A July 15 story in the Voice of San Diego on the factors driving black homelessness quoted Ricky Bluthenthal, PhD, professor of preventive medicine and Associate Dean for Social Justice.
The story noted:
A recent analysis of Census survey data by left-leaning Center on Policy Initiatives noted that the city’s poverty rate among Blacks in the city was 22 percent – compared with just under 13 percent citywide.
Black residents are also more likely to encounter police police enforcement and though prison rates have fallen, they remain far more likely than Latino or white Americans to be imprisoned – and to face challenges in the rental market even if they don’t have criminal histories.
All of those factors can make it more difficult to access and maintain stable housing and thus make homelessness more likely.
For those reasons, the Black community’s disproportionate representation in the homeless population isn’t an accident, said Ricky N. Bluthenthal, associate dean for social justice at USC’s Keck School of Medicine who is among a group of university researchers exploring racial equity issues in the homeless population.
“You’ve basically created a country that systematically disadvantages Black folks, and you have worsened outcomes in that population as a consequence,” Bluthenthal said.
Read the full story:
And read more about Prof. Bluthenthal’s work:
- In shadow of pandemic, U.S. drug overdose deaths resurge to record (New York Times)
- The USC experts on the front lines of the opioid epidemic (USC News)
- Bluthenthal talks needle exchanges at Cato Institute (Keck School News)
- Keck School appoints new associate dean of social justice (USC Annenberg Media)