If you have someone who is paying 88 percent of her income on rent, and we have laws that allow a landlord to evict a tenant who falls behind under those circumstances, eviction becomes an inevitability.
Matthew DesmondRead
If I wrote in Michael Harrington's time, roughly 50 years later when he published 'The Other America', I'd still be writing about poverty and also entrenched racial injustice.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the persistent issues of poverty and racial injustice over the decades.
Matthew Desmond emphasizes that despite the passage of time since Michael Harrington's influential work 'The Other America,' the problems of poverty and systemic racial injustice remain relevant and unresolved. This suggests a continuity in societal issues that require ongoing attention and action, highlighting the importance of understanding historical context in the fight for social justice.
Themes
PovertyInjusticeRacialSocial JusticeMichael Harrington
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech at a community meeting about social reform.
More from Matthew Desmond
All quotes βDo we believe housing is a right and that affordable housing is part of what it should mean to be an American? I say yes.
Matthew DesmondRead
The texture and hardship of poverty and eviction is something that I think left the deepest impression on me, and I hope that I try to convey a little bit of that to the reader.
Matthew DesmondRead
When I was confronted with just the bare facts of poverty and inequality in America, it always disturbed and confused me.
Matthew DesmondRead
Arguably, the families most at need of housing assistance are systematically denied it because they're stamped with an eviction record. Moms and kids are bearing the brunt of those consequences.
Matthew DesmondRead
Moms that get evicted are depressed and have higher rates of depressive symptoms two years later. That has to affect their interactions with their kids and their sense of happiness. You add all that together, and it's just really obvious to me that eviction is a cause, not just a condition, of poverty.
Matthew DesmondRead
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