2008 Woodie Awards
Housing is a human right, not a luxury
Neil Mitten--The Greyhound (Loyola College-Maryland)
Issue date: 9/17/03 Section: Opinion
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(U-WIRE) BALTIMORE - I hold the conviction that housing is a human right, and every time I meet another child, woman or man who is deprived of that right, my conviction grows stronger. As a student who has always enjoyed the privilege of housing security, however, I could never fully articulate the adverse affects that America's affordable housing crisis has on citizens who are struggling to provide necessities of life for themselves and their families.
Yet, as someone who has lost hours of sleep thinking about the horrible realities of poverty and homelessness that are exacerbated by the extreme lack of decent, affordable housing, I cannot stay silent.
Before pursuing current issues, let's flash back to December 1948, when the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 25 of that document states, "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care..."
That declaration was the first instance in which the human right to housing was promoted at the international level, but it certainly was not the last.
The United Nations has affirmed housing as a human right in numerous declarations, covenants and recommendations over the past 50 years.
Historically, American political leaders have supported the concept of housing for all. Franklin Roosevelt, in his 1944 State of the Union address, declared housing one of the basic rights that "spell security."
In the Housing Act of 1949, Congress linked the general welfare of the nation to its housing quality, and set the "goal of a decent home and a suitable living environment for every American family."
What has happened in America? At the dawn of a new millennia, over 3 million Americans are estimated to be homeless over the course of a year and millions more low-income households struggle as they pay considerable portions of their incomes toward rent, placing their housing security at risk!
Yet, as someone who has lost hours of sleep thinking about the horrible realities of poverty and homelessness that are exacerbated by the extreme lack of decent, affordable housing, I cannot stay silent.
Before pursuing current issues, let's flash back to December 1948, when the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 25 of that document states, "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care..."
That declaration was the first instance in which the human right to housing was promoted at the international level, but it certainly was not the last.
The United Nations has affirmed housing as a human right in numerous declarations, covenants and recommendations over the past 50 years.
Historically, American political leaders have supported the concept of housing for all. Franklin Roosevelt, in his 1944 State of the Union address, declared housing one of the basic rights that "spell security."
In the Housing Act of 1949, Congress linked the general welfare of the nation to its housing quality, and set the "goal of a decent home and a suitable living environment for every American family."
What has happened in America? At the dawn of a new millennia, over 3 million Americans are estimated to be homeless over the course of a year and millions more low-income households struggle as they pay considerable portions of their incomes toward rent, placing their housing security at risk!