Who Are the Homeless? Centering Anti-Black Racism and the Consequences of Colorblind Homeless Policies

Bibliographic Data

ID5933591
AuthorsErica Johnson Edwards (0000-0001-8616-402X, University of California, Los Angeles, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume10
Issue9
Pages340
Publication date2021-09-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Sciences (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2076-0760 • E-ISSN: 2076-0760
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/socsci10090340
OpenAlexW3198967037
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited26

Since first becoming a major social issue in the 1980s, homelessness has been a racialized problem in the United States. Its disproportionate impact on Black Americans is primarily driven by structural racism and the limited housing and employment opportunities for Black Americans. The first major federal legislation to address the needs of the United States' homeless population-the Stewart B. McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987 omitted the root causes of Black housing instability, thereby proving ineffective at mitigating Black homelessness. As a result, Black Americans remain disproportionately impacted today. In addition to being neglected by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, Black men and women experiencing homelessness are more likely to be discriminated against than any other racial group. For example, Black men are more likely to be arrested than anyone else, and Black women are the most likely to experience hyper-surveillance. This paper uses the Public Identity Framework to argue that in the 1980s, advocates and opponents of homeless legislation created two contradictory public personas to shape public discourse and policies for the homeless. A colorblind public persona was used to pass the McKinney-Vento Homeless Act; meanwhile, 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

Criminology · Humanities · Legislation · Persona · Political science · Public housing · Public policy · Racism · Shame · Sociology · Underclass · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Gender Studies · Homelessness and Social Issues · Law · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies

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