Concern 13
What Does Housing Justice Have To Do With The Uprising?
This section addresses the longstanding issues of discriminatory housing and lending practices in the United States and how they tie directly to lack of economic opportunities and reduced upward mobility for people of color. In particular, it shows how the pandemic has exacerbated the inequality wrought by decades of racist policies and stagnating economic opportunity. The months of lost wages and high rates of unemployment created by COVID-19 have the potential to trigger an eviction and housing crisis of historically unprecedented proportions in Black and Latinx communities.
01
Coronavirus IX: Evictions
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (June 28, 2020)
John Oliver lays out how the United States is teetering on the verge of an unprecedented homelessness crisis that threatens the health and safety of millions of people, particularly Black people, in the midst of a pandemic.
“As if things weren’t already bad enough, in the middle of a pandemic, we may be about to see evictions on the rise.”
“If we do nothing, experts are predicting horrific outcomes with millions of people left vulnerable.”
“The lack of affordable housing is yet another systemic problem that the Coronavirus has thrown into harsh relief.”
02
Why Fixing The Housing Crisis Is A Black Lives Matter Issue
By Lisa Edwards, Jared Trujillo, and Jason Wu, Refinery 29 (June 30, 2020)
Drawing on the impact of years of economic injustice, this article summarizes the multiple connections between the Movement for Black Lives and the calls for a temporary moratorium on evictions and rent cancellation.
“The Black Lives Matter uprising is a wake up call for America. It is an essential reminder of all the ways that systemic racism impacts every aspect of Black life, from police violence to the coronavirus pandemic to the housing crisis.”
“Black and Latinx people are disproportionately renters, and therefore they are disproportionately impacted by evictions. To be even more specific, Black women–led households experience some of the highest levels of evictions.”
“The Right to Counsel NYC Coalition has noted how ‘landlords have used marshals like their personal police force to evict mostly black and brown tenants.’”
“Evictions destabilize a person’s employment, education, and healthcare. Evictions also subject Black and brown communities to increased exposure to the coronavirus—the same groups already at heightened risk of death from this disease.”
“When we say Black lives matter, we mean Black lives have to matter against all forms of state violence and all forms of racial inequality. We must demand systemic changes and radically transform our collective priorities, including the looming housing crisis ahead. We need a world that prioritizes Black life above policing, profits, and evictions.”
03
Frontline Communities Hit Hardest by COVID-19
By Lena Afridi and Lucy Block, Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development (April 9, 2020)
This article contextualizes the information presented in a detailed map of the impact of COVID-19 throughout New York City neighborhoods, highlighting the fact that the pandemic is not only a public health crisis, but also a crisis of housing, racial, and economic justice. It shows a distinct correlation between neighborhoods hit hardest by COVID-19 and the prevalence of frontline workers—nurses, home health aides, etc—who are predominantly people of color living in those areas. It links to proposals for immediate policy solutions to address these multiple crises, including a rent freeze, hazard pay, mortgage moratoriums, and alternatives to homeless shelters to house more New Yorkers.
“Not only are frontline workers risking their lives, they’re still worrying about paying their rent in the midst of a global pandemic.”
“Together, these neighborhoods highlight a clear relationship between pre-existing inequity and where the virus is hitting hardest.”
“The correlation of rent burden to COVID-19 impact . . . highlights the urgent need for our government officials to provide real relief to renters.”
04
Amid The Coronavirus Pandemic, A Black Housing Crisis Gets Worse
By Andrew Khouri, The Los Angeles Times (July 19, 2020)
Using Los Angeles as a case study, this article outlines how a longstanding history of racist and discriminatory housing practices—including unfair lending policies, redlining, and a consistent undervaluing of property in majority Black neighborhoods—has impacted Black people in the United States. Economic downturns such as the Great Recession and the current COVID-19 unemployment crisis exacerbate an already critical housing issue for Black Americans seeking affordable rent or mortgage payments
“With the current downturn, Black households face a greater probability of being unable to pay, raising the risk some may be forced onto the streets or into shelters already disproportionately occupied by Black people.”
“Across the United States, Black people faced the greatest housing insecurity before the crisis. Now, along with Latino workers, they face the greatest job losses.”
“The federal government through New Deal–era reforms greatly expanded access to home ownership by backing mortgage loans. But the government viewed Black applicants as a risky investment and largely refused to insure mortgages for Black Americans and discouraged lending in integrated neighborhoods.”
“...there’s evidence Black people pay more for housing than they otherwise should, a continuation of a trend from when they were largely locked out of the white housing market and gouged by landlords and predatory lenders.”
05
New Data Suggest COVID-19 is Widening Housing Disparities by Race and Income
By Solomon Greene and Alanna McCargo, Urban Institute Blog (May 29, 2020)
This article summarizes the Urban Institute's analysis of data released by the Census Bureau in late May, revealing that people of color and lower-income families are more likely than white people to experience housing instability as a result of the economic effects of COVID-19.
“Last year, a larger share of Black and Latino renters had difficulty paying rent than white households, and the homeownership gap between Black and white families reached record highs.”
“Black and Latino people have been hardest hit by stay-at-home orders and other public health measures put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19 because of a legacy of occupational segregation that has led to them being overrepresented in low-wage jobs and in jobs that can’t transition to remote work.”
“Lower-income renters were also much less confident that they’d meet rent in June: 44 percent expressed slight or no confidence in their ability to pay, compared with only 7 percent for higher-income renters. Likewise, lower-income homeowners were much more likely to miss mortgage payments than their higher-income counterparts in May.”
“Black homeowners were more likely to miss or defer mortgage payments in May and reported higher uncertainty for June payments.”
“Black and Latinx people in America are disproportionately impacted by homelessness. In Los Angeles, Black people make up only 8 percent of the total population but 34 percent of people experiencing homelessness. These disparities are true in other cities as well. The Coalition for the Homeless estimates 57 percent of heads of household in shelters are Black and 32 percent are Latinx in New York. The homelessness crisis is a crisis of criminalization of race and poverty—as police arrest and escalate confrontations with people sleeping on the street, in the subways, or in their car.”
06
One Home, a Lifetime of Impact
By Michele Lerner, Washington Post (August 13, 2020)
This comprehensive piece weaves together the story of one Black family’s homeownership with a larger narrative about racial and housing inequality in the U.S. It discusses how racist housing policies such as covenants, redlining, and loan discrimination, have kept Black people from amassing capital throughout the twentieth century through the example of Prince George’s County in Maryland. The article suggests a number of potential solutions to the lack of black homeownership, ranging from the individual—black people uplifting themselves and educating one another about the importance of homeownership, to the systemic—changing particular parts of the housing and tax code, changing how credit scores work, and creating grants to assist Black people in buying homes. It ultimately argues that “Undoing centuries of discriminatory practices will take a concerted effort by the government, the real estate industry, financial institutions and nonprofit organizations to close the homeownership gap.”
She suggests that the commemorative statues and awards that bear his name and give him uncritical praise must be recontextualized to link him to the Black women on whom his work depended. More importantly, she argues, we must advocate for the end of modern medical policies that provide unequal and unethical care for Black women.
“Even if they’re able to buy a property, black homeowners often face another burden — higher tax assessments... research from the University of Utah and Indiana University found that black families pay 13 percent more in property taxes than a white family in a similar home.”
“The homeownership gap between blacks and whites is larger today than it was in 1934, which is when the Federal Housing Administration [FHA] was established”
““If you’re living in an area with no upward mobility and no social network to help you get a better education and find a better job, then you’re deprived of opportunities to buy a home and build the home equity that you can invest in your family and your future.”
“For those under age 35, a white high school dropout whose parents are homeowners is more likely to buy a home than a black college graduate whose parents are renters, according to the report, even though higher levels of educational achievement usually lead to higher rates of homeownership.”
“Between January 2007 and December 2015, homes in primarily black communities were twice as likely to face foreclosure than homes in white communities, according to a study by Zillow.”
07
The Sordid History of Housing Discrimination in America
By Sean Illing, Vox (May 5, 2020)
An interview with Keeanga Yamahtta-Taylor, a professor of African American Studies at Princeton University and the author of Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership, which explains the continued racial disparity in housing access even after the overtly discriminatory practice of redlining was abolished in the 1970s. In the decades following, housing policies implemented by public-private partnerships between the government and the real estate industry, ostensibly meant to eliminate discrimination through the free market, continued to uphold and exacerbate racial inequalities in the United States by what Yamahtta-Taylor calls “predatory inclusion.”
“‘The real estate industry had been instrumental, both in its real estate brokerage arm and its mortgage banking arm, in segregating cities. The federal government didn’t invent housing segregation in the 1930s; the real estate industry had been doing it for a long time.’”
“‘...if you exclude African Americans from access to conventional sources of finance and conventional means to buy their homes, then you’re going to end up with a huge disparity in wealth.’”
“‘I hate to use the phrase “housing crisis” because that implies a breach with the norm. The truth is that this is a chronic problem stretching back decades, and the private sector has been at the center of it.’”
08
Housing Justice Organizers Don’t Want a Return to “Normal”
By Minhae Shim Roth, Shelterforce Blog, (May 5, 2020)
This article summarizes the work being done by housing rights activists across the United States, who not only advocate that immediate relief be included in the next federal government Coronavirus bill, but also seek to advance their long-term goals of affordable housing for everyone across the country.
“In these times, it’s much easier to explain why housing is a human rights issue and a matter of public health and safety.”
“While the COVID-19 crisis has deeply affected the lives and health of the American people, organizers say it’s also opening up an opportunity to make things better for all Americans, especially the disenfranchised and neglected who were already suffering before pandemic.”
09
Basic Facts About Homelessness: NYC
By Coalition for the Homeless (July 2020)
This web resource provides an up-to-date, data-driven overview of homelessness in New York City, with key statistics about the city’s homeless shelter population and a brief description of main causes of homelessness today. It includes links to downloadable fact sheets about homelessness, with a useful list of references for additional information. Though the site does not specifically address COVID-19 or the current Movement for Black Lives, the facts highlight the vulnerability of Black and Latinx people to a pending housing crisis and demonstrate the already high burden of homelessness on these populations.
“In recent years, homelessness in New York City has reached the highest levels since the Great Depression of the 1930s.”
“Research shows that the primary cause of homelessness, particularly among families, is lack of affordable housing.”
“Black and Hispanic/Latinx New Yorkers are disproportionately affected by homelessness. Approximately 57 percent of heads of household in shelters are Black, 32 percent are Hispanic/Latinx, 7 percent are white, less than 1 percent are Asian-American or Native American, and 3 percent are of unknown race/ethnicity.”
Extended Readings
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership, (2019)
Richard Rothstien, The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America (2017)
Zack Stanton, “Trump Doesn’t Understand Today’s Suburbs, and Neither Do You,” Politico (August 6, 2020)