Trapped in Poverty: The Housing Crisis Facing Low-Income Families in America

Abstract

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the America City" is an interesting book that gives its reader a deeper and transformed understanding of poverty and economic exploitation within America. Based on the book, it becomes clear that being poor in America proves a punishment as the cost of living, most especially with housing, proves unbearable. Nevertheless, as argued by Desmond (2016), the landlords show no concern for the welfare of the poor but rather enjoy profit maximization from almost everything that these poor citizens earn. Based on the experiences of the eight low-income families that Desmond (2016) analyzed, one can learn that the population of the poor who experience the bitterness of the rising cost of housing comprises both the whites and the blacks. The two landlords manipulating the said eight low-income families worsen their condition by setting very weird living conditions that lead many into family abuse or evictions in the long run. It is unfortunate to learn that even the law enforcers who are supposed to intervene when the citizens need them to help segregate these low-income families residing in Milwaukee with a 911 call leading to the eviction of many families from any noted apartments within this city. Women faced a lot of abuse from their husbands at the expense of maintaining silence to escape eviction while landlords mocked them with all sorts of warnings through direct slogans like "keep quiet and face abuse" or "call the police and face eviction". To wrap it up, one can argue that mass eviction and its effects played a significant role in trapping Milwaukee individuals and families into severe poverty. Desmond (2016) arguments are well backed up by facts from lived experiences which prove a substantial strength in his article. The author compiles a detailed report based on an ethnography about the daily experiences of poverty as analyzed from Milwaukee, eight low-income families. The author spent most of his time mingling with Milwaukee city residents and exposed him to real lived experiences with close analyses on two landlords who rented these eight low-income families their houses and exposed them to a hell on earth through hiked costs, among other unbearable living conditions. Based on the ethnographic characteristic of this report, the author can analyze the cause of poverty amongst Americans and summarizes that the high cost of housing in America leads many into becoming slaves to their landlords as they are completely unable to clear their housing bills every month to pile up. The highly piling up house debts lead many landlords to evict the tenants unlawfully to enjoy other tenants whose capability to pay their rents proves more advanced. However, it is imperative to note that even the landlord suffers...