Dehumanization lets us treat others as less than human - this prejudice about unhoused folks is part of the systemic violence harming already vulnerable populations.
Gross, editorial moralizing from the local media & elected officials is irresponsible.🧵
newsminer.com/opinion/letter…
Gross, editorial moralizing from the local media & elected officials is irresponsible.🧵
newsminer.com/opinion/letter…
Above the fold, on the front page of the @newsminer’s 6/5 Sunday paper, an article ran with the title “Golden Heart Plaza safety concerns continue.” The article’s spotlight on safety begs a question: Concern for whom?
When Roberto froze to death last November, unsheltered in -20°F temperatures, where was the article concerned about his safety? Or, for all the people experiencing the same crisis.
Days after he died, all the press Roberto got was a backdated blurb in the FDNM’s police blotter about a trespassing arrest he caught, trying to overnight in a warm stairwell.
When unhoused Fairbanksans lose fingers and toes - every year - due to exposure, frostbite & trench foot, where are the articles concerned about their safety?
When Rolando was shot dead, half a block from the Plaza, not a month ago, where was the concern for his safety?
When Rolando was shot dead, half a block from the Plaza, not a month ago, where was the concern for his safety?
Noted concern in the article comes from an unnamed tour guide, the @DTFairbanksAK, the @FPD_Police & the @cityoffairbanks. Conspicuously absent from representation are any of the people being talked around.
In the article, unhoused humans are referred to as an “aggressive element that loiters,” “the homeless population” & “belligerent.” These sweeping stereotypes harm real people living in real crisis & are dog whistles - politically correct euphemism for visible human suffering.
This kind of dehumanizing language distances privilege from responsibility & is a reprehensible way to talk about others.
As a society, we moralize & point to behaviors that are CLEARLY the result of trauma as the “cause” of homelessness.
As a society, we moralize & point to behaviors that are CLEARLY the result of trauma as the “cause” of homelessness.
We blame drugs & drinking & laziness & mental health, but there is one cause for our town’s “problem” …it’s us.
#Homelessness is a crime of society. We decide who deserves housing & who does not & then lay that blame at the feet of those who are no different from us.
#Homelessness is a crime of society. We decide who deserves housing & who does not & then lay that blame at the feet of those who are no different from us.
So. Let’s talk about concern. We could solve homelessness if we wanted. There is a solution: #LowBarrierHousing, #HarmReduction & #commUNITY. Housing the unhoused is FAR cheaper than not. This deeply unfortunate FDNM article highlights how uncomfortable privilege is with truth.
Truth accompanies accountability, justice & liberation - embracing truth destabilizes the cruel systems that benefit some & harms so many.
We need to educate ourselves. We need to include those with lived experience as we build solutions. We need to do better.
We need to educate ourselves. We need to include those with lived experience as we build solutions. We need to do better.
@threadreaderapp unroll, please
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