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The uncounted, discounted turmoil of eviction
And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
In the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, a landlord targeted, harassed, and persecuted residents of his property. The residents were predominantly working class, Black women. He threatened them with eviction as part of a campaign of racial and sexual abuse. The women organized, went to court, and, after years and against many odds, won a landmark settlement. Over the next year, the landlord must pay $2.5 million in dollars in financial compensation to tenants and the state. Additionally, he must sell all his properties in Virginia and can never operate in the Commonwealth of Virginia again. All records of evictions and eviction filings will be erased. Additionally, the landlord is already serving a 17-year sentence in federal prison. So, this is a victory for tenants. And yet …
And yet many feel that the part of the story that goes missing is the emotional: the loss, the pain, the missing, the turmoil. Lorraine Patterson-Davidson is one of the residents of this story. Lorraine Patterson-Davidson is a widowed military-spouse with eight children. While pleased that she and her family will be able to recoup some of the money they lost, or better that was stolen from them, they mourn the loss of family history, the loss of the irreplaceable. In this instance, a family Bible that was over a hundred years ago, an object that was tossed on the street and lost during an eviction: “There is no money that can compensate for a Bible that’s over 100 years old. Nothing can replace that.”
Nothing can replace that.
Reflecting on the impact of the entire process, Lorraine Patterson-David mused, “I’m not sure I’m the same person. But (the Bible) says ‘be angry and sin not’”.
Lorraine Patterson-Davidson is teaching the world is that eviction is not merely a legal process nor a matter of housing. Eviction invades the person, and that invasion is part of the purpose of eviction. Eviction is turmoil, a word that historically has no beginning and yet persists and pervades. Look around, locally and globally. What do you see? What do you hear? What do you feel? Turmoil. Where is the turmoil, the emotional pain, in public policy concerning eviction? Where is the peace and emotional well-being in public policy concerning affordable housing? Lorraine Patterson-Davidson cherished her family Bible. Nothing can replace that. Who cares?
I’m not sure I’m the same person. Nothing can replace that. Lorraine Patterson-Davidson is teaching us that something cannot be replaced. Someone cannot be replaced. Lorraine Patterson-Davidson is teaching, but are we listening? Be angry and sin not.
(by Dan Moshenberg)
(Image Credit: Rashid Johnson, Untitled)
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