The Charleston Forum found racial inequality. Here’s how local leaders want to fix it.

By Sara Coello scoello@postandcourier.com
Sep 6, 2020

Excerpt

Stopping the cycle, without conditions

The close relationship between basic public services and the criminal justice system has disenfranchised residents who need help to regain stable lives, leaders told The Post and Courier, with a lack of public funds herding residents into low-level crimes, and criminal histories preventing others from gainful employment and steady housing.

“From slavery to Jim Crow to the war on drugs, we’ve seen consistent over-policing of Black communities,” said Frank Knaack, executive director of the ACLU of South Carolina. “We’ve had this knee-jerk reaction to criminalize everything.”

But the root of high crime rates often lies in systemic issues, Knaack said: Proper sidewalks would do more to mitigate pedestrian injuries than an officer citing jaywalkers.

“We need to rethink what we mean by ‘public safety,’” Knaack said. “Let’s appropriate (public safety) money to where communities need these services.”

That’s especially important for people recovering from homelessness, who often arrive at the homelessness service struggling to find housing that doesn’t hinge on a clear criminal history or living wage, said One80 Place Chief Development Officer Marco Corona.

Affordable housing is often reserved for people “who are safe bets,” Corona said, with good credit and no history in the criminal justice system.

“That doesn’t necessarily address the racial inequality in homelessness,” Corona said. “We view housing as a basic necessity to break that cycle.”

Across demographics, survey respondents agreed there’s not enough affordable housing in the tri-county area. Inequality in wages and policing feed racial disparity, Corona said, and a housing-first movement that doesn’t require a high income or clear records of respondents would help balance the disparity.