Hurt for the homeless
Published: Tue, Oct. 30, 2007 12:00AM
Modified Tue, Oct. 30, 2007 06:53AM
E-Mail
Print
tool name
closeThe Project Homeless Connect event held in Moore Square was a source of both pride and frustration to me. It showed Raleigh is a city with a heart. However, it also showed that Raleigh sees the homeless as an issue to be fixed, not as people deserving dignity.
From Wake County Commissioner Lindy Brown welcoming us all whether we were "homeless or law- abiding citizens" to the mayor, Brown and others wearing power suits and being quite dry under the protection of an awning while we were soaking in the rain listening to them, it was obvious that Raleigh officials see this as a case of "us" lowering ourselves to help "them."
Your editorial policies fare no better. In your Oct. 26 story "Help for homeless," you said, "From under bridges, roadside camps, park benches, church basements, junked cars and the other makeshift places where the homeless sleep ..." Talk about your pejorative, sweeping stereotypes. I am certain your editor would allow no such sweeping generalizations to be made about where the members of the NAACP came from, were they to meet in our city. But then again, they would no doubt be law-abiding citizens.
More Letters
Hugh Hollowell
Raleigh
Get it all with convenient home delivery of The News & Observer.
The News & Observer is pleased to be able to offer its users the opportunity to make comments and hold conversations online. However, the interactive nature of the internet makes it impracticable for our staff to monitor each and every posting.
Since The News & Observer does not control user submitted statements, we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted on our website. In addition, we remind anyone interested in making an online comment that responsibility for statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not The News and Observer.
If you find a comment offensive, clicking on the exclamation icon will flag the comment for review by the administrators, we are counting on the good judgment of all our readers to help us.
