Monday, March 13, 2017
Are the dearth of workforce housing in Charlotte, the lack of upward mobility, the resegregation of our schools and last year’s riots all connected? Clint Smith believes so and wrote about it in The New Yorker. He tells host Mike Collins more when Charlotte Talks.
We’ve long known about Charlotte’s lack of affordable or workforce housing.
Recently we learned that upward mobility in the Queen City is nearly impossible. Charlotte ranks last among the country’s 50 largest cities for upward mobility.
The reasons for Charlotte’s affordable housing crisis is multifaceted, including education options, access to health, segregation, racial trust and more.
Clint Smith, a writer and teacher, wrote an article for The New Yorker last fall after the Keith Scott shooting and subsequent protests, suggesting that the end of Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools’ desegregation and busing programs played into the unrest in Charlotte last year.
He shares his thoughts with host Mike Collins on all those topics and more when Charlotte Talks.
Guest:
Clint Smith, award-winning teacher and spoken word poet. Author of Counting Descent, a finalist for the NAACP Image Award.
Event:
Clint Smith is the keynote speaker at the Habitat for Humanity Building Futures Symposium “The Perilous Convergence of Poverty, Injustice and the Affordable Housing Crisis in Charlotte” March 14, 5:30 pm, Dale Halton Theater.