PROGRESSIVE PLAYBOOK > HOUSING
CORE MESSAGE
For centuries, a handful of lawmakers and real estate speculators have locked Black and Brown people out of homes and entire neighborhoods through racist practices like barring them from owning property to redlining. After greedy Wall Street profiteers crashed the economy in 2008 by setting hard working families up to fail with predatory mortgages and skyrocketing rents, Wall Street continues to find new ways to profit off an unaffordable and unfair housing market. For nearly three quarters of a century, housing prices have risen while big corporations kept people’s paychecks low. It doesn’t have to be this way.
Housing is a basic human need. We can come together - Black white, and brown, in small towns and big cities - to rewrite the rules and make sure everyone is guaranteed a safe, stable, sustainable place to call home.
WATCH IT IN ACTION
POLLING + Fast Facts
VOTERS DEMAND ACTION ON HOUSING
74% of Americans believe that ensuring everyone has a safe, decent, affordable place to live should be a “top national priority,” including 61% of Republicans.
THE RENT IS TOO HIGH
A person working full time for the minimum wage cannot afford a two-bedroom apartment in any county — urban, suburban, or rural — in the United States. 23 million people, disproportionately people of color, spend over 50% of their income on housing.
FEDERAL HOUSING GUTTED
Certain politicians have gutted support for our 958,000 public housing units, leaving families in appalling conditions. 69% of public housing residents are people of color.
RACISM DRIVES THE HOUSING CRISIS
Redlining and racist housing policy shut Black, Brown and Indigenous people out of housing for over 100 years. Today, nearly 90 percent of census tracts are still racially segregated and Black and Brown neighborhoods are 2-3 times more likely to be deeply impoverished.
GREEDY CORPORATE LANDLORDS
To turn a quick profit, the wealthiest 1% have put the most basic of human needs - reliable shelter - out of reach, including for 1.4 million school children. Millions more live one medical bill, flat tire, or other emergency away from sleeping on the streets, yet giant corporate landlords are sitting on at least $470 billion in handouts and billions in income collectively.
Words that Work
NEXT: TOOLS + RESOURCES ↓
Tools + Resources
For more information, we have included the following additional resources below. These resources do not necessarily reflect the policy positions of the Progressive Caucus Action Fund.
MESSAGING GUIDES + Data TOOLS
The Rent Is Too Damn High - Groundwork Collaborative and People’s Action
A New Deal for Housing Justice - Community Change
National Homes Guarantee Briefing Book - People’s Action
The State of the Nation’s Housing — Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard
Housing Investments using State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds - National Low Income Housing Coalition
Messaging Guidance on Homelessness - Housing Narrative Lab
Private Equity Vultures Eye Real Estate During Coronavirus Crisis — Americans for Financial Reform
Housing is a Racial Justice Crisis: Solutions for Children and Families During COVID and Beyond — Children’s Defense Fund
Pandemic Leads to More Precarious Housing Situation — Center for Economic and Policy Research
Housing Discrimination, Unfinished Civil Rights Fight — Opportunity Starts At Home
We Make the Future Messaging Guide - We Make the Future
POLLING
Majority of Voters Favor Making Infrastructure Contingent on pro-Housing Policies — Data for Progress 04.2021
Strong support for building affordable housing, emergency assistance and more — Opportunity Starts at Home 07.2022
Public Highly Concerned About Housing Instability, Expects Action — Hart Research 05.2020
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