Review of “Homeless: Poverty and Place in Urban America,” by Ella Howard, 2013. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Cloth, 276 pages.
This book is not about current homelessness so obvious throughout our nation. Instead, it discusses some important and related issues in our American past.
The book tells the story of the Depression and the community known as “Skid Row.” It explains the need for, and the peopling of, the famous Bowery and talks at length about the political processes related to Skid Row and how the American people felt about the area. The location is downtown Los Angeles, and it has been round since at least the 1930’s. It is said that “Skid Row contains one of the largest stable populations (about 4,200–8,000) of homeless people in the United States” (Skid Row, Los Angeles - Wikipedia).
Always feeling most of the poor living in Skid Row did not deserve much help, Americans assigned a great deal of stigma and shame to those who had bad luck and wound up there.
It is essential for people to read this book now, in this time of the topsy-turvy economy of COVID-19, plus the recent “New Great Depression” of 2008-2009, to see how poorly their fellow citizens were treated in the last century. Seeing what went on almost 100 years ago might help some Americans to embrace a more humane approach to thinking of the poor and take on some of the problems facing those currently living in poverty in our nation.
That having been said, there were in fact many good programs to assist the poor and many very devoted advocates to aiding them in their need. Great ideas did emerge and hard-working individuals did in fact step forward. Some people were able to see past the stigma of poverty and “roll up their sleeves” to do something rather than just judge others.
The book is good for general readers to give them that insight into what you could call another “American institution.” The book is helpful for telling us about human nature, and it is a good source for educating also.
Teachers of history, social studies, and English can use this book in three different ways: 1) as background reading on events, persons, laws, and social programs related to the Depression; 2) as a basis for helping students to compare and contrast the treatment of poor Americans 100 years ago with current times; and 3) as a reference book to assist in the development of units and lessons specifically about poverty, bills, laws, government, social interaction, psychology, alcoholism, religion, small-group behavior, crime, and profiling.
“Vagrants” could be arrested for standing around, doing nothing. Poor people today in urban areas are still often harassed or arrested by police officers because some Americans assume the Homeless will commit a crime of some sort, crime being part of their list of hobbies. Crime is great friend to the homeless—it gives them income and food and entertainment. Crime is a good past-time for the homeless. Or so some uninformed persons would have you believe.
Not giving all the content away, I have to say I enjoyed reading the book because I got some in-depth understanding of Skid Row and profiles of some of the people who lived there. Before this, I had never been aware of how the communities, residents, social service providers, landlords, politicians, and he American public had a very complex existence. This book was an eye-opener in terms of how badly this nation responded to the needs of those in Skid Row.
That having been said, the flop houses, bars, brothels, and programs did provide some relief to the Skid Row residents. A review of the social programs related to religion, alcoholism, and unemployment is interesting in light of the current poor economy and lack of opportunity we are experiencing as a people.
I recommend the book be read by all educators, especially by teachers of history and social studies. The three uses possible above are just a beginning to how the book can inform us.
All this wealth and some people are still starving. There are many questions so essential to consider. What have we as a nation learned since the Depression? How are we serving people better? How are we providing more opportunities for our citizens to access food and housing? How are we helping Americans to excel? Is there such a thing as the American Dream anymore for the great majority of the citizens?
Will only the richest Americans—or the luckiest—survive the current bad economic conditions, this new round of topsy-turvy economic happenings and challenges?