Introduction
All the social policies used to be permeated with racism and were aimed at perpetuating discriminatory practices in the previous century. The idea of white supremacy was prevalent back in the years of segregation, and the changes began to take place only in the middle of the 20th century. Despite anti-discriminatory laws passed as a result of the Civil Rights movement, the legacy of these policies persists and continues to influence current policies. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the housing policy and the problem of homelessness through the lens of the critical race theory. It will examine the issue within the context of a homelessness prevention program, present the key aspects of housing policy, and assess how aspects of critical theory can be applied to evaluate it.
Description of Setting
The present study is based on a volunteering experience in a homelessness prevention program of a local community center. The program is aimed at assisting families and individuals who are at risk of becoming homeless, as well as individuals who are experiencing homelessness at the present moment. A significant percentage of the served population consists of individuals from racial minority groups. In general, people from different backgrounds are being served, but low-income families and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds constitute the majority of the target demographic.
Some of the services provided to individuals and families include financial assistance, access to healthcare, and mental health counseling. The homelessness prevention program also includes job training and job-seeking, in addition to legal support, case management, and workshops that help develop necessary skills. The scope of the provided services is broad, aiming to address the primary challenges that vulnerable populations face when struggling with homelessness and the associated risks.
Volunteers who wish to contribute to the program typically participate in case management assistance, specifically explaining all necessary steps and procedures to the individuals being served. During the volunteering experience on which this paper is based, the activities included accompanying individuals at all stages of this process. The activities also included developing and conducting workshops.
Identification of Policy
As a system, the United States’ housing policy aims to reduce the number of people struggling to access affordable housing. It is also designed to make housing accessible to all citizens. The components of the housing policy include measures to facilitate home loan applications, rental assistance for low-income families, and funding for community development initiatives. The initiatives the housing policy concerns include affordable housing construction, rehabilitation, neighborhood revitalization, and homelessness prevention.
There are several key elements in the housing policy system. One of the major ones is the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), created in 1934. Today, the FDA’s primary goal is to make homeownership as accessible as possible (Summit Strategies, 2020). The Federal Housing Administration is not concerned with renting, and its measures are directed at making homeownership less expensive than renting (Summit Strategies, 2020). Overall, the FDA has played a significant role in increasing mortgage availability.
There are also several subsidy programs designed to provide rental assistance to those struggling to afford housing. One of the main programs of this kind is the Rental Voucher program. This program enables eligible individuals to select the housing they prefer, with a portion of the rent for the housing subsidized and paid directly to the landlord (Summit Strategies, 2020). Since the passage of the Housing Act in 1949, housing vouchers have been provided to 2 million American families (Summit Strategies, 2020). This is a significant number, indicating that vouchers are a crucial component of housing policy.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is responsible for assisting communities in their efforts to improve housing conditions and support affordable housing construction. In particular, the revitalization of neighborhoods and the programs designed to prevent and combat homelessness are subsidized through this department when managed by community centers (Summit Strategies, 2020). The department is also responsible for addressing any issues related to housing affordability and discrimination in the policy.
Despite significant advances enabled by housing policy, a considerable number of essential issues remain inadequately or not addressed at all. The issue of housing discrimination is also quite acute. Even though discriminatory practices such as the promotion of segregation in the neighborhoods were eliminated in the 20th century, racism still seems to be affecting this sphere.
The Fair Housing Act, passed in 1968, has significantly improved the situation, and in the legal framework there is no room for discrimination (Summit Strategies, 2020). However, in practice, the legacy of racial discrimination remains and still has a certain impact on the communities. Communities with high concentrations of vulnerable populations are especially affected.
Another issue that communities are struggling with is homelessness. Addressing homelessness effectively should be one of the most critical aspects of housing policy. According to the statistics, approximately 568 thousand people experience homelessness on one given night (Glynn & Fox, 2019). Although this number is less than 1/5 of 1% of the country’s population, compared with other social issues in the country, the severity of the problem becomes apparent (Glynn & Fox, 2019).
The issue is exacerbated by the lack of control over housing costs in recent years. Rent prices and house prices grow faster than wages, resulting in an increasing number of people being unable to continue paying rent and ending up on the streets (Glynn & Fox, 2019). The current housing policy does not address this underlying issue. Evictions are also becoming more common, and the individuals who struggle with paying the rent or mortgage on time receive little protection from evictions.
The housing policy also fails to effectively address the factors that lead to homelessness. Typically, homelessness is a result of an individual not being able to overcome specific issues or not having access to certain services. Issues such as drug addiction, lack of education and relevant job skills, as well as lack of knowledge on what services can be accessed under challenging situations, are not tackled sufficiently under the policy.
The federal government has taken some measures to combat homelessness nationwide. One initiative implemented is the Housing First Approach. This measure, however, cannot be considered a comprehensive approach, as it is primarily focused on providing stable housing to vulnerable individuals. It does not address other issues that contribute to homelessness, nor does it establish any control over housing costs.
The leading actors in addressing homelessness are local community centers that run homelessness prevention programs. Subsidized through the Federal Housing Administration, these programs aim to provide more comprehensive assistance. The issue with such programs is that they are primarily implemented at the local level and can lack financial and other forms of support.
There are also other types of homelessness-prevention programs, such as the Emergency Solutions Grant and the Continuum of Care (Summit Strategies, 2020). The former is a program that assists homeless individuals in emergencies, while the latter provides funding for activities aimed at eliminating homelessness (Summit Strategies, 2020). Overall, however, these programs have not had a tangible impact on the problem so far.
Another issue with the problem of homelessness is the way it is affected and fueled by racial discrimination. Historically, racial minorities have been disproportionately affected by homelessness due to a variety of factors, including unequal access to education, employment opportunities, and other issues. In many cases, the underlying issues of these disparities are not addressed by the housing policy and homelessness prevention programs. The root causes of poverty and discrimination are generally not prioritized.
Application of Critical Race Theory
Critical race theory’s (CRT) primary aim is to uncover the systemic racism that exists in the policies and how these policies have perpetuated racial inequality. According to Gillborn, it is the interests of white individuals that are placed at the center of building these policies, while the interests of racial minorities are marginalized (Gillborn, 2006). The housing policy and its components aimed at dealing with homelessness can also be analyzed through the lens of CRT.
The basis of CRT analysis is the conditional position of racial minorities in the eyes of white people. Gillborn (2006) defines it as the “conditional status of people of color” and states that this status is “always conditional upon the approval of whites” (p. 320). He provides an example of a landmark in the civil rights fight, specifically the Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954, to illustrate the superiority in terms of democratic advancements during the Cold War (Gillborn, 2006). This idea can also be applied to the housing policy, which used to perpetuate segregation and discriminatory practices in terms of neighborhood construction, housing, and homelessness. The Fair Housing Act was also enacted during the height of the Cold War in 1968 as part of the Civil Rights Act (Summit Strategies, 2020). On the one hand, it also strengthened the country’s democratic image.
On the other hand, this action was also necessary to amplify the housing and rental market. In other words, the status of black people depended on other factors rather than the will to combat discrimination in the housing policy. Other components of Gillborn’s analysis, however, cannot be incorporated into the policy analysis, as his work is primarily concerned with the field of education.
There are several tenets in the CRT theory that can be applied to assess systemic racism in housing policy and the problem of homelessness. The first tenet is that racism is ordinary, that is, its impact is not acknowledged as widely as it should be, as the discrimination is almost invisible and perceived as the norm (Delgado & Stefancic, 2017). Indeed, when it comes to the housing and homelessness issues, the fact that a disproportionately large percentage of individuals affected by these problems are not white seems to be ignored.
The homelessness prevention program, where volunteering activities were carried out, confirmed this suggestion. Racial minorities constituted the majority of the people who received the services. In these conditions, it seems logical to prioritize solving the underlying issues that contribute to this disproportionate representation, which, however, was not considered in the program.
The interests of the representatives of a particular racial category of people also fuel racism. Another tenet of the CRT is concerned with the interest convergence; it states that as long as discrimination benefits the interests of the white population, it will not cease to exist (Delgado & Stefancic, 2017). Racial wealth gap keeps black Americans from home ownership but also contributes to maintaining the wealth of rich white minorities (Ray et al, 2021).
It is beneficial for the wealthiest white populations to maintain the broadest possible gap; thus, there has been little effectiveness in policies aimed at addressing these disparities. Moreover, it has been proven that despite being banned legally, racial segregation in the cities still exists factually (Ray et al, 2021). This also makes it easier for resources to be distributed unequally, which serves the interests of the white population.
Black people have unique experiences that are often ignored or misunderstood by white Americans. This reflects another tenet of critical race theory, which is the unique voice of people of color (Delgado & Stefancic, 2017). This tenet asserts that the historical experiences of people of color can bring awareness to specific struggles and issues that are unique to them and can only be seen and understood by them(Delgado & Stefancic, 2017).
Black people also face unique difficulties in housing that might not be evident to white people. For example, Ray et al (2021) argue that “black people are more likely to encounter discriminatory lending practices that impact their credit scores”, which eventually affects their capability to purchase their own houses. This experience is unique to black populations, and it is important to listen to racial minorities when dealing with this issue.
Conclusion
The housing policy has various components aimed at solving the housing issues, including the problem of discrimination. Despite all the measures taken since the previous century, many problems remain acute and are not being adequately addressed. Racism in terms of the housing policy in general and homelessness in particular is one of the issues.
By analyzing the policy through the lens of a homelessness prevention program and critical race theory, several aspects have been highlighted. The suggestion that the status of racial minorities is conditional was used. The policy was also evaluated in terms of the ordinary character of racism, interest convergence, and the unique voice of color. Overall, specific components of critical race theory can be applied to critique housing policy and homelessness in the United States.
References
Delgado, R. & Stefancic, J. (2017). Critical race theory: An introduction (3rd ed.). NYU Press.
Glynn, C. and Fox, E. B. (2019). Dynamics of homelessness in urban America. The Annals of Applied Statistics, 13(1), 573-605.
Gillborn, D. (2006). Rethinking white supremacy. Ethnicities, 6(3), 318-340.
Ray, R., Perry, A. M., Harshbarger, D., Elizondo, S. and Gibbons, A. (2021). Homeownership, racial segregation, and policy solutions to racial wealth equity. Brookings.
Summit Strategies. (2020). Housing policy: Exploring the challenges, opportunities, and governmental responses to America’s housing crisis.