Community

New Study: Racism Drives Black Homelessness

LOS ANGELES SENTINEL — Structural racism, discrimination, and unconscious bias drive an overrepresentation of Blacks experiencing homelessness.

Published

6 years ago

March 3, 2019

Oakland Post

By Charlene Muhammad

Structural racism, discrimination, and unconscious bias drive an overrepresentation of Blacks experiencing homelessness, according to a new report by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.

“Report and Recommendations of the Ad Hoc Committee on Black People Experiencing Homelessness” was commissioned by Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.

“We all know that the local data shows that in Los Angeles County, 1 out of every 10 residents are African American, and yet, 1 out of every 3 homeless persons are African American,” said Ridley-Thomas.

According to the report, it is an over-representation consistent demographically across the United States.

“The stark disparities that are the product of vicious and entrenched structural discrimination in all of its forms in our society: the justice system, our schools, our safety net, our workplaces and our halls of power,” he said.

He spoke to more than 100 L.A. County leaders homeless advocates, and activists who gathered for launch of the report at the California African American Museum on February 25.

Researchers found that discrimination in housing, employment, criminal justice, and child welfare policies have led to disproportionate numbers in Black homelessness. Lasting change requires a dismantling of institutions barriers across agencies and mainstream systems, they found.

The document cites 2017 Homeless Count estimates, which indicate that over 53 percent of Blacks experiencing homelessness were between the ages of 25 and 54. Individuals age 55 and older comprised 26 percent of the total population.

The report indicates, “The mounting affordable housing crisis across the state, especially in the Los Angeles region, paired with persistently low, stagnant, and declining wages, exacerbates homelessness and particularly for Black people.”

In addition, it went on, the plight of homelessness is made more complex and challenging by its link to incarceration. Embedding care and empathy in outreach and case management services, as well as policy and program design will effect change, according to researchers.

“While we make up only nine percent of the population, we make up nearly 40 percent of the homeless population, so giving some focus to what solutions could be to help people exit homelessness was paramount to this work,” said Jacqueline Waggoner, LAHSA Commissioner and chair of its 67-member Ad Hoc Committee on Black People Experiencing Homelessness.

She, along with Kelli Bernard, Chair, LAHSA Commission, and Peter Lynn, LAHSA Executive Director, extended sincere thanks to partners and community members, particularly individuals with lived experience of homelessness, for contributing to the study.

Sixty-seven recommendations out of the nine-month study include improving data collection, analysis and collaborative research to better understand and track issues affecting Blacks experiencing homelessness; and, advance racial equitable policies, programs, and funding across institutions.

After invocation by civil rights leader Reverend Cecil “Chip” Murray, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, L.A. City Council Members Curren Priceand Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Reba Stevens, an Ad Hoc Committee member and advocate who has experienced homelessness, and Glenn Harris, president, Race Forward, which advocates for racial justice, also gave opening remarks.

Following the launch and a brief press availability, advocates and stakeholders held a symposium to highlight the data and next steps.

Price called the day exciting because of the call for action with documented proof of what’s needed to eradicate homelessness. He shared a personal testimony of how homelessness had touched his own family and many others in the same way.

Harris-Dawson, explained that the new study is follow up to a 2016 report on homelessness in South L.A., compiled by his office. He urged leaders and advocates to follow up to the data gathered in the new study with a scientific approach.

He used his time to sound a sobering note, saying it’s not the first time people have seen such a study or passed recommendations.

“We’ll go all the way, all the way, all the way back to the end of the Civil War. There as a recommendation about 40 acres and a mule, and we didn’t quite get that done,” said Harris-Dawson. He noted other landmark reports, bills and recommendations through the Civil Rights era to the early 90s that produced little change.

“…We should be here and rightfully celebrate this report and celebrate the work that is done and all that we’ve accomplished, but we must all hold our fee to the fire and this time, we get it done, and we get it done in the right way,” said Harris-Dawson.

This article originally appeared in the Los Angeles Sentinel.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

Drew League Basketball Clinic Volunteer Featured In Award-Winning Social Media Campaign

Don't Miss

Congresswoman Maxine Waters Pens Open Letter to CFPB Employees

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Activism

Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

5 days ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of May 28 – June 30, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 28 – June 3, 2025

Published

1 week ago

May 30, 2025

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

#NNPA BlackPress

Black Feminist Movement Mobilizes in Response to National Threats

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — More than 500 Black feminists will convene in New Orleans from June 5 through 7 for what organizers are calling the largest Black feminist gathering in the United States.

Published

1 week ago

May 30, 2025

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

More than 500 Black feminists will convene in New Orleans from June 5 through 7 for what organizers are calling the largest Black feminist gathering in the United States. The event, led by the organization Black Feminist Future, is headlined by activist and scholar Angela Y. Davis. Paris Hatcher, executive director of Black Feminist Future, joined Black Press USA’s Let It Be Known to outline the mission and urgency behind the gathering, titled “Get Free.” “This is not just a conference to dress up and have a good time,” Hatcher said. “We’re building power to address the conditions that are putting our lives at risk—whether that’s policing, reproductive injustice, or economic inequality.” Hatcher pointed to issues such as rising evictions among Black families, the rollback of bodily autonomy laws, and the high cost of living as key drivers of the event’s agenda. “Our communities are facing premature death,” she said.

Workshops and plenaries will focus on direct action, policy advocacy, and practical organizing skills. Attendees will participate in training sessions that include how to resist evictions, organize around immigration enforcement, and disrupt systemic policies contributing to poverty and incarceration. “This is about fighting back,” Hatcher said. “We’re not conceding anything.” Hatcher addressed the persistent misconceptions about Black feminism, including the idea that it is a movement against men or families. “Black feminism is not a rejection of men,” she said. “It’s a rejection of patriarchy. Black men must be part of this struggle because patriarchy harms them too.” She also responded to claims that organizing around Black women’s issues weakens broader coalitions. “We don’t live single-issue lives,” Hatcher said. “Our blueprint is one that lifts all Black people.”

The conference will not be streamed virtually, but recaps and updates will be posted daily on Black Feminist Future’s YouTube channel and Instagram account. The event includes performances by Tank and the Bangas and honors longtime activists including Billy Avery, Erica Huggins, and Alexis Pauline Gumbs. When asked how Black feminism helps families, Hatcher said the real threat to family stability is systemic oppression. “If we want to talk about strong Black families, we have to talk about mass incarceration, the income gap, and the systems that tear our families apart,” Hatcher said. “Black feminism gives us the tools to build and sustain healthy families—not just survive but thrive.”