Single Story: The Homeless

                             

-          The single story about the homeless is that they are less than people.  People stay away because they are scary or dirty or somehow less of a person.  These artifacts show how people are treating the homeless and in essence spreading the fear or hatred.  We see the overarching dislike of the homeless and the many ways to insult them.  These artifacts gives examples of how the homeless are treated by the media.  In one  we see them being treated as objects and in another we see them treated as evil and destructive and in another they are portrayed as crazy.  This is saddening because the homeless are people and deserve the same respect as any of our peers.  If this message continues to spread then the homeless will never be able to better their situation.  They deserve to be treated as our equals.

-          It’s a horrible single story because it keeps homeless people down.  While it is true that they are some people who are content being homeless there are some who want to break free of the cycle.  Many families fall on hard times and are left to the streets for a time but that does not make them bad people.  There are countless instances of homeless people being more generous than the rest of us but the single story we see depicted will cause fear in our hearts and stop us from ever seeing their goodness.  The social message sent through these artifacts will make it much more difficult for a homeless man or woman to break the mold and find a home.  In essence we as a society are keeping them homeless by viewing them as less than us.

-          It’s sad but true that the homeless in our communities are portrayed as lesser people who are undeserving of our help and respect.  Many of them are good people who have fallen on hard times but the media keeps them down.  As shown by the above artifacts, the homeless are portrayed as objects not people.  We need to create a society where all people are seen as people regardless of their situation.  The overarching theme of these artifacts is similar to what many other social or cultural groups have been viewed as in the past but as with those groups this also can change.  Not all homeless are bad or crazy and it is up to us to change that perception.