oldest of the three siblings. She did not comment publicly at the board meeting, but she spoke after the session about her parents and how hard they worked for the children. She said she hopes the district “will do the right thing.”

“I sit down, and I think about those days. They were little kids,” she said, referring to her brothers. “I did all I could to help my mother, to make them have a better life. And we did the best we could. I think about those days that my mother worked her fingers to the bone, trying to make ends meet, trying to feed our family, trying to make our family have a good life.”

Roof told the board he couldn’t understand why it “can’t at least acknowledge the wrong that was done.”

“They were vulnerable. They were poor, they were uneducated, and most of all, they were Black,” Roof said.

Kim-Khánh said she was attending the meeting not as a councilmember but as a resident of Renton. She shared her thoughts on the issue.

“I think it's time for us to be creative in any way that we can. I know that in the school district we do not have a precedent in terms of reparations. But for me, reparations is really just repairing the damage that has been done to our families, to the communities,” Kim-Khánh said. 

The Houston siblings have been building a case for reparations from the school district for several years for what they believe was a wrongful land grab. 

The threat of eminent domain

In the mid-1960s, the school district told the Houston family that it needed the land for a new middle school across the street from Honeydew Elementary School near what was then 132nd street and is now known as Union Avenue. 

Documents provided by the school district show that the district’s efforts to buy the property were unsuccessful because the Houstons refused to sell. As a result, the board resolved in mid-1965 that “title for the aforementioned property be acquired by eminent domain.”

Sometime between 1965 and 1968, the Houston home burnt down. Arson was suspected. Then came the bombing that James Houston spoke about during the meeting. The Houston brothers said their parents gave up after those incidents and sold the land.

In addition to the 10 acres the district bought from the Houston family, it purchased an additional 10 acres from two other families for a total of $92,000 in 1968. 

When the expected population growth did not materialize, the district canceled the plans for the new school. It sold the 20 acres in 1980 to developers for $187,000—more than double what it originally paid. Around 200 houses now occupy that land.

Houston, who is legally blind and has leukemia, said the sale of the land broke his family apart and dashed any dreams his parents had of building generational wealth for their children and their descendants.

The Renton School District’s response

The board does not respond to public comments made during board meetings as a matter of policy. 

The school district’s superintendent, Dr. Damien Pattenaude, earlier this year declined an invitation to interview through a spokesperson, Randy Matheson.

In April, Matheson said in an email that the 1968 transaction was legal, and the Houstons and the other families are not owed anything.

“There is no obligation, expectation, or financial instrument for an individual or organization to compensate past owners of property after completion of a series of legal and binding negotiations and contracts with third parties such as brokers, lenders, and insurance companies,” Matheson said.

Asked if the district owes the Houston descendants an apology, Matheson did not directly address the question and said the district has “worked with Mr. Huston to provide full historic documentation of the purchase of his family’s property, it’s intended use, and the subsequent economic realities that led to the Board’s fiscal responsibility to not use the property as initially intended that led to its eventual sale.”

A judge’s view

Judge Roof, who served as Superior Court Judge in Kitsap County, has known John Houston for about 20 years. Roof also presided over Drug Court and helped Houston overcome his battle with addiction. They consider each other very good friends.

Although Roof acknowledged that he is not a legal scholar on cases like the Houstons’, he says the least the board could do is issue an apology for the district’s actions 55 years ago. But he suspects the district would face legal exposure if it apologized.

Roof said he grew up in Texas and is familiar with the type of violence—fires and bombings—that forced Black people to give up their land. He said he “was blown away” when he heard the same about the Pacific Northwest.

Roof said that John Houston’s father, who only had a third-grade education and signed the real estate documents with an “X,” was over his head when it came to the sale of the farm.

“I think they were vulnerable,” Roof said. “I honestly believe they were targeted because they were susceptible.”

Roof said the national movement for reparations in cases like the Houston’s is a good sign that things could work out for the Houston siblings. He cited the case of Bruce’s Beach in California. In that case, Los Angeles County seized a Black family’s beachfront property 100 years ago. In 2022, the county returned the land to the Black family’s descendants.

The bombing

John and James Houston have said in several interviews and in public comments at school board meetings that a bomb exploded on their parents’ porch sometime before the sale of the land to the school district. 

The King County Sheriff’s Office in April said in an email that it doesn’t have any records relating to an explosion in that area of what was then unincorporated King County. However, the email also said that if there was no loss of life, KCSO wouldn’t have kept records for more than seven to 10 years. Additionally, the fire marshal wouldn’t have kept any records beyond 1980, the email said.

David Fulwiler, who has known James Houston since the early 1960s, attended Wednesday’s board meeting, but he did not make any public comments. 

After the meeting, Fulwiler spoke about the night of the bombing.

Fulwiler said James was staying at his house at the time and remembers the incident. He said James’ mother, Rachel, called Fulwiler’s father and told him about the explosion. 

Fulwiler said, “It was quite late, and I could remember my dad coming down and waking Jim up to ‘come on, we needed to get up to your parents’ house’ because there had been a bombing.” 

He added that his father grabbed his guns and took James to his parents’ house. Rachel Houston told Jim to go back to the Fulwiler’s home and stay there, Fulwiler recalls. 

Fulwiler said his father did not say anything about what had happened after he returned with James. 

“He just consoled Jim,” Fulwiler said. “We all consoled Jim because Jim came back down because his mom didn't want him there. It traumatized him.”

Fulwiler said he doesn’t remember reading or hearing anything about the bombing in the news or elsewhere. No one talked about it, he said. 

John Houston said he is exploring his legal options against the district.