I picked up a copy of the Redlands Daily Facts (our local newspaper) today and saw that the front page headline was “POPULAR WITH PANHANDLERS: Redlands’ reputation for giving lures locals, out-of-towners seeking handouts.” Of course, the “handout” stereotype caught my eye, and I proceeded to read the article (which can be found online, here.) Just the way the entire article is set up and written bothers me. It is full of negative stereotypes and stigmas against panhandlers and focuses completely on the police’s and the businesses’ side rather than taking a deeper look into the lives of the panhandlers. The article points out the way people spend the money they receive while panhandling, pulling quotes from interviews with the panhandlers such as, “You’ve got to survive out here. You’ve got to do it to make money to buy your food, beer and tobacco.” The article emphasizes the fact that many panhandlers have drug/alcohol addictions, posing addiction as a cause of the homeless problem rather than an outcome and stereotyping these people as lazy drug-addicts who spend the “handouts” they receive on booze and dope. The article lacks empathy for the people who apparently are “coming from outside city limits to come to Redlands to panhandle because it’s more profitable” due to Redlands citizens’ “big hearts.” The article emphasizes the fact that “one out of three panhandlers are not homeless,” as if to persuade people that the housed people are even more unworthy of donated money. It goes on to explain different tactics panhandlers use to get money, characterizing these people as liars. The police and the newspaper article encourage people to donate to organizations that help the homeless in the area instead of giving directly to homeless people. This is a recurring theme we have seen throughout history. The authorities encourage people to funnel their money through the institutions that help homeless, but there are not enough truly helpful organizations to solve the problem. Overall, this article was frustrating, but not surprising. It lacked an understanding of the homeless problem and brushed over the backgrounds of panhandlers, stigmatizing them as lazy and evil.
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Nice comment, Sally. Here’s the letter I wrote to the editor in response to the article. We’ll see if they print it.
Dear Editor,
Sunday’s front-page article, “Popular with Panhandlers”, can easily mislead your readers about the nature of Redlands’ homeless population. Though your writer makes some effort to point out that not all panhandlers are homeless, her lead example and the repeated use of the phrase “panhandlers and homeless” encourages readers to come away with the idea that they are.
The further claim that many panhandlers are outsiders, preying on Redlanders’ generosity, can easily lead readers to imagine that our local street homeless are too.
In point of fact, most of Redlands’ homeless population is local. Three years ago, my University of Redlands class on “Hunger and Homelessness” interviewed a large percentage of the adult homeless population, at the request of former Police Chief Jim Bueerman. We found that most of our local street homeless have long-standing ties to our community. Some were raised here. Others have relatives here. Yet others were living here when they became homeless. Only a very few moved here after becoming homeless. For the most part, our street homeless are not outsiders; they are us.
Yes, giving money to panhandlers is often not the best way to help them. But panhandling and homelessness are separate issues. I wish that your writer had kept them more clearly distinct.
Sincerely,
James V. Spickard
Redlands