Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, written by Matthew Desmond, provides a compelling ethnographic analysis of the connection between freedom and economic power, highlighting the cycle of poverty perpetuated by housing inequality. Desmond contrasts the primarily Black inner-city North side of Milwaukee to the white mobile home park on Milwaukee’s South side to validate the argument that housing instability affects people across classes and races. Out of the many political theorists highlighted in the course, Desmond’s connection between freedom and economic power offers the most compelling analysis of the systemic inequalities inherent in modern capitalist societies, highlighting how economic deprivation constrains individual …show more content…
As Desmond follows eight families from two communities through their attempt to find housing, he highlights the shocking statistic that “75 percent of those who qualify for housing assistance do not receive anything due to unorganized local zoning regulations, insufficient federal funding for housing assistance, and lack of space dedicated to affordable housing”. In a report from the Public and Affordable Housing Research Corporation (PAHRC), Trends in Housing Assistance and Who It Serves, found that only one in four households that qualify for affordable housing will receive it, further proving Desmond’s point that although there are programs in place, there is still major progress to be made in the application of the law. Desmond goes on to explain that he does believe in a right to profit, but there must be government intervention that balances out profit and accessibility of materials. He highlights that “exploitation within the housing market relies on government support”, making it fairly easy for the government to put an end to the exploitation of poor people, if they wanted
“Black Awakening in Capitalist America”, Robert Allen’s critical analysis of the structure of the U.S.’s capitalist system, and his views of the manner in which it exploits and feeds on the cultures, societies, and economies of less influential peoples to satiate its ever growing series of needs and base desires. From a rhetorical analysis perspective, Allen describes and supports the evidence he sees for the theory of neocolonialism, and what he sees as the black people’s place within an imperial society where the power of white influence reigns supreme. Placing the gains and losses of the black people under his magnifying glass, Allen describes how he sees the ongoing condition of black people as an inevitable occurrence in the spinning cogs of the capitalist machine.
In The Working Poor: Invisible in America, David K. Shipler tells the story of a handful of people he has interviewed and followed through their struggles with poverty over the course of six years. David Shipler is an accomplished writer and consultant on social issues. His knowledge, experience, and extensive field work is authoritative and trustworthy. Shipler describes a vicious cycle of low paying jobs, health issues, abuse, addiction, and other factors that all combine to create a mountain of adversity that is virtually impossible to overcome. The American dream and promise of prosperity through hard work fails to deliver to the 35 million people in America who make up the working poor. Since there is neither one problem nor one solution to poverty, Shipler connects all of the issues together to show how they escalate each other. Poor children are abused, drugs and gangs run rampant in the poor neighborhoods, low wage dead end jobs, immigrants are exploited, high interest loans and credit cards entice people in times of crisis and unhealthy diets and lack of health care cause a multitude of problems. The only way that we can begin to see positive change is through a community approach joining the poverty stricken individuals, community, businesses, and government to band together to make a commitment to improve all areas that need help.
In the Pulitzer prize-winning novel Evicted, sociologist Matthew Desmond follows eight families as he exposes how the lack of affordable housing perpetuates a state of poverty. He even goes so far as to assert that it is eviction that is a cause of poverty, not the other way around (Desmond 229). While this latter argument is as engrossing and it is striking, analyzing it with justice is simply not possible within the scope of this paper. Nevertheless, it is these two factors—inescapable poverty and eviction—that engender an unrelenting condition of financial, emotional, and communal instability, effectively hindering any chance of upward mobility.
The Case of Reparations written by Ta-Nehisi Coates describes the struggle of homeownership for African Americans, and discusses the need of reparations. The author explains the story of Clyde Ross, an African American from Mississippi who wanted to own a home in North Lawndale, Chicago. However, he was sucked into a system of having all the responsibilities of home ownership, but still had to pay rent, which means he did not actually own his home. Unfortunately, this happened to many African Americans in Chicago. The author’s purpose is to create awareness of why many African Americans do not own homes, the creation of all white or all black neighborhoods and the government’s involvement (Coates 2014).
The United States’ government has always had a hand on our country’s housing market. From requiring land ownership to vote, to providing public housing to impoverished families, our government has become an irremovable part of the housing market. The effects of these housing policies can affect American residents in ways they might not even recognize. As several historians have concluded, many housing policies, especially those on public housing, either resulted in or reinforced the racial segregation of neighborhoods.
Sudhir Venkatesh’s ethnography Gang Leader for a Day is a summary of his research through the University of Chicago in the 1990s. Venkatesh chose to do research on poor African-Americans in Chicago, and their experiences in public housing developments. He concentrated his study on the Robert Taylor Housing to better understand how residents lived and differentiated from those in other parts of the city. Venkatesh’s target population was those living in harsh living conditions, primarily black and poor. Throughout this paper, I will be addressing Venkatesh’s research and its limitations. I will also share my opinion on Venkatesh’s analysis and understanding of his findings about the residents, and how his experiences mesh with my own. In
the cost of living in Toronto has come to a record high, we need to start doing something about it now before no one can afford to live at all. There are more than 30,000 women, men and children in the city's homeless shelters annually. Many of thousands more sleep on the streets or considered the “hidden homeless”. About 70,000 households are on Toronto’s social housing waiting list and on the brink of becoming homeless because of the skyrocketing prices of owning a home in Toronto. The Federal Government and the province have begun a slow reinvestment in housing in past years, the number of affordable housing being built now doesn’t even compare near the levels of the early 1980’s. Habitat for Humanity has been building houses for low income
In Evicted by Matthew Desmond, Desmond examines the complex nature of poverty and elucidates on the housing dilemma that prevents the poor from breaking from the vicious cycle of poverty. Desmond examines the lives of eight American families from different backgrounds and races and records their life stories. By documenting the struggles and difficulties that they face, Desmond demonstrates that even though the United States is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, it still has much ground to cover to try to untangle the complex nature of poverty in order to find productive solutions.
Reed, Veronica M. Civil Rights Legislation and the Housing Status of Black Americans. Review of Black Political Economy. Volume 19.
Impoverished people have long been exploited, but the ghettos of the United States have been transformed into hot spots in which people are manipulated, used, and treated for less than they are worth. Kendrick Lamar emphasizes this unfortunate truth, as well as the transitioning
Of the many problems affecting urban communities, both locally and abroad, there is one issue in particular, that has been victimizing the impoverished within urban communities for nearly a century; that would be the problem of gentrification. Gentrification is a word used to describe the process by which urban communities are coerced into adopting improvements respective to housing, businesses, and general presentation. Usually hidden behind less abrasive, or less stigmatized terms such as; “urban renewal” or “community revitalization” what the process of gentrification attempts to do, is remove all undesirable elements from a particular community or neighborhood, in favor of commercial and residential enhancements designed to improve both the function and aesthetic appeal of that particular community. The purpose of this paper is to make the reader aware about the significance of process of gentrification and its underlying impact over the community and the community participation.
This paper will be predominantly focusing on public housing within Ontario. Not only will it look at the basics of Ontario but examine more directly on Regent Park within Toronto. It will discuss what public housing is and the explanation for why it exists, the government housing programs that are present with regards to public housing and the results of the government programs. The Purpose of this essay is to argue that the problem of public housing will never
The problems of race and urban poverty remain pressing challenges which the United States has yet to address. Changes in the global economy, technology, and race relations during the last 30 years have necessitated new and innovative analyses and policy responses. A common thread which weaves throughout many of the studies reviewed here is the dynamics of migration. In When Work Disappears, immigrants provide comparative data with which to highlight the problems of ghetto poverty affecting blacks. In No Shame in My Game, Puerto Rican and Dominican immigrants are part of the changing demographics in Harlem. In Canarsie, the possible migration of blacks into a working/middle-class neighborhood prompts conservative backlash from a traditionally liberal community. In Streetwise, the migration of yuppies as a result of gentrification, and the movement of nearby-ghetto blacks into these urban renewal sites also invoke fear of crime and neighborhood devaluation among the gentrifying community. Not only is migration a common thread, but the persistence of poverty, despite the current economic boom, is the cornerstone of all these works. Poverty, complicated by the dynamics of race in America, call for universalistic policy strategies, some of which are articulated in Poor Support and The War Against the Poor.
He examines how the ghetto concept expanded to other European towns and was eventually adopted in the United States. The chapter emphasizes the ghetto's universality as a form of geographical segregation and social control, demonstrating its use in many historical and cultural situations. The historical processes of disenfranchisement and segregation have left a lasting imprint on the economic landscape of ghettos, creating systemic barriers to economic advancement and perpetuating cycles of poverty. Structural inequalities in education, healthcare, and access to resources have disproportionately affected ghetto residents, limiting their opportunities for socio-economic mobility. The legacy of discriminatory policies, such as redlining and urban renewal initiatives, continues to shape the spatial distribution of wealth and resources, further marginalizing communities of color.
Place-based policies have been implemented as a strategy to address systemic inequalities and economic disparities that disproportionately affect black households in the United States. These policies target specific geographical areas with concentrated poverty and aim to improve the socio-economic conditions of residents. While proponents argue that place-based policies have the potential to uplift marginalized communities and promote equitable development, critics raise concerns about their effectiveness, sustainability, and potential for unintended consequences. This essay seeks to explore the virtues and limitations of place-based policies on black households in the United States. Place-based policies have long had a detrimental impact