June 2021A
Right to Housing:
a Civil Rights Newsletter
Racial Equity
The National Coalition for the Homeless has begun scheduling a workgroup open to individual/organizational members to discuss racial equity issues. This group will attempt to identify issues within the homeless Continuum that disenfranchise minority populations and create obstacles to stability. They intend to work to overcome those barriers and force change in the programs and bureaucracy serving the nation's unhoused population. There is plenty of work including in the area of fair housing, the lack of diversity in the leadership of social services, and racists policies that determine who gets housing in a local community. If you are a member of NCH and would like to participate, please contact [email protected].
Sweeps of Those Outside
Despite the pandemic not being over, many communities are engaging in sweeps of those sleeping outside. The City of Los Angeles is challenging the judicial demand to house those on Skid Row while at the same time using law enforcement to oversee social work of helping those without housing. The citizens of Austin TX voted to re-instate a "camping" ban and police have begun notifying those outside that they will have to relocate by June 13 or face arrest/ticketing. Very little effort to work with social service outreach to provide an alternative. Other cities including Nashville, Reno, Portland, Santa Clara, San Jose have had news features on sweeps. Thanks to NCH staff member Kelvin for this picture of a sweep in DC.
Time Place and Manner Restrictions
There is a disturbing trend in which communities are attempting to limit or restrict access by those experiencing homelessness to hotels and motels as part of the FEMA program to keep people safe during the pandemic. NCH has heard zoning changes and nuisance suits against these hotel owners. The most obvious act of blatant racism is a largely white suburb of Cleveland attempting to shut down a hotel housing a majority African American group of men formerly living in the largest shelter in Ohio. The local Coalition is shining a spotlight on this cold hearted decision to take legal actions against this business. The worst part of this situation is that the County is not supporting the local shelter or the motel owner, but has bent to the will of the suburban Not-In-My-Backyard elected official.
Voting Rights
We celebrate the temporary victory in Texas that prevented a horrible voting law from passing. Also, during the remembrance of the 100th anniversary of the White Terrorism in Tulsa, President Joe Biden announced that VP Kamala Harris was going to lead the effort to overturn the assault on access to the ballot boxes in many states.
Hate Crimes
On May 8, 2021 Randall Lee Proctor was shot in the head while sitting in a park in Akron Ohio. Police have said that this was an unprovoked attack and that they had received a report of a suspicious man with a gun in the park. Proctor lived in the local mission shelter and was well known in the community. Witnesses said that he frequented the park near downtown Akron, and may have been targeted based on his housing status.
Victories
NCH considers the appoint of Kristen Clarke to lead the US Justice Department Civil Rights Division a major victory. This combined with Vanita Gupta as an Assistant Secretary of Justice are a strong team to take on the flood of injustice sweeping over the country. NCH will ask the Justice Department to weigh in on the rise in sweeps, the time place and manner restrictions on the unhoused, and the growing criminalization of being poor. We also are concerned over the lack of consequences when law enforcement takes on the role of judge and jury against those experiencing homelessness.
Spotlight on a Struggling Community
Three cities in Iowa have made it illegal for local landlords to advertise for potential tenants with the phrase "No Section 8." It was determined that this was discriminatory based on how an individual was going to pay the rent. The State stepped in earlier this year to overturn those restrictions thus allowing racism in the tenant selection process. NCH hopes that HUD and DOJ will intervene to stop the State of Iowa from violating the Fair Housing Act.
We Remember...
A morbidity study by the Hub for Urban Initiatives found that 4 unhoused people a day die on the streets of LA. It also showed that 5% of the deaths were due to homicides and 4% from suicide. NCH mourns the loss of life on most major American cities. This is the reason that something has to be done to turn things around in Skid Row and throughout the capital of US Homelessness--LA.
Action Alert --
NCH has urged advocates to contact their Governor to keep extended unemployment in place until September. Since we identified this issue the number of states cutting off extended Covid unemployment has jumped from 3 to 24, so obviously our advocacy has not worked. This is not based on any real facts and the jobs that are going unfilled are those that pay a very low income. If businesses followed basic economic principles, they would raise their wages. Cutting off benefits early will only harm those who cannot find a job in those states. It will further destabilize the economy and assure an unequal recovery.
Other Civil Rights updates
- The Publix Corporation in Miami never responded to any of our requests to have the police officer who beat Willie Barbor for allegedly stealing a sandwich fired. We will continue to attempt to contact them.
- In another incident caught on video, police in San Diego beat Jesse Evans for allegedly urinating in public. Evans was hospitalized and has retained counsel after the savage beating he took. In speaking to local advocates at the NAACP this is not the first violent encounter between homeless individuals and the San Diego Police and there also seems to be a pattern and practice of violence against minority populations in the city.
Other Updates on the NCH Website
- NCH introduced a new podcast called the Voices of Homelessness hosted by Donald Whitehead and featuring guests who overcame a period of their life without housing.
- NCH posted a profile of the City of Sacramento and the horrible job they are doing to address homelessness. We focused on activist Crystal Sanchez and her efforts to keep people safe.
What can I do?
Take Action this month:
- Mark your calendar for June 17,2021 Zoom Town Hall as we kick off the Bring America Home Now campaign. We will have an introduction of the campaign that afternoon with speakers and the launch of a website. Please join us. Details will be posted on the NCH website.
Contact us
We have a monthly call for advocates at local coalitions who work on Civil Rights Issues. Contact us if you represent a Coalition of advocates who want to help protect the rights of those experiencing homelessness at [email protected].
This newsletter is going out to all members for the second month or so, but this month we will post a second newsletter that will go only to Civil Rights leaders or those who have requested a copy of the Civil Rights newsletter. If you want to stay on the Right to Housing Civil Right Newsletter please drop me an e-mail to continue to receive this information [email protected] or if you want to suggest content or information.
Goals of the Civil Rights Committee
Moratorium on Police Sweeps. A Justice Department issued federal ban on police sweeps of homeless encampments or squatters without court overseen eviction proceedings during the pandemic.
NCH supports an Executive Order on an Eviction Moratorium which was extended until June 2021.
Social Workers in Place of Police Officers. While the sweeps moratorium is in place, law enforcement would be told to implement a new policing model in which every jurisdiction would dispatch social workers to deal with calls regarding people experiencing homelessness instead of law enforcement.
Panhandling Laws Dismissed. Partner with the National advocates to ask the Justice Department to issue guidance to the local jurisdictions that panhandling is protected speech, and local communities need to stop enforcing unconstitutional laws.
You Don’t Need a Home to Vote. NCH supports the national John Lewis Voting Rights Act legislation and will work to see it passed into law. Other concepts in voting that make it easier for people experiencing homelessness is registration deadlines and early voting beginning so that a homeless individual can do both at the same time. Finally with regard to voting, either identification is free in the United States or cannot be required to vote.
Hate Crimes Collection of Data. The Justice Department needs to mandate that bias crimes against members of a protected class be collected by every local jurisdiction and reported in a timely manner to the Federal database. Congress should expand the definition of protected classes to include those without a safe secure place to sleep as well as lesbian, gay, transgender, and questioning individuals.
Investigating Police Violence. NCH will ask the Justice Department to mandate that officer involved shootings must be investigated by the state police and not the law enforcement from a local area.
National Coalition for the Homeless, 2201 P Street NW, Washington, DC 20037
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