Fed up with Section 8 and you should be Too!

Section 8 is supposed to decentralize poverty, but it actually centralizes it, in struggling Black neighborhoods. At best, all section 8 does is destabilize Black communities. At worst, it drives hard working and responsible middle-class neighbors out and turns entire areas into slums. Once a Black neighborhood starts having problems, Section 8 accelerates those problems. In some cities where public housing is in transition, residents with vouchers have clustered in working-class Black neighborhoods. Section 8 will always seeks out the worst housing markets, and it will often be in transitional or poor Black neighborhoods. With the vouchers, thousands of poor Black families each year do exactly what the program should not: They move out of poor neighborhoods and into poorer neighborhoods with failing schools, and no job opportunities. And this is where the patterns of concentration come together. I know and you know there are thousands of Black folks that abuse the program. Some on Section 8 think they are being victimized. They think they have been intensely wronged by the system for not wanting to do better, or having baby after baby. Some have become what I call, Section 8 crazies, playing the victim of ever changing government housing policies. I know a friend of a friend who has spent 57 or her 58 years dedicated to Section 8 and Section 8 only, and has nothing to show for her dedicated years of service to this humble program. She has lived in Section 8 housing all but 1 of her 58 years. It is an honored legacy passed down from her parents who moved into Section 8 housing when she was six months old. She has passed the honored legacy down to her children, but now fears they may have to get up off of their asses and get jobs to pay for their own utilities and deposits. She actually mourns about her one year away from the comfort of her Section 8 wonderland. She told me, “I tried it for a year, you know, working and all. It's not anything I would want to go through again, or wish on anyone in my family.” If you read my writings, you should know that I fight for our people on a day to day basis, but I’m damn sick of our people demanding free handouts, and refusing to make something of their lives. As long as they keep receiving free stuff, why not be lazy? They're probably all happy as can be. I'm sure between Section 8 and their assistance check; it buys em enough liquor and dope to keep em feeling pretty good. Too bad they don't
use some of that money to buy a large supply of condoms, because the majority of Section 8 families seem to have 4, 5, even 6 and 7 kids running around. Have you ever seen who and what hangs out on the streets where Section 8 vouchers dominate? The people look like hell! The most undesirable people follow Section 8. Drive through a housing complex or neighborhood with a high percentage of Section 8 renters in the early evening, and at night; take a look at the cars parked there. If there are a lot of older cars, or if there are average looking cars with a few expensive/tricked out cars, beware! You will also see young thugs loitering non stop. Housing and Urban Development also affords landlords to treat Section 8 renters better than renters who pay their own bills. Housing and Urban Development states that landlords can require only a $50 security deposit from Section 8 renters — instead of the usual full month's rent deposit required for unsubsidized renters. Section 8 tenants usually don't have anything to lose. If you have a little more to lose, then you are more likely to make it clean when you move out or to take a little better care of it when there. Some Section 8 renters live in homes owned by absentee landlords who won’t even evict tenants, even for the most flagrant lease violations. For landlords, the guaranteed subsidy payment is a strong ass incentive. I think that we Black folks are expected to put up with this dysfunctional way of life because of the idea that all Black people are tied together in our struggle. This concept was absolutely cool when we battled just to be recognized as humans and citizens worthy of treatment equal to that of white people. But while our country still fights with racial equality, gains have been made, so much that a self-identified Black man became leader of the free world. In other words, (some Black people don't like to hear this, but) personal responsibility is now the determination of our progress. Once it’s ingrained in a person that they can’t get out of the hood and they’re just like Shameequa and them, then they start to believe it. Should they want more? Yes. Will they get more? Only if they move past the negative, (institutionalized racism, classism, sexism, and other isms), will they ever reach the positive (a life that isn’t dependent upon governmental handouts). I, like many other like-minded Black people, do not like to be broke. That’s why I write my ass off to get where I need to be. However, some Black people don’t have shame and instead, look for a damn handout