Nicole Humphrey, 'Not Racist or Bigot,' on Class and Section 8 Housing

[ Audio excerpt from Poverty, Politics and Profit. 1:51 min. ]


FRONTLINE | PBS
https://soundcloud.com/frontlinepbs/poverty-politics-and-profit

FRONTLINE and NPR investigate the billions spent on affordable housing, and why so few get the help they need.

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Class, Poverty, and Politics

FRONTLINE: But her plan hit a roadblock.

Developer: We thought we were going to have support, and instead the city actually called a public hearing for our property and about 250 angry residents showed up.

FRONTLINE: Some residents voiced concerns about traffic, others about overcrowding in their schools, and some were worried about having low-income housing in their neighborhood.

Nicole Humphrey is a local opponent of the development.

FRONTLINE: What is your concern when it comes to section 8 and low-income?

Nicole Humphrey: Um, the lifestyle I feel like that is goes with section 8 is usually working um single, maybe single moms, or um people who are struggling to keep their heads above water. And it's not ... haha ... I feel so bad saying that. But it's not, um, it's just not people who are, I guess, of the same ... class as us. Which sounds bad, but I don't mean that in a bad way.

FRONTLINE: Some people would say, you know, look, they maybe have not had the opportunities they had, their kids are not going to have the opportunities, that your kids are going to have in this neighborhood. Can they share in that?

Nicole Humphrey: Um, the problem with that is I hear a lot of the unfair of 'oh, we haven't been given this or that or we haven't been afford things that you might have been afforded.' Um, I don't look at multi-millionaires and think 'why don't I have a yacht? why don't I have a private jet?' It's a mindset, I feel like.

FRONTLINE: Do you think that you maybe, are stereotyping the folks ...?

Nicole Humphrey: Oh I totally am, a 100%. It's not, it works both ways. I, I'm definitely not a racist and I'm not bigot, but um I, I think I hold a little bit of a stigma against people who are different. We don't want nomads. We don't want people who don't have roots. I just don't want that to be what my community is about.

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Poverty, Politics and Profit
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/poverty-politics-and-profit/

Section 8 Vouchers Help The Poor — But Only If Housing Is Available
http://www.npr.org/2017/05/10/527660512/section-8-vouchers-help-the-poor-but-only-if-housing-is-available