“But equal treatment in an unequal society could still foster inequality. Because Black men were disproportionately incarcerated and Black women disproportionately evicted, uniformly denying housing applicants with recent criminal or eviction records still had an incommensurate impact on African Americans."
- Matthew Desmond, author of Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
DAY NINETEEN
Racism in Housing
You may be wondering what housing has to do with racial equity. The reality is that our country's history of racism influences housing affordability and those who experience homelessness, and Thurston County is no exception.
READ
Many facets of the ingrained social injustice and racial inequality that protesters are bemoaning stem from the country's housing system, which has discriminated against renters and homeowners of color for decades.
 
Despite undeniable progress since the civil rights era, the gulf that separates black and white Americans remains vast. This chapter reviews the reasons for this stubborn race gap, focusing in particular on data showing the extent, causes, and impact of housing segregation and health inequity. It proposes concrete recommendations for the new administration to shrink the racial divide, urging strong political leadership, improved housing market mobility, innovative focus on the social determinants of health, and tools to reduce unintentional biases in health care.
 
Racial and economic disparities in access to safe and affordable housing existed long before the COVID-19 pandemic, and new data from the US Census Bureau suggest that the pandemic—and its economic fallout—is only widening these divides.
LISTEN
NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with author Richard Rothstein about his new book, The Color of Law, which details how federal housing policies in the 1940s and '50s mandated segregation and undermined the ability of black families to own homes and build wealth.
 
Our recommended selection for today from UWPC's "Soundtrack 4 Justice" playlist
"Living for the City" by Stevie Wonder (3:39).
WATCH
In 1968, Congress passed the Fair Housing Act that made it illegal to discriminate in housing. Gene Demby of NPR’s Code Switch explains why neighborhoods are still so segregated today.
 
For more than 30 years, Parker McAllister’s parents have held onto the Brooklyn, New York, brownstone they purchased in 1985 for about $91,000. After raising two kids in the home, McAllister’s parents now have three tenants living in their Bedford-Stuyvesant multi-family property so they can keep up with mortgage payments. 
NOTICE
CONNECT
Who's in your feed?
National Alliance to End Homelessness - NAEH | Twitter | Facebook
PUT IT TO USE
Reflect -
  • How does being poor in a poor neighborhood amplify the effects of economic disadvantage?
  • How does being a person of color and poor in a poor neighborhood create an even greater disadvantage?
United Way of Thurston County solves complicated issues by convening community stakeholders and collaborating to develop short and long-term strategies. United Way is an excellent steward of donor dollars and is committed to transparency, accountability and sound fiscal management. United Way mobilizes the caring power of our community. Learn more: https://www.unitedway-thurston.org/

United Way fights for the health, education and financial stability of every person in every community. We have one life. To live better, we must LIVE UNITEDÂź.