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Microblog #3 - Evicted

While reading Evicted, by Matthew Desmond, I began noticing the lack of
violence that was being described throughout the book.  Of course, there
were mentions of shouting, cursing, and crime rates, but true violence was
yet to be discussed over halfway through the novel.

However, when Desmond began discussing the struggles that black single
mothers face, it brought up the topic of domestic violence in poverty-ridden
areas.  For example, it states, “The year the police called Sherrena (the
landlord), Wisconsin saw more than one victim per week murdered by a
current or former romantic partner or relative” (Desmond 192).  After
providing a few more statistics (geared toward poverty-ridden areas and
black mothers specifically), Desmond describes a circumstance typically
seen by victims of domestic violence who rent in impoverished areas of
Milwaukee.  
In Evicted, a woman named Trisha’s abuse is described.  After several 911
calls are made because of excessive noise (the sound of Trisha’s boyfriend
beating her), the city begins charging Sherrena for every call made.  Because
Trisha did not have enough money for rent and was behind on her payments
to Sherrena, Sherrena is allowed to evict her, even though the domestic
violence is the only true reason for the eviction.  This also means that Trisha
would be unable to report her own abuse (call 911) for fear of eviction.

This devastating process really stuck with me, as when someone is evicted
because of domestic violence-related issues, the cyclical nature of poverty
strikes them again when they have to move into an even worse property than
the one they were previously in.  What I found especially interesting about
this cycle is that this theme seems to apply to all poverty-related issues,
making it incredibly difficult to move on or start a “new life”.

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