briggsith
The Great American Divide
He laid his head down on a tattered coat over the spiny grate, shoeless feet nestled firmly against the cold hydrant as the sinking sun sent shadows dancing across the nation's capital city. His feet seemed to fit against the hydrant so naturally, like it was made for his feet alone. I was struck by the irony of pristine bank windows in the background, shiny new cars up and down the clean street, people hurrying past, eyes locked on the distant splendor of giant government buildings, monuments, museums and churches. Truthfully, they gazed anywhere but down. Not here anyway. Not now.
Mr. Charles (pseudonym) is one of Washington D.C.'s 5,000+ homeless (1). Nameless and invisible to most, his typical day involves shuffling across the city sidewalks looking for a shady place to rest his tired body and, if lucky, finding food and shelter. Mr. Charles became homeless after losing a job that already barely paid the bills. Rent, medical and numerous other expenses forced him on the street. No family, no friends to help. Despite his misfortune, he remains hopeful that things will turn around.
Mr. Charles is not unlike the hundreds of thousands of other Americans calling the streets their home. Despite being one of the richest nations in the world, the distribution of resources in the U.S. is remarkably lopsided. For example, the top ten percent of wealth-holders in the country own roughly seventy-two percent of the nation's wealth, the bottom fifty just one and a half (2). Poverty is becoming increasingly common. By the age of 75, fifty-nine percent of Americans will have spent at least a year below the official poverty line during adulthood. By the age of 65, two-thirds will have received welfare assistance for at least a year (3). Adding childhood experiences would increase the rates considerably. Millions struggle to make ends meet in an economic system of persistent and growing race, class and gender inequality (4).
What do such broad social divisions mean for a society - its security, its politics, its culture, its ideas, its future? Mr. Charles reminds us that underneath all the ideology, politics, and statistics lies a real human cost. He is the living, breathing collateral damage of a system that, by design (5), maximizes the bottom line of so few and wastes the human value of so many. As I snapped the last picture of our encounter and walked away from Mr. Charles forever, my own privilege was brutally clear. An outsider, I would mingle, explore, photograph, observe, then return to the quiet security of middle class life. I would leave, but Mr. Charles would remain. His impression on me would remain as well, however; not of weakness, but strength and hope. His casual defiance spoke volumes as he carved out his sidewalk bed in the middle of great abundance and contradiction. As if saying, "I am here, I am real, and I deserve my space, too." Like thousands of others, homeless, but not hopeless. Stuck, but not sunk. Down, but not out. Penniless, but certainly not worthless.
References:
1) Cunningham, Mary and Meghan Henry. 2007. "Homelessness Counts." National Allegiance to End Homelessness. www.endhomelessness.org.
2) Kennickell, Arthur B. 2011. "Tossed and Turned: Wealth Dynamics of U.S. Households., 2007-2009." Finance and Economics Discussion Series, Divisions of Research & Statistics and Monetary Affairs, Federal Reserve Board, Washington, DC.
3) Rank, Mark R. and Thomas A Hirschl. 2001. "Rags or Riches? Estimating Probabilities of Poverty and Affluence Across the Adult American Life Span." Social Science Quarterly. 82:651-69.
4) Andersen, Margaret L. and Patricia Hill Collins. 2004. 5th ed. Race, Class, and Gender. Belmont: Wadsworth/Thompson.
5) Fischer, Claude S., Michael Hout, Martin Sanchez Jankowski, Samuel R. Lucas, Ann Swindler and Kim Voss. 1996. Inequality by Design: Cracking the Bell Curve Myth. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
The Great American Divide
He laid his head down on a tattered coat over the spiny grate, shoeless feet nestled firmly against the cold hydrant as the sinking sun sent shadows dancing across the nation's capital city. His feet seemed to fit against the hydrant so naturally, like it was made for his feet alone. I was struck by the irony of pristine bank windows in the background, shiny new cars up and down the clean street, people hurrying past, eyes locked on the distant splendor of giant government buildings, monuments, museums and churches. Truthfully, they gazed anywhere but down. Not here anyway. Not now.
Mr. Charles (pseudonym) is one of Washington D.C.'s 5,000+ homeless (1). Nameless and invisible to most, his typical day involves shuffling across the city sidewalks looking for a shady place to rest his tired body and, if lucky, finding food and shelter. Mr. Charles became homeless after losing a job that already barely paid the bills. Rent, medical and numerous other expenses forced him on the street. No family, no friends to help. Despite his misfortune, he remains hopeful that things will turn around.
Mr. Charles is not unlike the hundreds of thousands of other Americans calling the streets their home. Despite being one of the richest nations in the world, the distribution of resources in the U.S. is remarkably lopsided. For example, the top ten percent of wealth-holders in the country own roughly seventy-two percent of the nation's wealth, the bottom fifty just one and a half (2). Poverty is becoming increasingly common. By the age of 75, fifty-nine percent of Americans will have spent at least a year below the official poverty line during adulthood. By the age of 65, two-thirds will have received welfare assistance for at least a year (3). Adding childhood experiences would increase the rates considerably. Millions struggle to make ends meet in an economic system of persistent and growing race, class and gender inequality (4).
What do such broad social divisions mean for a society - its security, its politics, its culture, its ideas, its future? Mr. Charles reminds us that underneath all the ideology, politics, and statistics lies a real human cost. He is the living, breathing collateral damage of a system that, by design (5), maximizes the bottom line of so few and wastes the human value of so many. As I snapped the last picture of our encounter and walked away from Mr. Charles forever, my own privilege was brutally clear. An outsider, I would mingle, explore, photograph, observe, then return to the quiet security of middle class life. I would leave, but Mr. Charles would remain. His impression on me would remain as well, however; not of weakness, but strength and hope. His casual defiance spoke volumes as he carved out his sidewalk bed in the middle of great abundance and contradiction. As if saying, "I am here, I am real, and I deserve my space, too." Like thousands of others, homeless, but not hopeless. Stuck, but not sunk. Down, but not out. Penniless, but certainly not worthless.
References:
1) Cunningham, Mary and Meghan Henry. 2007. "Homelessness Counts." National Allegiance to End Homelessness. www.endhomelessness.org.
2) Kennickell, Arthur B. 2011. "Tossed and Turned: Wealth Dynamics of U.S. Households., 2007-2009." Finance and Economics Discussion Series, Divisions of Research & Statistics and Monetary Affairs, Federal Reserve Board, Washington, DC.
3) Rank, Mark R. and Thomas A Hirschl. 2001. "Rags or Riches? Estimating Probabilities of Poverty and Affluence Across the Adult American Life Span." Social Science Quarterly. 82:651-69.
4) Andersen, Margaret L. and Patricia Hill Collins. 2004. 5th ed. Race, Class, and Gender. Belmont: Wadsworth/Thompson.
5) Fischer, Claude S., Michael Hout, Martin Sanchez Jankowski, Samuel R. Lucas, Ann Swindler and Kim Voss. 1996. Inequality by Design: Cracking the Bell Curve Myth. Princeton: Princeton University Press.