Summary: Ethnic Inequality In Homelessness

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Ethnic inequality in homelessness represents a tremendous social problem in the U.S., which calls attention to how different racial and ethnic groups experienced housing instability. Despite the country's vast riches, various ethnic minorities, specifically African Americans, Native Americans, and Native Hawaiians/Other Pacific Islanders, struggle with disproportionately higher homelessness rates. This essay examines this issue by summarizing a recent news article and analyzing it through the lens of four social concepts: symbolic interactionism, social conflict, structural functionalism, and feminist theory. Summary of the News Article “U.S. S. News Examines Racial Equality in America” (2023), the article reveals the continuous ethnic inequalities …show more content…

The existence of such bias causes landlords and housing authorities to differentiate minority applicants and to deteriorate their living conditions. The "Social Problems" textbook points out that this stigmatization frequently leads to systemic barriers that result in ethnic discrimination in housing. Hence, homelessness and poverty cycles continue (University of Minnesota, 2016). Social conflict theory investigates how power and inequalities derive from economic and social orders (University of Minnesota, 2016). It is shown in the U. S. News article where structural racism has been created to give some groups privileges and others a disadvantage (U.S. et al., 2023). This conflict stems from historic and systemic inequalities, which over the years have resulted in racial segregation, redlining and discriminatory housing policies. This rooted roadblock is the reason why these groups have few avenues of access to stable housing, and as a result, the cycle of poverty and homelessness perpetuates. The structural functionalism theory defines society as a system which operates in a way to preserve stability. However, social stability is weakened by homelessness, and ethnic differences in homelessness show that there are problems with the entire system. The U. S. News article draws

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