LOCAL STORY A DISCUSSION WITH JERRY BURTON ON SYSTEMIC RACISM AND HOMELESSNESS BY PAULA BARD “I tell people that the best person to advocate for you is yourself because you know what you want. You know what you’re trying to get to. I advocate for what we all have in common. Try to get people housed, try to get people jobs. But as far as what you want out of life, you have to advocate for yourself.” –JERRY BURTON BLACK ADULTS COMPRISE 5.3 PERCENT of the general population, but 20.5 percent of the homeless population, according to the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative Census data. Each Wednesday, Jerry Burton with Denver Homeless Out Loud offers a home-cooked meal, along with animated talks that encourage self-advocacy for the unsheltered. Jerry helped organize the three-day Homelessness and Race Vigil in Denver’s Civic Center Park during fall’s final days in October. The following is a recap of our conversation with him: Why did you organize the vigil about race with Denver Homeless Out Loud? There’s a lot of things in life that a lot of people don’t understand. How and why we [Black people] are in this position that we’re in. A lot of that comes from not knowing the history of their own country. The people that came here. The majority of the people that are Black have been homeless all of their lives. They’ve had a hard time finding or renting a place. And this goes way back to 1863 when the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. We have always been on the outside looking in. I’m just trying to get people to educate their white counterparts that we are not in this because we chose to be in this. We’re in this because it is the system in America. So, the vigil was a way to focus on this racial disparity and talk about it? When you bring up race, a lot of white people do not feel comfortable. So, doing it this way, I felt we could educate. It can be talked about. Positive in a way, we don’t have to be upset. If you do get upset, get upset about the way it was. Try to move on and try to fix this. We are all Americans, and we should be treated as such with dignity and respect. Most white people believe the myth about us instead of the truth. That’s why the country is so split right now. What myth is that? Such as, we don’t know how to do anything. No other race has been through what we’ve been through as Black people. This country gained its riches off our backs, and we still don’t own anything. Those African slaves did the work; they created the wealth of the country. How does this tie in with homelessness? Well, if everyone would have gotten 40 acres and a mule, that’s economic, it could have set up families for generational wealth— all the way down to this day. We did not get that. [Slaves] were turned out in a country they did not know about. They had no education. They were lost. A lot of them had nowhere else to go. Most of them had to walk from the south, to the north, and to the west just to make it. We were treated wrong. Our ancestors were turned away from the start and are still being turned away. So, what happens to those Blacks that are now homeless? Those guys arrested when they are 18, locked up in prison, and then dumped out on the street when they are 25? No education, no job skills? They end up on the streets, living in tents. It’s the same thing going on. It’s just a different approach. You got no education and go to court and get locked up for five or six years of your life. One or two things happen when you’re in prison. You’re either going to perfect your criminal craft or get out, not knowing anything. When you get out, you won’t be able to rent a house, apartment, or get a job to take care of yourself. You’re stuck, right back where you came from. Unless by some unforeseen incident, you get a second chance. But everyone doesn’t get a second chance. Unless you had money before you went in, your second chance is gone. What about going to their families for support? Most of the families aren’t going to be any help. Most of them are in the same situation. CREDIT: PAULA BARD 4 DENVER VOICE December 2020
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