On Thursday, three Memphis mayoral race candidates — Reggie Hall, Michelle McKissack, and Paul Young — shared their plans to address racial inequities and homelessness at the Symposium on Ending Homelessness.
The event was hosted by the Community Alliance For The Homeless (CAFTH) at Rhodes College on August 10th, with the mayoral candidate forum moderated by Shirley Bondon of the Black Clergy Collaborative of Memphis.
“The mayor of Memphis has an awesome responsibility,” said Bondon. “If they do their job well, they can prepare a vehicle of opportunity for the city and all its residents. Those housed and unhoused.”
Each candidate was allowed an opening statement to describe their plans to address homelessness in Memphis. Symposium participants also submitted their own questions prior to the event. The candidates shared their personal experiences with the issue as well.
Following candidate statements, Bondon asked about their commitment to racial and social equity in their proposed response to homelessness, as well as how they have addressed the problem in their previous work.
The CAFTH 2022 annual report said, “While Black, African-American, or African individuals account for 51 percent of the total Memphis population, they represent 74 percent of the population experiencing homelessness.” In contrast, “White individuals account for 35 percent of the total Memphis population, but represent only 21 percent of the population experiencing homelessness.
“In an equitable world, the total population would be equal (or close) to the population experiencing homelessness,” the report said.
McKissack said homelessness is not just a “one-size-fits-all” problem, and that no one group can address it. “The fact is you have to tap into all those types of agencies that are actually addressing homelessness and racial and social aspects of living,” she said. “Here in Memphis, we are a predominantly African-American community, but the wealth is not spread out in the way that it should be.” If elected, McKissack said she plans to bring all parties to the table to come up with a solution.
She added that her work to address these inequities started in her role as a parent, at Downtown Elementary, where she started a clothes closet for students experiencing homelessness. She also invited local artists to the school every six weeks to ensure all students were able to feel “whole.”
Hall said he will be the “bridge between wealth and sweat equity.” He saidin order for the city to work, we have to learn how to build relationships and partnerships.
“It doesn’t matter if you have wealth or if you don’t, at this moment,” he said. “Bullets are flying. Cars are being broken into. The homes are being broken into. And everyone is being terrorized at this moment. It has finally come a time where we must all build together, work together, put aside petty differences, and bring in a true leader who can bridge that gap.”
When asked to recall a relationship he has built in the city of Memphis to address inequity, Hall said he hasn’t built any on the professional level; everything he does is on ground level. “The people that I help are the disproportionate people and disenfranchised people.”
Young said his approach relies on changing the system, as people of color are “disproportionately represented” in all social systems. “What we have to do is make the process seamless,” Young said. “People just don’t know. They don’t understand our bureaucracy. That’s how we address the inequities.”
Young added there need to be more resources to address the problem, which, he said, he has been actively doing as a part of his work. Young referenced his previous role as director of Housing and Community Development for the City of Memphis, where they started the first Affordable Housing Trust Fund.