7-Day Advocacy Challenge
day 4: systemic racism & homelessness
systemic racism is a root cause of homelessness
Recognition is growing of the role that systemic racism plays in homelessness across the country. Centuries of racist and inequitable policies — from slavery to Jim Crow and redlining, to the adoption of the Section 8 Program, the deinstitutionalization of mental health services, and the War on Drugs — have combined to make housing a critical component in the fight to rectify racial disparities across America. In Los Angeles alone, the effects of systemic racism are estimated to make Black Angelenos four times more likely to experience homelessness than their White peers.
Join the challenge TODAY to learn more about the racial inequities at the heart of homelessness in Los Angeles and beyond!
THE CHALLENGE
IF YOU HAVE:
POST
our social media asset of the day to your Instagram to help spread the word! You can also repost directly from our account @DWCweb on Instagram or retweet us on Twitter!
READ
this article from the New York Times about the effect of institutionalized racism on the current housing and homelessness crisis in Los Angeles!
LISTEN
to this episode on Gimme Shelter about the racist legacies of some little-known housing policies in California (the good stuff starts around 7:00)!
★ BONUS ROUNDS ★
Watch Defining Ourselves: Unhoused, Black, and Female in L.A., a 20-minute documentary that explores the intersectionality of homelessness, misogynoir, foster care, gender-based violence, and educational disruption via the stories of unhoused and formerly unhoused women in Los Angeles!
Read this article on LAist about the results of the Report & Recommendations of the LAHSA Ad Hoc Committee on Black People Experiencing Homelessness (which you can click through to read, too)!
Spend some time learning about and playing around with the research outputs of the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project!