Communities of color have historically suffered from discriminatory housing policies by at the state and national levels. Redlining was a policy from the 1930s that explicitly invested in certain neighborhoods over others based on their racial makeup. As a result, federal funding did not support the development of communities of color, especially Black communities, for decades after. In addition, purported “progressive” laws such as the GI bill of 1944 denied many benefits to African Americans. As a result of the blatantly racist housing policies, individuals and communities of color have disproportionately experienced homelessness and housing instability. In fact, 87% of San Francisco’s redlined neighborhoods are low-income neighborhoods undergoing gentrification today (Source: UC Berkeley Urban Displacement Project). Any solution that aims to end homelessness can only move forward with racial equity at its core – if for nothing else, then to correct for the injustices of government-led exclusion.
Systemic Racism
