Evicted? Thank these guys.
15 million people at the risk of eviction!
Who’s pushing for evictions during a pandemic? How do they make money from it? Get political patronage? How is the CDC prevented from protecting public health? Where will seniors, the disabled and veterans be hurt the most by evictions? Resources for the evicted? How are evictions used for voter suppression?
There is a lot to evictions during a pandemic, but it’s always a good idea to follow the money. We created a relationship map with the free Kumu app to map the connections between the rich and powerful pushing for evictions. Who pays whom? What do they get in return? Who gets hurt?
We also created a map with ArcGIS Online and data from Living Atlas to see which communities would be most hurt by these evictions. How may houses vs rental units are there in a county? How many people have disabilities? Seniors? Veterans? What is the median household income? Who are the elected officials supposed to be looking out for their constituents but OK with them being evicted in a pandemic?
Follow the money made from evictions
This relationship map can be freely shared with this link https://Dem-Labs.kumu.io/evicted?token=SUD9aXtDE0XuPGY6 or embedded in a website with
< iframe src=”https://Dem-Labs.kumu.io/evicted?token=SUD9aXtDE0XuPGY6″ width=”1024″ height=”576″ frameborder=”0″></iframe>
Mapping the participants
How the rich get richer exploiting the poor and denying them their right to vote
The ecosystem that allows millions of Americans to be evicted during a pandemic has four broad inter-connected groups:
1. Realtors and property managers who received federal aid during the pandemic while evicting poor, Black and Brown tenants at the same time. – Aspen Institute
“Many of these corporate landlords received taxpayer bailouts intended to be used as a lifeline. Last year, a Popular Information investigation found that, in five states, 62 corporate landlords were filing evictions during the moratorium despite receiving at least $60 million in forgivable loans from the Paycheck Protection Program.” – Popular Info
2. Investors like Vanguard and BlackRock that finance real estate firms that exploit the poor. This is ironic as their public statements have high-minded ideals like “Vanguard’s core values of integrity, focus, and stewardship are reflected every day in the way that we engage with our clients, our crew.” and “BlackRock contributes to a more resilient economy that benefits more people. We’re involved citizens, community members, friends, and family members Speaking out for diversity, equity and inclusion of all underrepresented groups.”
3. Republicans getting real estate lobby donations and also use evictions as a means of voter suppression against the homeless.
Several states have enacted laws to suppress citizens’ right to vote over the last decade, and the Robert’s U.S. Supreme Court struck down key provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act in the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder case, which encouraged state legislatures to further restrict voting and registration laws. 24 Republican state legislatures, with help from the Koch Brothers funded ALEC. enacted strict, highly partisan voter identification laws that make it harder for the homeless to vote.
It is hard for the homeless to safeguard vital records and other personal identification documentation. And just as difficult to obtain such records without possessing related documents, especially in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. A National Homelessness Law Center survey of more than 50 service providers across 16 states found that more than 10% of clients lacked a photo ID. Such laws also latently harmed African Americans (who make up 13.4% of the overall population but more than 40% of the homeless population in the U.S.), according to journal article published by the American Political Science Association.”
4. The Centers For Disease Control that has the mandate to protect Americans and groups serving the evicted.
Real estate firms and investors pushing for evictions
Politicians beholden to real estate lobby
CDC prevented from protecting public health
Mapping the suffering from evictions
This map contains information about:
The number of owners vs renters in a county? What is the median age and income?
How many people with disabilities live in that community? What type of disability do they have?
How many veterans live in that county?
Who is the elected official for that area?
This information is presented in the form of data layers that you can turn On or Off depending on what you’re interested in.
This map can be freely shared with this link https://arcg.is/110Lvb1 or embedded in a website with this code:
< iframe width=”300″ height=”200″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” allowfullscreen src=”https://arcg.is/110Lvb1″></iframe>
TakeAway: Don’t fall for politicians’ platitudes about caring for seniors and veterans, or corporations claiming integrity and doing right by their community.
Actions speak louder than words. Use data and maps to follow the money to see how the rich exploit the poor and then deny them their right to vote.
Deepak
DemLabs
Originally posted on DEMLABS BLOG. Reposted with permission.