March 10, 2017
Across the country, low-income and working-class renters and workers are the bedrock of local economies and communities. The Trump administration’s reported proposal for $6 billion in broad ranging cuts to the US Department of Housing Urban Development (HUD) are yet another blatant attack on communities of color, immigrants, indigenous communities, differently-abled peoples, women, trans and gender nonconforming people. They are an attack on the fabric of our communities and on millions of low-income and working families who are struggling to find or keep permanent jobs and housing.
At a time when we are facing a national housing crisis. Half of all renters pay unaffordable rents and 1 of every 4 households pay 50% or more of their income on rent. Millions are forced to choose between putting food on the table, getting to work or accessing medicine and paying for rent. These cuts will force thousands into the homelessness, devastate our economy and put monumental pressure on emergency, healthcare and homelessness services.
The Right To The City Alliance stands firmly against these cuts and displacement in all forms: eviction, mass incarceration and deportation.
We must stand up and resist these attacks with boldness and vision. In NYC, local organizations have called for a mass action Monday against these cuts. In the face of these cuts, and Trump’s repressive policies, we believe in the power of 110 million renters united in action. We believe in our communities’ resilience to unite to fight Trump’s policies of austerity and hate with a vision of solidarity, safety, community. A vision of an economy that puts the people and the planet before the profits of real estate moguls, banks and corporations.
Cities across the country are being transformed into playgrounds for the rich as local governments encourage real-estate speculation by eroding rent-stabilization and eviction protections and subsidizing luxury housing development and private developers, like Trump and his son-in-law and Chief Advisor Jared Kushner.
Trump, who was born into a wealthy family, with easy access to loans, trust funds and political connections, made his own fortune as a real-estate tycoon and slumlord, displacing and ripping off working families and discriminating against Black tenants. His family continues to profit from section-8 tenant rents, gentrification and real estate holdings across the globe.
Now as the “Evictor-In-Chief” and his hand firmly in the cookie jar, he has called for $54 billion in increases to military defense spending and billions in public subsidies for his friends in dirty energy companies, prison corporations and Wall Street bankers. All while pushing for cuts to nearly every critical social safety net and support program in the nation.
Our world does not need more walls, more wars, more pipelines, more displacement and more deportation. We need investment in our communities so our children and future generations can thrive in healthy, safe, and sustainable communities.
In the face of these attacks, let’s rise up together as a network of rebel cities to reclaim our right to the city, reclaim our right to thrive and reclaim our right to determine our futures. From small towns to big cities let’s take back our communities, return democracy to the people and transform our world.”
Contact: Malcolm Torrejón Chu, RTC Communications Organizer [Malcolm@RightToTheCity.org]
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