Homelessness and Property Owners Essay

Submitted By owentyler21
Words: 1625
Pages: 7
Open Document
1. In the mid-late 1800s, Tenements were defined as three or more families living in one house, or two or more families living on the same floor. It just so happens at this point in time, many immigrants from foreign countries were showing up in America. Most of these people, including Riis, ended up in New York looking for work in the City. The property owners fit as many families as they possibly could into their rear houses to make as much profit as possible. They completely ignored the fact of hygiene, mostly due to the lack of hygiene knowledge in this time period. If people refused to live in the crowded tenement, the would be forced to live on the streets with no protection at all from disease and weather. The high demand for housing as well as property owner greed were the reason for crowded tenements. The high rate of immigrants also raised the demand for housing options in the city. It was hard to find a high paying, steady job to support a family so people had to find a low cost place to live. Property Owners loved this, as well as the wealthy New York businessmen. The property owners knew the people needed a place to stay unless they wanted to live on the streets. The owners allowed them, for a small fee, to stay in a “rear house” which is a piece of land behind the traditional house on a street. The more people he could fit into this house, the more profit he would make. The tenements were not well kept at all and were filled with disease, poor air ventilation and little to no lighting. The people couldn’t afford anything better so that’s how the tenements really took off.
The author has seen first hand the horrors of the tenements. For this reason, he proposes a solution in chapter 24. Riis suggests that law enforcement must do more to make laws regarding health. He also says its up to the property owners to have regard for their neighbors and tenets health. He also thinks that the population will drift to other different cities across the coast and country.
2. The author thinks very lowly of immigrants. He thinks most of them are drunks or criminals. He also always says that they are dirty and have too many kids. A lot of these scenarios are true, but only because they don’t have the job skills to live well. He wishes them well though which is a good thing.
I don’t think he is racist. A racist person would not care enough to write an entire book on the harships of the people that they hate. Although he does talk kind of bad about them, nothing he is saying is false or over exaggerated by any means. He was simply stating the truth which some people may find racist when it’s not. His personal background isn’t like those of the people he writes about in this book. He came from a middle class family unlike these people living in poverty. He doesn’t think its right for people to be treated the way the landlords are treating the people in their tenements because he never lived like that. He cant completely understand the struggles of the people in the book.

3. . Almost all families living in tenemants had more than one child. In some cases, one tenement could hold 128 children, in just one house! Many times kids would end up dead and nobody would know who the parents were. Since the parents didn’t have high paying jobs to support the family, many kids would spend their days begging for food or money so they could hopefully help feed their family. A very large percent of these kids have little to no schooling. This makes getting the skills necessary for finding a real job very hard. The author seems to think that many of the boys could make great mechanics, but they are unable to get proper schooling. Due to this, many children ended up working in sweatshops in the city. They would work very long hours for just a small amount of pay. It was usually tenements that were turned into sweatshops so the owners could avoid rules the city had made for factories for working hours, breaks etc.
Housing was a
Show More

Related Documents: Homelessness and Property Owners Essay

Homelessness In The United States Essay

WHAT CAUSES HOMELESSNESS IN THE UNITED STATES? Our society has always set boundaries and stereotypes about quality of life. Having a house, obtain a job, and a well-paid salary are the expectations for anyone in this life. However, society hides many social issues that are affecting many people. One of those problems is homelessness, is the state of not having a home. Homeless often sleep on the street with any financial help, and most of the time, starving and health difficulties. Although many…

Words 434 - Pages 2

Challenges of Being an Advocate and Neutral Facilitator Essay

advocacy comes from underprivileged groups, such as children, the elderly, victims of abuse, or the homeless. My personal approach to advocacy for the homeless would start with increasing community awareness. This involves property owners, local government, and business owners. As an advocate, it is important to cultivate support from high-profile people, people with special skills, and people with good community reputations, to lend credibility to an advocacy plan. My advocacy plan would help the…

Words 324 - Pages 2

Research paper

call the homeless. The Homeless have always been a group of people in our society that we ignore time and time again. In fact, on July 24th, 2006 Orlando city council officially banned the feeding of homeless groups in Lake Eola Park and other city property downtown. (Orlando Sentinel, 2006). This of course, caused in outrage of boos, applause, and raucous outbursts from the public audience during the four meeting. (Orlando Sentinel, 2006). Did our Homeless class and volunteers get the justice that…

Words 1359 - Pages 6

community policing paper

faced with. Economy is a big strain on the programs, it affects other parts of the program more than others and those of communities. In the last 10 years, the United States has been going through a lot with the economy. This includes job loss, homelessness, salary cuts, and so much more. “For the first time in a field known for being stable and recession-proof and affording a high degree of job security, the economy has altered policing such that some agencies are closing precincts, merging with…

Words 1730 - Pages 7

Reducing Homelessness In America

Today, homelessness is one of the most spoken topics in recent years as a national issue. While almost all cities and towns in America have many varieties of methods to tackle this problem, however, only to not see end homelessness, or even prevent it from falling upon its residents. Atlanta, GA, Portland, OR, Los Angeles, CA, San Francisco, CA and New York City, NY are the current the cities with the rising homeless crisis where every effort to have seemed to fail to cease. As the newest city constructed…

Words 2093 - Pages 9

African American Culture Analysis

It is a common saying and belief among the Yoruba (Ekiti) people that Igi kan kii da nikan se igbo (a tree cannot make a forest). The moral meaning of this statement connotes solidarity: “when any member of a family or a tribe suffers, the entire family or tribe suffers as well; on the other hand, if a member of a family or tribe is well-to-do the whole family or tribe benefits from such riches and wealth” (Yoruba Popular saying). Thus, what Ejizu observes about African people in relation to their…

Words 1652 - Pages 7

Business Environment Essay

services, have stakeholders, create revenue, have bank accounts, can own assets, receive income from sales, enter into contracts and have investments. The differences for-profit businesses are that they function for the financial benefits of its owners and or shareholders, and pays taxes on their revenues. A nonprofit is a charitable business, whose role or mission is for the greater good of the society, and it is exempt from paying taxes, can be profitable, but their profits are used to facilitate…

Words 1066 - Pages 5

Migrant Farm Workers

The Lost Dreams and Hard Life of the Migrant Worker Imagine living in rural California in the 1930's, having no family, no one to love, and no money. Then consider traveling twenty miles by foot to get a job as a farmhand, but upon arrival not being treated any better than the animals on the ranch. This was the brutal reality that most migrant farm workers had to face on their journey of survival and struggle. Despite being a vital part of the United States agricultural industry, migrant farm workers…

Words 2655 - Pages 11

Migrant Farm Workers

The Lost Dreams and Hard Life of the Migrant Worker Imagine living in rural California in the 1930's, having no family, no one to love, and no money. Then consider traveling twenty miles by foot to get a job as a farmhand, but upon arrival not being treated any better than the animals on the ranch. This was the brutal reality that most migrant farm workers had to face on their journey of survival and struggle. Despite being a vital part of the United States agricultural industry, migrant farm workers…

Words 2655 - Pages 11

Final Essay

Enabling of White Supremacy Question #2 In her essay, Whiteness as Property, Cheryl Harris delineates the complexities of passing and white privilege. She describes her grandmother’s experience of passing as white in order to work, stating that it was a survival strategy precipitated by the racist social and political context at the time. As Harris states, this became, “the valorization of whiteness as a treasured property in a society structured on racial caste” (277). By stating this, Harris…

Words 2191 - Pages 9