The Importance Of Poverty And Eviction

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, a New York Times best seller, written by Matthew Desmond, truly captures the lives of not only people who are getting or have gotten evicted, but also the landlords who have to evict these people. Desmond follows the lives of eight families including Sherrena, Arleen, Tobin, the Hinkstons, Lamar, Scott and several others, to discover more about their lives and how they have dealt with evictions in Milwaukee. The evictions of these eight families take place all other Milwaukee, the Northside, Southside, Westside and Eastside.

Some problems associated with living in a neighborhood with a high percentage of the population living in poverty include increased crime rates, poor education, health problems and psychological distress. The concentration of people in high poverty neighborhoods magnifies the problems faced by the poor. This is because it leads to the concentration of the ills associated with poverty. Children in these neighborhood do not only lack basic needs but are also exposed to an hostile environment that holds numerous temptations and does not provide positive motivation (McConville & Ong, 2003). In addition, because schools are distributed geographically, children from high poverty neighborhoods attend the same schools and this result in low performance. This concentration also intensify the shift of the middle and higher income families away from these neighborhoods thus creating a gap between social needs and the financial base necessary to address these issues. The concentration of poverty is important because it has an impact on the distribution of income which might undermines the social fabric and may restrict opportunities for others (Jargowsky, 2003).

Currently, the rates of homelessness in America continue to drastically increase. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (2012) depicted how many people are homeless in a single night in America. The findings revealed that there were approximately 633,782 people who are homeless in America or 20 out of every 10,000. Approximately 394,379 are single individuals and 239,403 are people in families with 77,157 homeless families in a single night, and approximately 162, 246 are children. Veterans are more likely to be homeless than those who are non-veterans, approximately 29 out of every 10,000 veterans are homeless. Unfortunately, 38 percent of those who are homeless are unsheltered, either living on the streets or in places that are not suitable for human inhabitation. Most states account of for less than 1% of homeless population, whereas Texas contains approximately 5.4% of America’s homeless population. In San Antonio, there are approximately 2,981 people who are homeless each day, and 1,243 are unsheltered. Through a sociological perspective, the social problems of homelessness can be analyzed through the concept of sociological imagination, the comparison of the person-blame approach and the system-blame approach, and through the analysis of one’s own community’s effort in helping those who are homeless.

Considering ingroups create a structure in a community, the Structural – Functionalist theoretical perspective seems to be a good fit. The Structural – Functionalist Perspective is defined as “the theoretical perspective that posits that social institutions are structured to maintain stability and order in society” (Textbook). To break it down, this theoretical perspective tries to explain why a society or a community functions the way it does and it takes into account the variables that make up that society or community. These variables are called the social institution. The social institution in the case of Evicted is the ingroup and the order that needs to be kept is the person or family's safety and secure feeling. The ingroup provides those in poorer areas the stability they need which results in order in society. However, when several members of an ingroup are evicted, the stability takes a hit. When stability is affected, the order is affected. The structure is broken so the function of the ingroup is not the same. Eventually an outgroup is going to form and no one generally wants to be in the out group. The outgroup will eventually cause the person or family to find different ways to feel safe and secure, but it will never be the same as having the structure and stability from others. Ways to fix this is to find another ingroup to join or seek others in outgroups and create an

“The home is the wellspring of personhood. It is where our identity takes root and blossoms, whereas children, we imagine, play, and question, and as adolescents, we retreat and try. As we grow older, we hope to settle into a place to raise a family or pursue work. When we try to understand ourselves, we often begin by considering the kind of home in which we were raised” (Desmond 2016, 293). Evictions! The root of poverty? Matthew Desmond’s novel “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in America City, portrays the lives of tenants, landlords, and house marketing on the poorest neighborhoods of Milwaukee. Desmond gives the reader overwhelming evidence and revealing testimony illustrating the major impact of inadequate housing on individuals, local, and national level. Desmond’s analysis and observation of his case study enables him to portray the reality of poverty, and to persuade the readers that evictions are a major consequence, and primary contributors in the relentless cycle of poverty. Desmond build his argument using two Aristotelian rhetorical appeals, ethos, logos and inductive reasoning to illustrates the importance of ending the cycle of poverty.

In “The Complexities and Processes of Racial Housing discrimination” by Vincent J. Roscigno, Diana L. Karafin, and Griff tester, the main concept of racial disparity and inequality among neighborhoods is discussed, and how those inequalities became to be. They first highlight the wide range of potentially exclusionary practices, through qualitative and quantitative data comprised of over 750 verified housing discrimination cases (Roscigno, p. 162). Citing the U.S. Census, it is found that Blacks, compared to Hispanics and Asians, continue to experience high levels of residential segregation. This is done through discriminatory practices, whether they be by exclusionary or non-exclusionary methods. Even after the passing of the Fair Housing Act in 1988, discrimination against Blacks and Hispanics decreased somewhat, though African Americans still appeared to take part in racial steering, and Hispanics continued to have limitations in regards to opportunities and access to rental units (Roscigno, p. 163).

Given evidence of the effect of race on housing issues, even as it relates to home ownership, an exploration of the empirical evidence in how it manifests within rental markets is necessary. One of the leading researchers in the contemporary study of eviction is Matthew Desmond. In “Eviction and the Reproduction of Urban Poverty (2012), he combines statistical and ethnographic analyses to investigate the ramifications of eviction on the lives of the urban poor. The primary independent variable in this study was gender, while the dependent was eviction rates as a percentage. Half of his quantitative analysis involved extracting legal records or court-ordered evictions that took place in Milwaukee County between 2003 to 2007 (n=29,960) (“Eviction and the Reproduction” 91). Using addresses, eviction records were merged with population estimates of Milwaukee’s 880 block groups (“neighborhoods”), and yearly eviction rates for each block group were calculated by gender and pooled to calculate annual averages (Eviction and Reproduction 94). Then risk ratios and differences were determined using 3 different samples: all groups with at least 1 male and female evictee, high poverty block groups where more than 40% of the population lived at or below 150% of the poverty line, and hyper-segregated neighborhoods where at least 85% of residents were same race/ethnicity (Eviction and Reproduction 94). While these measures provided reliable and exact measures of incidence and location,

In order to support his opinion, the author uses historical references to the enormous impact of racial inequality on African American lives. Additionally, Desmond names a set of historical data and rates of the poor African Americans in cities to enhance the reader’s understanding of this complex situation. African Americans were also more likely to get the apartment with broken furniture, windows, and other facilities that confirmed the existence of racial inequality (Desmond, 2016, p.249). To reassert his position, Desmond provides offensive statistics that millions of people are evicted from American homes, and most of them are African American (Desmond, 2016, p.293). As a matter of fact, the author proves that housing discrimination based on race is the primary cause of

Rough Draft & Thesis Statement Minorities are faced with housing discrimination on levels much higher than that of white people which is considered white privilege. Residential segregation has been strategically planned and carried out by multiple parties throughout history and persists today ultimately inhibiting minorities from making any of the social or economic advances that come from living in affluent neighborhoods and communities. From our research, the scholarly sources have depicted multiple causes of racial disparity. Housing segregation perpetuates negative circumstances for people of color, as looked at through history, laws, segregation, real estate, and ... The end of the Civil War and the start of the Industrial Revolution and

Residential segregation is a wide spread topic of discussion throughout cities across the United States. With population in larger cities growing, the separation of groups into neighborhoods is common — placing different standards of living on each section depending on the wealth and race of the inhabitants. In There Goes the Neighborhood: Racial Ethnic, and Class Tensions in Four Chicago Neighborhoods and Their Meaning for America William Julius Wilson and Richard P. Taub explore a new areas of Chicago and the residential segregation taking place there by creating a

For instance, the authors highlight that this segregation declines their access to “quality schools, jobs, healthcare, public services, and private amenities such as restaurants, theaters, and quality retail stores” (179). With all these disadvantages, it’s hard to imagine a solution to housing segregation, fortunately there are local programs being put to place. In the USA, public/private mixed income housing is being

The living conditions for African Americans play a big factor when talking about disparities in poverty. The highest poverty rates are in the inner city, where the majority of minorities live compared to Whites that live in the suburbs on the outskirts. According to Carlos Gradin (2012), African Americans were 45% more likely to live in a female-headed family without a spouse present, compared to 20% for Whites. Furthermore, “beginning in the late 1960’s, there was a drastic increase in minority divorces”(Snyder and McLaughlin 2004). Poverty rises as the heads of households’ decrease, which is happening in the inner city. These mothers have to support an

Wilson explains that the inner city behavior suffer from many years of exposure to the similar situation, which created the depiction that individuals prefer to be within the same cycle of poverty. Where in reality, it is adaptions response to racial exclusion that traps many individuals within their neighborhood. Hence, creates limitations for opportunities in employment and mobilizing from their current circumstances.

Companies closing or laying-off workers has left many un- and under-employed. Once a family begins operating at a deficit, recovery becomes more difficult. Without significant savings or familial support, circumstances may conspire to render families homeless through foreclosure or eviction. Once a family has lost stable housing and employment, regaining it may prove to be an insurmountable hurdle that may only be scaled with the assistance of the community.

Many reasons for worsening situation of homelessness in the country have been reported but none has gathered as much support as poverty. Poverty alone accounts for major increase in homeless households while other possible reasons include loss of job, eroding job opportunities, lack of public assistance and lack of affordable housing facilities. Despite these being powerful reasons, they are all linked to one major reason i.e. poverty.