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black americans make up 40 percent of homelessness

January 25, 2020
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While people like President Trump tout lower unemployment rates for Black Americans, those same Black Americans have become disproportionately more likely to experience homelessness than people of other races. According to a government report by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, of the 568,000 Americans who experienced at least one night of homelessness in 2019, 40 percent of them were Black. An incredibly high percentage given the fact that Black Americans make up just 13 percent of the overall population.

As you might imagine, there is not one single cause for these racial disparities, but rather a combination of systemic injustices that stem from slavery which contribute to Black folk’s continued economic disenfranchised. Black Americans are 2.5 times more likely to experience poverty than white Americans, according to the Economic Policy Institute. The institute also found that Black people are more likely to live in places with limited economic opportunities, fewer resources, heavier policing, and lack of access to health care. ‘

“Any effort to end homelessness in the United States must address the range of issues that have resulted from racial inequity,” the National Alliance to End Homelessness says on its website.

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