All posts by Samantha

We All Endure, We All Live, We are All Human

Books and Films, Homelessness

The past week of book presentations had an impressive effect on not only how homeless people are perceived, but how people are perceived in general. Theses presentations have shown the different perspectives that are associated with certain groups of homeless people from Caucasian mothers to African-American males. Yet within these different categories of homelessness, all stories are connected no matter the race, age, or gender. There are similar stories of destructive childhoods, rape, substance abuse, and the economy to blame for their current predicaments. Don’t all these problems seem universal? That people other than the homeless can and have endured all these situations?

There seems to be this reoccurring thought that questions why homeless people are seen as less than the rest of society, less than a human being. They have done nothing to warrant this type of stigma against them. The other day I witnessed a professionally dressed man belittle and scold a mother living in her car with her young daughter, and I couldn’t help but think about how that reaction will affect this young child’s life. The stories that were from each book all focused on one’s upbringing and how events can lead to homelessness. In this case, I saw how society is visibly rejecting the homeless just by one professionally dressed man treating another human inhumanely. Will the child see herself as less of a person and think that she deserves negative treatment that comes her way because she lacks a house? Will she resent her mother for putting her in this situation? Or perhaps the she will understand and that there will be a more positive outcome for her? These books have taught me that the events in childhood can truly affect a person’s perception of society and themselves. Nowadays I ask myself what everyone around me has endured, what has made them the person they are today. Because all of us go through similar situations and, therefore, that is what ultimately will connect all of us together in the end. Our life experiences are what make us who we are – human.

 

Who needs Pity?

About being poor, Homelessness, Uncategorized

Lately, I have been thinking about the concept of pity and the amount that is actually given to homeless people. This interest in pitying the homeless was sparked while reading the first section of Kenan Heise’s The Book of the Poor: Who They Are, What They Say, and How to End Their Poverty. It was at the very beginning, following the experience of Thomas Jefferson, where a number of homeless people were trying to avoid the pity by trying to present themselves as other than what they were: homeless.

These homeless people had a sense of pride that they were striving to hold on to. I think that people come across a homeless person and their mindset falls into the stereotype that they are out on the streets to beg, because they lack the drive to support themselves. The more privilege’s perspective is to pity them, ignore them, or throw some change their way. I tried to think back to a time where I felt like I was being pitied and vice versa. What I found was that myself, nor the person receiving my pity, didn’t want it.

So what is the point in pity? Pity is nothing more than an emotion that fails to benefit the giver and the receiver. No matter the class or situation, no one strives for looks of pity from strangers, yet alone loved ones.  The point that I am trying to make is that homeless people aren’t so beneath us that they need the pity in order to survive. We need to remember that the blame for their state of living has two sides: it is either due to choices that the homeless themselves have made or the choices made by the surrounding privileged society.

“A fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work”

Causes of Homelessness, Causes of Hunger, Causes of Poverty, Homelessness, Hunger, Poverty

It is amazing how far our country has come from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s declaration. There was concern about what workers’ should make for their labor. Where has it gone? In Arindrajit Dube’s’s opinion piece, The Minimum We Can Do (The New York Times, 2013), he discusses and asks questions concerning today’s federal minimum wage policies. Dube wants to know what should be done. Yet, isn’t that what everyone would want? What is fair?  However, the amount of minimum wage is what is creating inequality.

This article brought me back to a previous course assignment which truly changed my perspective. The assignment was to visit the internet website inequality.is and interact with the program. It showed statistics and situations that have led to where inequality is today. It provided comparisons of my possible income based off of my gender, ethnicity, age and education, which are all factors Dube discusses in his article. It was insightful to see the varying amounts depending on if I said I was White or Hispanic. No matter what, I had a lower income because I was a female.

Could it be that prejudice is a factor in those suffering from hunger and homelessness? Reflecting back on people I have seen on the streets and gave money to, the factors seen in both Dube’s article and the inequality.is interactive hold true. The concept of “a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work” is no longer relevant. Our country needs to stop doing the minimum in order for all to receive the maximum.