A few years ago, I wrote about race in social work and the structural and interpersonal racism that went undiscussed in Portland. Portland seemed to rely on a problematic narrative about itself that included being “progressive” and “colorblind.” My issues with this approach to race and racism persist, and despite long standing equity initiatives in both Portland and Multnomah County government structures, we have yet to have honest, authentic and frank conversations about race. This began to change in March with the Supporting Partnerships for Anti-Racist Communities, or SPARC, initiative.
While communities of color have been waving the flag of oppression and inequity for years, having facilitators come into our community and speak frankly about the consequences and dangers of racism seemed to have helped those in the dominant culture finally listen.
I have long associated homelessness with poverty and assumed that people of color experienced homelessness at a higher rate because we experience poverty at a higher rate. While this is true, the information that I learned during the SPARC initiative helped me realize that this assumption is in fact more complex. Most communities’ rates of homelessness are actually lower than their proportionate rate of poverty. In the black community, however, our rate of homelessness is double our rate of poverty, while white households’ rate of homelessness drops in comparison to their poverty rate. So why, then, are we as a community not making the connection between structural racism and homelessness? The data seems to tell a pretty clear story.
During the SPARC initiative, we spent the week talking about the need to center race and make changes in our organizations. These changes include hiring practices and cultures that are often toxic to people of color, as well as structural changes that can address racism and the disparities that exist in housing and homelessness services on the basis of race.
FURTHER READING: Tackling the tough questions about race, homelessness in Portland (Director's Desk)
Stay with me. It is easy and comfortable to get defensive and assert to me that you are not racist. But as a colleague once told me, we all drink from the same poison well of racism. The structures that we are all socialized into are designed to serve and lift up the dominant culture and oppress people of color, and without intentional work to examine and undo our internal biases, we are incapable of making the needed changes that will make services equitable. We need to understand our biases in order to address the organizational and structural barriers.
I implore all of us working in this field to slow down, listen to people of color, and examine our biases and the structural oppression that exists within our system. To change the culture of our organizations to be more equitable and to undo and challenge the white supremacist culture that permeates the way we do this work and design our organizations.
I implore my fellow executive directors to dedicate time and resources to truly address racism. We cannot continue to rely on a few people of color in our agencies to carry this work, to call out racism, and to wait patiently while we have yet another cultural competency training. Enough is enough.
Step up, create space for real change, get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Understand that equity might mean that dominant culture organizations receive fewer resources. Listen to and believe people of color when they are sharing their experiences. Put ego aside. Embrace the reality that social justice and ending homelessness work requires us to examine and undo the institutional and structural oppression that has helped create our current reality where people of color are significantly more likely to be homeless than white people. If we can do this, we can begin to create an equitable housing system.
Shannon Singleton is the executive director of JOIN, one of Portland’s largest providers of services to help people get into housing.
SPARC and Portland
Although blacks make up 13 percent of the U.S. population and 26 percent of those living in poverty, they account for more than 40 percent of the sheltered population.
Black men remain homeless longer than white or Hispanic men, according to research compiled by the Center For Social Innovation.
In Multnomah County, blacks make up 7 percent of the population but more than 16 percent of the homeless population. The percentage of blacks tallied in the 2017 Point in Time homeless count doubled over the previous number just two years earlier.
Portland is part of a 10-city initiative by SPARC to examine the root causes of racial disparities in housing and related social service networks. Dallas, San Francisco, Syracuse, N.Y.; Tacoma, Wash.; Atlanta, Ga.; Minneapolis, Minn.; and Columbus, Ohio, are among the other cities in the project.
Street Roots is an award-winning, nonprofit, weekly newspaper focusing on economic, environmental and social justice issues. Our newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Learn more about Street Roots