“Who Are the Homeless? Centering Anti-Black Racism and the Consequences of Colorblind Homeless Policies”
Earl J. Edwards, a doctoral researcher at the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools has authored an important new article in the MDPI journal – Social Sciences, contending that the disproportionate impact of homelessness on Black Americans is driven in great part by structural racism and limited housing and employment opportunities.
The paper, Who Are the Homeless? Centering Anti-Black Racism and the Consequences of Colorblind Homeless Policies makes the case that federal legislation intended to address the needs of the United States’ homeless population—the Stewart B. McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, did not address the root causes of Black housing instability, making it ineffective at mitigating Black homelessness and leaving, Black Americans disproportionately impacted by homelessness today.
Edwards also contends that Black men and women experiencing homelessness are more likely to be discriminated against than any other racial group. Since the passage of the McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act, the public persona of the “underclass” was used to criminalize and shame the homeless. Both personas operated concurrently to create a dual public identity for the homeless that influenced policy and ultimately harmed Black people.
You can read the article, Who Are the Homeless? Centering Anti-Black Racism and the Consequences of Colorblind Homeless Policies in the journal Social Sciences here.