Homelessness of African Americans in New York City: A Reaction Paper
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February, 2024
Homelessness of African Americans in New York City: A Reaction Paper
Homelessness is a socioeconomic challenge that continues to persist in contemporary America. Torres (2023) reported that there were 582,500 homeless people in the United States as of January 2022, of which only 60% were housed in safety net programs and 40% lived in deplorable places that were unfit for human living. The housing and homelessness issue disproportionately affects people of color, and in particular, African Americans, who account for 64% of the homeless people (Adkins, 2024), who have a higher representation in the homeless community compared to their population in the country (Rukama, 2020). New York City has a high population of unhoused persons. These study findings warrant a need for a discussion on the socioeconomic challenge that is yet to be resolved several decades later through the functionalism lens.
Homelessness in New York City
While homelessness is an issue throughout the country, New York City is one of the most affected areas. Adkins (2024) reported that New York City, alongside New Hampshire and New Mexico, recorded the highest percentage increase of unhoused people in the period 2022-2023, while New York, Vermont, and Oregon recorded the highest homelessness per-capita rates in 2023. Further, New York City and Los Angeles account for a significant 25% of the homeless population (Adkins, 2024; Torres, 2023). The findings reveal that New York City needs to address the homelessness menace and prevent a spike in the number of unhoused people, whose population continues to grow exponentially.
The leadership in New York has tried different approaches to address the housing challenges despite resistance from some community members. Community members against the move for homeless people to receive help from the state government are driven by the notion that it wastes resources that should otherwise be used constructively for true economic development (Sommer et al., 2020). The battles between public opinion and participation in New York’s leadership approach to addressing homelessness have also focused on semantics. For instance, in 2015, the leadership had to reconsider their language and enforcement approaches following a rising revolt on anti-homeless sentiments where they were forced to rename the dwellings “homeless hotspots” instead of the previous term “encampments” (Goldfischer, 2020, p.1550). Arguably, politics remains at the core of the homelessness issue.
The Functionalism Take
Societal problems can be assessed from different sociological perspectives. In this case, functionalism is considered. Functionalism, in its modern outlook, is a school of thought attributed to Talcott Parsons (Ormerod, 2020). Primarily, the main argument is that the problems that emerge in society are a natural process that results from how the community is evolving. Therefore, people in society are expected to change with the new developments in society. Failing to move with the changing times results in social problems (Mandelli, 2023). As such, homelessness can be argued to be a challenge that has been occurring because of the inability of a given percentage of the public’s population being incapable of adapt to societal changes.
The unhoused persons in New York City grapple with the inability to have a roof over their heads because of economic factors. According to Heston (2023), the cost of living indicator (captured by the ability to cover housing, transportation, and groceries) was a primary contributing factor to homelessness, as individuals are unable to earn enough money to facilitate their housing. Other determinants that Heston identified included unemployment, poverty, and reckless drinking. Hazardous drinking was found to be disproportionately high among homeless persons who are alcohol-dependent. A significant percentage of unhoused African Americans were found to abuse and be dependent on opioid-prescribed medication (Manhapra et al., 2021). The findings revealed that societal contexts influence the outcomes of people’s living situations.
Racial Disparities
Racial disparities are not a novel situation when discussing homelessness. Minority populations, including African Americans, Latin(x), and Aboriginals, are the most affected. The main argument could be that the groups have experienced historical oppression that has had a far-reaching effect years later (O’Regan et al., 2021). The minorities were unable to adapt to the changes resulting from the activities of their oppressors, and the impact has influenced generations. Current housing models fail to account for the challenges and different dynamics of the African Americans’ socioeconomic situation, which makes them more vulnerable to homelessness.
The lack of inclusivity can be viewed as part of the new system. Leaders might have little knowledge of the plight of the minority, and their representation in positions of leadership is limited in comparison to the majority (O’Regan et al., 2021). In this case, the law of nature prevails, and only those fit to survive the set rules are able to beat homelessness. That may be an unfair point to present, given that the chances to succeed are already biased from the onset. Importantly, the current situation is a systemic matter and can be resolved if systemic changes are executed and deliberate measures are taken to include African Americans.
Conclusion
Homelessness will persist for as long as people are incapable of adapting to societal changes. By design, not everyone will be able to cope with the changes. Therefore, it is highly likely that homelessness may not be eliminated completely from society. Minimizing the number and percentage of homeless is the most feasible approach once the primary determinant of living cost is addressed. Policymakers and community leaders have the ability to make reforms in the current system.
References
Adkins, M. (2024, January 25). Homelessness in America: Statistics, analysis, and trends. Security.org. https://www.security.org/resources/homeless-statistics/#geographical-trends
Goldfischer, E. (2020). From encampments to hotspots: The changing policing of homelessness in New York City. Housing Studies, 35(9), 1550-1567. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2019.1655532
Heston, T. F. (2023). The cost of living index as a primary driver of homelessness in the United States: A cross-state analysis. Cureus, 15(10). e46975. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.46975
Mandelli, M. (2023). Harnessing welfare state theories to explain the emergence of eco-social policies. European Journal of Social Security, 25(4), 347–366. https://doi.org/10.1177/13882627231205759
Manhapra, A., Stefanovics, E., & Rosenheck, R. (2021). The association of opioid use disorder and homelessness nationally in the veterans health administration. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 223, 108714. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.108714
O’Regan, K. M., Ellen, I. G., & House, S. (2021). How to address homelessness: Reflections from research. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 693(1), 322–332. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716221995158
Ormerod, R. (2020). The history and ideas of sociological functionalism: Talcott Parsons, modern sociological theory, and the relevance for OR. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 71(12), 1873-1899. https://doi.org/10.1080/01605682.2019.1640590
Rukmana, D. (2020). The causes of homelessness and the characteristics associated with high risk of homelessness: A review of intercity and intracity homelessness data. Housing Policy Debate, 30(2), 291-308. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511482.2019.1684334
Sommer, M., Gruer, C., Smith, R. C., Maroko, A., & Hopper, K. (2020). Menstruation and homelessness: Challenges faced living in shelters and on the street in New York City. Health & Place, 66, 102431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2020.102431
Torres, F. (2023, February 7). Housing supply and the drivers of homelessness. Bipartisan Policy Center. https://bipartisanpolicy.org/report/housing-supply-and-homelessness/?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyLqXi-3NhAMVwqBoCR31HgJOEAAYASAAEgIqHfD_BwE