{"id":1520,"date":"2021-02-17T19:33:50","date_gmt":"2021-02-17T19:33:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/?p=1520"},"modified":"2021-02-18T07:25:40","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T07:25:40","slug":"bidens-racial-equity-initiative-moving-marginalized-communities-toward-americas-bounty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/?p=1520","title":{"rendered":"Charlene Crowell: Biden\u2019s Racial Equity Initiative: Moving Marginalized Communities Toward America\u2019s Bounty"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Jan. 26, President Joe Biden took steps to bring the nation towards the long-promised, but never realized, pledge of racial justice.\u00a0Four executive orders<\/a>\u00a0signed that day make clear that the new administration will take meaningful and corrective actions.<\/p>\n

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was directed to take steps necessary to redress racially discriminatory federal housing policies that have contributed to wealth inequality for generations. Similarly, the Department of Justice (DOJ) was ordered to end its use of private prisons. The whole of the federal government also recommitted to respect Tribal sovereignty and strengthen the nation-to-nation relationship between the United States and Tribal Nations. Finally, President Biden committed to combating xenophobia against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have never fully lived up to the founding principles of this nation, to state the obvious, that all people are created equal and have a right to be treated equally throughout their lives,\u201d Biden said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s time to act now, not only because it\u2019s the right thing to do, but because if we do, we\u2019ll all be better off for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, we need criminal justice reform, but that isn\u2019t nearly enough,\u201d he continued. \u201cWe need to open the promise of America to every American. And that means we need to make the issue of racial equity not just an issue for anyone department of government; it has to be the business of the whole of government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Responsibility for implementation and oversight will rest with the White House\u2019s Domestic Policy Council, led by Susan Rice, a Black woman and former Obama administration appointee who served as a national security adviser and U.S. representative to the United Nations.<\/p>\n

Millions of marginalized people \u2014 many of whom are Black and Latino \u2014 face imminent financial disaster. When people are poor, they face compounding struggles, ranging from food insecurity to the threat of losing utilities, and the risk of homelessness, and hardships seemingly multiply each day. During this still-raging pandemic, a new kind of poor \u2014 those who were formerly gainfully employed \u2014 are learning the harsh realities of how hard life becomes when adequate income and decent health insurance are no longer available.<\/p>\n

Regardless of income \u2014 or the lack thereof \u2014 every family still needs a home, one that provides shelter and sustenance. As much as America needs vaccinations from the pandemic, its people need and have a right to housing.<\/p>\n

In 2020, to address this newly urgent need, the Housing Playbook Project, a focused and collaborative national policy endeavor, began. The effort was led by Community Change, a nonprofit with the mission of changing the policies and institutions that impact the lives of low-income people \u2014 particularly those of color \u2014 with support from the Ford Foundation. The sum of the project\u2019s insights and recommendations specific to housing challenges were contained in its report released on Jan. 25.<\/p>\n

Titled \u201cA New Deal for Housing for Housing Justice: A Playbook for the Biden Administration<\/a>,\u201d it is a road map to achieving housing justice that details bold federal actions that can effectively respond to the housing crisis and charts a path for leveraging policymaking to build power in the nation\u2019s most neglected communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe face a housing affordability crisis, an evictions crisis and a homelessness crisis like this nation has never seen,\u201d noted<\/a>\u00a0Julian Castro, project co-chair and former HUD Secretary and San Antonio mayor. \u201cThe Housing Playbook outlines a bold and ambitious blueprint to tackle these crises head-on, with housing justice and racial equity at the forefront. This is how we ensure housing is not just a commodity, but a basic need and a human right granted to every single American.\u201d<\/p>\n

Community Change President Dorian Warren\u00a0concurred<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless of where we come from, what we do for work, how we identify, or whether we\u2019ve been caught up in our unjust criminal system, everyone deserves a roof over their head,\u201d Warren said. \u201cThe Biden-Harris administration has signaled that they would make racial justice and equity in COVID-19 relief and long-term economic policy a priority. Safe and reliable housing is the cornerstone to economic security. This proposal is a blueprint for how to help move the country toward that vision.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report\u2019s seven specific policy recommendations include:<\/p>\n