Race, thy name is charged (but not too much)

You know, there's a lot of bad stuff going on in the world today. Other than the atrocities going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, there's our environmental worries, everything that we're ignoring between Israel and Palestine, the 2008 presidential election campaigns, and the dominance of the New England Patriots (ok, just kidding on the latter). But what keeps catching my attention between these news-saturated events are the smaller ones that pop up from time to time involving nooses and the "N" word.

Ah, yes. Remember Don Imus? Michael Richards? And now, Duane "Dog" Chapman? The Jena 6? Boy, that's a lot of racially-charged stuff going on in the U.S.

I was curious to see what BBC said about Dog; I searched their entire site and only this came up. I searched CNN, and got this, as well as several videos. Not to say our friends across the pond don't have their own reports of racism, as well as most every other country in this world.

So, dear friends, this issue of racism does not revolve around Dog (or any white man using the "N" word), or even Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (or any of our admirable black leaders). This is nothing new to the world. Actually, replace the word racism with discrimination, and you'll see that even the issue of racism does not revolve around itself. Being racist is only part of the problem. It's a problem that we all have, in one way, shape or form. Did you ever make fun of the fat kid at school when you were younger? Did you ever talk behind someone else's back (otherwise known as gossip)? Do you purposefully avoid the homeless on the street?

You know what? I've done those three things; I'd be a fool not to admit it. And 99.999% of the readership has done at least one of these things in their lifetime. Admittedly, I don't make fun of obese people any more; I'd much rather talk about my health issues than gossip these days; and after living/visiting in many big cities, I try to carry change and dollar bills with me now. But we are all afraid of someone because they are different from us - not the collective "us," but you and me as individuals. We all have our fears about differences. I know there are women out there who are afraid they would not love their children if they were born mentally retarded. I know some women choose abortion after finding out the baby has the trisomy-23 gene. It is fear that drives discrimination because we like the comforts and belonging we were afforded when growing up.

Discrimination is a constantly simmering pot, just under the skin of every human on this earth - but it's directed at all sorts of people. The obese, the dwarfs; the black, the Chinese; the Hindus, the Muslims; the gays, the lesbians. Black people are not the only ones discriminated against, and I think some people in this country resent the fact that they currently get the most attention in this country when it comes to matters of discrimination. No one gets on CNN when they call someone a towelhead, runts, and "yo mama" jokes (and those are the mild insults, to take into account that this is somewhat of a family blog). Even when these insults are used, they're usually used incorrectly.

People can be changed, though. I know that for sure. I will leave you with these thoughts, however:

"Of course, America had often been discovered before Columbus, but it had always been hushed up."- Oscar Wilde

"No one can be as calculatedly rude as the British, which amazes Americans, who do not understand studied insult and can only offer abuse as a substitute."-
Paul Gallico, US writer

Man on trial for feeding homeless en masse

If I'd known it was illegal to feed the homeless in Orlando, I would have been proud to stand on trial, too. Here's the story in its entirety, courtesy of WFTV.com. Go ahead and read; I'll wait.

Incredible. I cannot believe that Orlando has an ordinance like this. Granted, I could probably think of a few reasons why this is so, but that doesn't excuse the fact that there are poor people who depend on the generosity of others for their livelihood.

I decided to research this ordinance further. Then I found this on the ACLU of Florida site, which apparently, only a year ago, it was legal to feed the homeless *twice* a year (and as we all know, we can live on eating only once every six months).

From the looks of it, Orlando has a long history of anti-homeless ordinances, including laws against panhandling. Scott Maxwell of the Orlando Sentinel had it right when he wrote this little op-ed.

We are called to feed the homeless and clothe the naked, but in this day and age, all people in America have the means to break the cycle of poverty. As a nation, we need to figure out how to do it, instead of throwing the homeless in jail for a night because they were panhandling, and then letting them out a few days later, only to be back to no home, no money, no means of feeding themselves.

I found another article from the Associated Press that sums up the actions of the ordinance here, begining with this opening sentence: "ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - City officials have banned charitable groups from feeding homeless people in parks downtown, arguing that transients who gather for weekly meals create safety and sanitary problems for businesses."

Ah yes. Those dirty, disgusting homeless people slopping their wares in public places. How dare they un-beautify the city of Orlando! Have they no shame?!

Well, it's not just happening in Orlando, apparently. Last August, a report from The New Standard covered the disturbing trend, which includes Las Vegas passing a simiar ordinance, with a related article here. If you're a law buff, the relevant Orlando ordinance text can be found here:

So let's sit and think for a minute. It's very possible that these people on the City Councils are embarrassed that millions of people visit their cities every year and are met with the sight of those in more dire need. Perhaps they are thinking of their tourist appeal, which I am quite sure they are. Businesses are embarrased by the fact that homeless peddle at their street corner or near their storefront. Many people wonder what happened that put them on the street. Can't they get a job somewhere?, they wonder.

Yet our attitudes towards the American homeless are getting more and more crass, as they seem to arrest our nation's development and advancement. Yet it is this very active development and advancement that leaves the weakest behind, instead of including them in this network, this opportunity, this nation under God.

But there's a fine line between letting those live their own life and helping others in need, because invariably, there will be those who always milk the system, which angers me even more, these people biting the hand that feeds you (or attaching like a leech to the hand that feeds you until running it dry and dead). I believe there are some good people in our goverment(s) that really do want to help, but we're doing it all wrong. Electronic food stamps are a currency that shouldn't exist; why can't we find a way to enter the homeless into our working system? Are the pork barrelers in D.C. too concerned with their own private needs that we can't figure out a way to enable the homeless to work for themselves, to give them a way to not be shoved into smaller and smaller spaces as we did with the Native Americans?

Being homeless is not a crime. We need to stop treating it that way and get these people off the streets by allowing them to begin working for themselves again. And I do agree that perhaps it would be an unnecessary burden for the government to force private businesses to hire at least one homeless person each, so how about the government offering their available jobs to the homeless? By using the system that has abandoned them, perhaps this is the answer to empowering these people again.

I found an interesting blog, called the 13th juror, and it's written by a woman who is a poverty lawyer. Check it out here .