Research Process and Findings on Locating Sources

What sources did you find?   

I found sources about the causes of homelessness, racial disparities, housing policy, and redlining practices.

What did you learn from reading these sources?

I have learned that many factors can lead to homelessness, such as, social inequities in salary/wealth distribution, education, lack of opportunities, and resource access. How government redlining of specific geographic areas, a practiced geared at devaluing specific neighborhoods that is racially motivated has influenced this condition.  The housing practices used to promote redlining, through mortgage loan lending, further perpetuate and disadvantage minority communities.  Lastly, evidence shows that access to adequate resources and opportunities is disproportionately geared to benefiting white communities.

After reading those sources what direction might you take your final project?

After reading the sources, I will continue this path of discovery because I think there is a strong correlation between homelessness and socially constructed policies and practices aimed to disenfranchise African Americans.

What did you learn about finding primary and secondary sources online?

During my research, I learned that establishing its credibility and reliability of information across search platforms, can be a daunting task.  While, the internet is a great tool for finding information determining  information credibility and reliability can be challenging.  In contrast, Journal articles are easier to determine credibility.  An article published in a journal implies that the article has been vetted by experts in the field, and went through a peer review process. 

What do you know now about your topic that you did not know previously?

In an article by Gabrielle S. Jackson, entitled, “The Legacy of the Federal Housing Administration”, dated 12/16/2020, accessed on 3/6/2021, I learned that the historical experiences implemented to disadvantage African Americans can influence the policy and practices of housing for generations come.

I now know the lack of economic mobility and opportunity access in African American communities can lend to negative life outcomes in those communities, which can increase chances of homelessness.

What new and remaining questions do you have?

I still need to know more about how these factors contribute to the overwhelming incidences of homelessness in African American communities, and how policy changes in housing and other resource access areas can reduce homelessness in those communities.

In retrospect, how might you approach this task differently?

In retrospect, I could have looked only at the factors contributing to homelessness in African American communities, instead of exploring policies and mortgage lending practices that lend to their homelessness condition.