November 2021A
Right to Housing:
a Civil Rights Newsletter
When making your holiday giving plans or your Giving Tuesday plans, please consider a gift to NCH to help us Bring America Home Now.
Even if you don't give to NCH, please consider a donation to a local advocacy group. Social services are important, but social justice is the only way to end poverty in the US.
Racial Equity
Cleveland Ohio is the site for the first NCH field office in its 40 year history. To mark this new office, NCH hosted a forum on racial equity on November 23 in Cleveland with Donald Whitehead of NCH and Andrea Wilson of the Cleveland Branch of the NAACP presenting. We hope to work with the local community to solicit input from local advocates to improve the national Bring America Home Now campaign and work toward reducing racial inequality especially in the area of housing and homelessness. The local office will focus on grassroots organizing and civil rights issues in the Midwest.
Also, Donald published a first person reflection of seeing racism from the wrong side of a gun and the rise in racial division within the United States. This lays out why we need a pillar on racial equity in BAHN
Sweeps of Those Outside
Once again, cities are working overtime to make it illegal to be homeless. We regularly list cities working to criminalize those without housing on our twitter feed @nchcivilrights. Some of the larger cities include:
Miami: After 60 people testified against the sweeps and medical doctors showed the negative health impacts of homelessness, the City Council delayed the vote. In the end the measure passed with only one opposed. NCH used data from the local community of items homeless people had stolen from them by the local police to request an investigation by the Justice Department. Two local partners and the National Homelessness Law Center co-signed this letter.
Louisville, already under Justice Department for the Taylor murder by police, have also proposed a sweeps/eviction process for those outside.
Just in time for the holidays, Roanoke VA will begin issuing $250 fines for sleeping outside.
Time Place and Manner Restrictions
Really impressive report from the ACLU of California detailing the many attempts to pass laws targeting those without housing. It is called "Outside the Law: The Legal War Against Unhoused People." It focuses on California, but the issues raised in the report are spreading across the country.
The Homeless Capital of the United States, Los Angeles keeps digging a deeper and deeper hole. They have enlisted County Sheriff staff and are trying to give garbage collectors the ability to ticket. They are conducting large numbers of sweeps every day and are attempting to recall the one councilman who understands homelessness first hand. Still no development of affordable housing instead opting for small change delivered in the form of "outreach."
Kern County Bakersfield California struggles with an explosion of people living outside. The County passed an ordinance barring camping on public property but in exchange bribed the local social service providers with an $8.3 million increase in "outreach" funding. NCH issued a statement in opposition to this trade off of social service help in order to make it illegal to be homeless in Kern County.
Voting Rights
Our highest legislative priority in the area of Civil Rights is passage of the two voting rights bills in Congress. Without protections to assure that every citizen has easy access to the ballot box, we will continue to see anti-democratic forces rise in the United States. We will continue to see lower income individuals who move frequently purged from the rolls. We will continue to see the cost of obtaining identification a barrier to voting, and limiting the number of polling places in poor neighborhoods as a way to suppress voting.
Victories
Unlike Austin, Denver voters did not pass the expansion of the sweeps initiative. The City also continues to battle activists over pushing people around the city who happen to not have housing. While the city policy is disjointed and often at cross purposes between departments, we are thankful the voters did not pass a hateful piece of legislation.
Spotlight on Media Reports
John Oliver has a program on HBO every Sunday night which he does a deep dive into one issue. On November 1, 2021, he did an analysis of homelessness and the criminalization efforts going on. It was the best portrayal of the issue on a major TV network over the last 20 years and that includes every news program (except Tyra Banks).
1A podcast on NPR featured a small segment with Donald Whitehead talking about the criminalization efforts around the US. The program did feature "the other side" with one of the leading propagandist in LA for forcing people inside using law enforcement. Overall, a good discussion on the scope of the problem.
New York Times published a critical piece on California's inept response toward homelessness and the link to racist housing laws.
We Remember...
We have seen a sharp rise in hate crimes against homeless people across the United States. From Sacramento, to Redding, to Cincinnati the last few months have been especially dangerous for those outside. Remember that we are urging local communities to plan a vigil for those who have died over the last year. Here is more information.
buddy grey was killed 25 years ago in Cincinnati. buddy helped found the National Coalition for the Homeless and the Ohio Coalition. He led the Cincinnati Coalition and took over a number of buildings to serve as housing and shelter for those struggling in the Queen city. NCH had a lasting impact on Ohio and the nation's policies on homelessness.
Bring America Home Now Action
Check out the Bring America Home Now campaign website and let us know what policy solutions would most quickly end homelessness in America. The Leadership Summit on November 6 was a great success with over 80 people registered. We hope to have a follow up in the first part of 2022, and we will integrate the suggestions that came up in our planning.
Other Civil Rights updates
Priority Issues for Civil Rights Workgroup of NCH
1. End criminalization of people experiencing homelessness.
2. End the use of police as de facto social workers to interact with people experiencing homelessness.
3. Ensure that all citizens are able to exercise their right to vote and participate in the democratic process.
4. Request that jurisdictions pass a local Bill of Rights for people experiencing homelessness to take into account local policies and practices and threaten their rights of liberty and free choice.
5. End all discrimination of people experiencing homelessness, and protect their human and civil rights in the same way we protect all people, regardless of their economic circumstances or special needs.
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]. Follow us on Twitter @nchcivilrights
This newsletter is going out to all members for now. 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.
Action Steps
In the next two weeks please urge your US Senator (202) 224-3121 to support housing as infrastructure with a generous contribution to the Build Back Better initiative going to the development of affordable housing. NCH will be sponsoring a couple of days to specifically call Senators Manchin and Sinema who for some reason have become the center of the universe when it comes to voting rights and infrastructure spending.
National Coalition for the Homeless, 2201 P Street NW, Washington, DC 20037
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