Photography Courtesy of ©Julian Lucas 2012
Text Julio Mares
Photography Julian Lucas
When the last President criticized critical race theory and threatened to “extinguish” controversial diversity training and defunding institutions, showed evidence teaching this philosophy, only supported the continuance of White Supremacy and subjugation of people of color, in specific Black people. Given the current climate revolving around racism and the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States, it is imperative now more than ever that we acknowledge our history.
According to the The 1619 Project, an initiative published by The New York Times Magazine in August 2019, by Nikole Hannah-Jones. The initiative documents the “400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery, with the goal to “Reframe the history of America by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of our national narrative”. In response Trump made attempts to discredit the initiative by saying, "The left has warped, distorted, and defiled the American story with deceptions, falsehoods, and lies. This project rewrites American history to teach our children that we were founded on the principle of oppression, not freedom."
Although, presently since colonial times and the inception of the American Republic, the homeless history of Black Americans in the United States has been often relegated and ignored. Shortly after President Lincoln’s murder, President Andrew Johnson discussed policies, undermining the Freedmen’s Bureau, which left approximately 4 million former slaves in the same position after the Civil War rendering runaway slaves homeless. Furthermore, the onslaught of the Great Depression exposed the pervasive racism in the system and its continued exclusion of Blacks altogether with relief programs favoring white landowners.
We can include redlining as another bridge to the events that took place in the 1930’s. Redlining was designed to explicitly increase housing stock and segregate. By providing housing to white, middle-class, and lower-middle-class families, while leaving Black and other people of color out of the suburbs. This pushed people of color into urban housing projects.
This epitomizes the subtleties involved with systemic racism and reflects the views of those in power which continue to permeate American institutions to this day such as education, healthcare, and social services, to name a few. Moreover, with COVID-19 impacting us worldwide, it is crucial to address the homeless epidemic as our well-being is interrelated. We cannot continue to ignore the plight of our homeless neighbors and continue to say, “we are all in this together.”
Today, the stark reality of the condition of Black Americans is reflected in the numbers of our homeless brothers and sisters. According to the National Homeless Allegiance, Blacks make up only 13% of the general population, yet 40% of the homeless population in addition to 34% of the prison population according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority LAHSA 2018 reported the daily impact systemic racism has on Black individuals experiencing homelessness is sensed from renting an apartment, seeking employment to the traumatic experience of living in an anti-Black society. Black Americans are more likely to be racially profiled by police, landlords, and employers. Most landlords in good neighborhoods do not accept Section 8 vouchers and there is no law-prohibiting rental to someone with a housing voucher. Moreover, with just 37 rental homes for every 100 extremely low-income renter households, there's no wonder why this problem persists! The National Low-Income Housing Coalition emphasizes the continued impact of systemic racism on the lives of Black Americans nationwide is evident through the large numbers we see suffering on our city streets daily, murdered by police on the evening news, and now with the current health crisis being disproportionately affected by COVID-19. It is crucial to continue the racial discourse to ensure that out of touch leadership does not continue perpetuating this vicious cycle through policy, maintaining the status quo.
Call to Action:
LAHSA affirmed implementing education and training opportunities to teach service providers about the impact of institutional racism to address housing-related barriers. Second, expand advocacy from all levels of government, to progress to more inclusive policies as well as increase funding for Black people experiencing homelessness. Most if not all Americans have felt the economic impact of COVID- 19. If Congress does not pass a bill allowing for rental forgiveness and mortgage payment forgiveness for property owners soon, once the eviction moratorium expires, the economic toll will only intensify as a new wave of Americans falls into homelessness. Furthermore, given the current health crisis, it is almost certain to increase emergency services and costs at horrid rates further straining an already decimated healthcare system that is ill-prepared for another surge in COVID-19 cases.
References:
Anon.2019. "Racial Inequality- National Alliance to End Homelessness. Retrieved October 03, 2020 from: https://endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/what-causes
https://endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/what-causes- homelessness/inequality/
Johnson Roberta Ann. “African Americans and Homelessness.” Journal of Black Studies, vol. 40, no. 4, 2008, pp. 583–605., DOI:10.1177/0021934708315487. LAHSA Ad Hoc Committee On Black People Experiencing Homelessness. (2019, August 28). Retrieved October 05, 2020, from https://www.lahsa.org/news?article=436- lahsa-ad-hoc-committee-on-black-people-experiencing-homelessness
NALIC, April 15, 2019, Racial Disparities Among Extremely Low Income Renters. National Low- Income Coalition Extremely Low-Income Renters. Retrieved October 03, 2020, from:
https://nlihc.org/resource/racial-disparities-among-extremely-low-income-renters
Report And Recommendations Of The Ad Hoc Committee On Black People Experiencing Homelessness. (2018, December). Retrieved October 05, 2020, from
https://www.lahsa.org/documents?id=2823-report-and-recommendations-of-the-ad-hoc- committee-on-black-people-experiencing-homelessness.pdf
The 1619 Project,
Trump’s Response to the 1619 Project
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-1619-project-1776-commission/
Julio Mares is a Veteran who lives in Los Angeles. He works as a Peer Support Specialist and serves homeless veterans within the San Fernando and Antelope Valley. Julio is also a student at University of Southern California and enrolled in the Master of Social Work Program.
