Summary

In Chapter 7, “Discrimination and Ill-Treatment Can Harm Every Body,” in November 2020 Villarosa visited Friendship House in Morgantown, West Virginia. The establishment “offers services and support for people dealing with mental health concerns and recovery from . . . drug ‘misuse’” (141).

While there, Villarosa attended Coffee Club. She met many individuals who attended the program. Bartlett House, an “emergency triage center,” is also associated with the organization (143). “Those who don’t get beds” here end up at Diamond Village, a homeless encampment (143).

Villarosa argues that systemic racism is worst when it affects “those at the intersection of race and poverty” (145). Villarosa wonders if Blacks are disenfranchised due to “oppression, neglect, and erasure” (145). She visited West Virginia to understand how inequality might lead to “homelessness, poor health, and early death” (146). Oftentimes poor individuals, especially Blacks, are “blamed for their circumstances” (147).

Meeting individuals at Friendship House made Villarosa “think...