@Grandpa

I understand what you are saying and I agree that being homeless sucks regardless of what race you are. But we know that there are certain factors that have lead to the higher percentages of poverty amongst certain races. Of course in a country where there are 80% whites, there are going to be more homeless whites than other races.

@Melli -
I looked at the data for from the [U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplements], which contains data on poverty by population from 1959 through 2007.

(Really facinating stuff - You can find a lot of good data @ http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/histpov/...)

Concentrating on 2006-2007 data, it's true that as a seperate demographic, blacks have a higher percentage of its people in poverty than whites and hispanics, but this does not tell all of the facts. This is what I got from the report:

* In 2007, across all population groups (298M people), 37M+ people were considered to be below the poverty level (12% of total population)

* The group [White Alone, Non-hispanic], making up 196M in 2007 had 16M+ people considered below the poverty level (8.2% of their respective population)

* The group [Black Alone], making up 37M, had 8.1M+ people considered to be below the poverty line (24.5% of their respective population)

* The group [Hispanic (of any race)], making up 45.9M, had 9.9M people cosidered to be below the poverty line (21.5% of their respective population)

The fact is that there are more whites in general, which means, numerically, there are more whites in poverty than any other group. Hispanics are second, blacks are a close third. I suspect that if Native American poverty rates were broken out seperately, theirs would be the highest ratio of all. Statistically speaking, their population would also be very small.

There is obviously a problem here when we look at the fact that there is such a high minority ratio of poverty given the population makeup. My issue was NeNe describing poverty among whites as more of a novelty. It takes away from the real pain of the situation. There are two seperate issues being discussed here. The original article was about how we interact with those without in our society, and or cynicism about what we should do when it's in our personal space (well, that's what I took from it.) The other issue is whether or not homelessness is worse within a given ethnicity. If the argument is that it's worse to be black/hispanic and homeless than white and homeless, then I'm saying that the argument is fundamentally flawed. I doubt many homeless people want to be in that situation, and the color of their skin was obviously not enough to prevent the situation.

My point was that poverty, and especially homelessness, effects everyone the same. I fail to see how a white homeless person is any better off than any other minority - at a certian point it all becomes equal.

correction: "why is it that in 2006 only 8.6% of whites WERE living below the poverty level in comparison to 24.3% of blacks and 20.6% of hispanics?"

@Grandpa: You said, "Poverty and homelessness is an issue that should transend what we think of as race, but we all tend to look at it from a perspective of what we feel (and what we have.)"

Well the truth of the matter is that race does play a role in poverty. Why is it that in 2006 only 8.6% of whites living below the poverty level in comparison to 24.3% of blacks and 20.6% of hispanics?

@Carmen - I think you did the right thing. Maybe he needed the extra cash, and was more than willing to work for it. Maybe he was working a scam. The only way to know for sure was to try and hire him for some handywork. I try to save the cash for the organizations that are better able to assist the homeless. There always seems to be a fine line between compassion and pity, and no one really wants pity.

@NeNe
I have to climb up on my big ole' liberal soapbox at this point. This story had a personal tone for me, and your comment seemed, if you'll forgive me, a bit glib on the matter.

For these individuals, the pain and the hardship is the same. The shame of the situation is the same. There's nothing novel or romantic about being homeless (or so poor that you can't find a job, much less hold one.)

I remember a photograph series someone shot of a homeless man searching through alley garbage cans with his daughter (about 8 years old.) They were both white. I don't think the pictures would be any less moving if the pair were of color.

I'm curious why you feel that a homeless white man with a child is any less deserving than a homeless woman of color with a child. I understand that we (as a non-homeless people) will look to group and categorize people according to our beliefs and experiences. To me, this is the kind of issue that should force us to find similarities in one another, rather than break into camps to see who is lowest at the bottom.

You said ". . . if a white man is homeless and begging then something in the world must have gone wrong–something beyond his control. Blackness or otherness paints the homeless body as lazy, drug-addicted, uneducated, and a drain on the American economy." There's likely a lot of people who believe that. I would say that quite a few people who never have known poverty on a personal level would follow that logic. I would argue that this point of view is less a racist commentary and more a classist one.

I think that the purpose of this discussion is to look at the root of these issues and gain a little self-reflection on what we believe are issues about ethnicity. Poverty and homelessness is an issue that should transend what we think of as race, but we all tend to look at it from a perspective of what we feel (and what we have.) Rich or not, white or not, we all tend to serve judgement on why an individual (or a family) would be down on their luck and panhandling on the street.

You said that Carmen should have given the man her money rather than offer a meal. Supposing you had given the man your money, what would have been your reasoning for having done so? Would you have felt different about your reasons if he wasn't white?

(Stepping off my soapbox now . . . )

Well, I think you all raise some very interesting/valid arguments. For example, I never considered the role race/gender may play in the perception of homeless people.

Well, I am am someone who does occasionally give money to homeless people. I do sometimes worry that they will not use it for the purposes I intended but I want to know that I at least tried and gave them the opportunity to do something positive.

In this case, I know I would have given the man and the boy money simply because the child was present. However, I think a better thing for anyone to do would be to dedicate a few hours or so actively helping this man find a job. Maybe someone could get his permission to write an ad online or in the paper stating his situation and what kind of work he is looking for and where to find him.

Carmen:

It is an interesting point that you are making or that I am reading into your observation on homelessness in America. Besides the obvious dialectic around the destruction of America as the land of opportunity by too many non white immigrants--('Look what's happening to white men and their little white sons. Where is humanity?')-- there is the loud dialectic around nobility white fatherhood. You also bring up a conversation around the difference between pity and disgust and how race and gender factors into our affective behavior. I want to know why you would feel sorry for a white MAN and his white MAN child? Abjection for homelessness is not even an issue here. Single White male father homelessness is a novelty in America. It's kinda romantic. You paint a Norman Rockwell canvas. The clean little white boy with blond hair and rosy white skin and the novelty of a white man who is taking care of his son. How sad that we as women applaud men for doing what we have done and continue to do. Women without husbands who care for their fatherless children do not solicit as much attention or sympathy or kudos. After all if a white man is homeless and begging then something in the world must have gone wrong--something beyond his control. Blackness or otherness paints the homeless body as lazy, drug-addicted, uneducated, and a drain on the American economy. The abjection that we feel is not aimed at the society at large but at the individual as a representative of the whole.

Should you have given him money? Yes of course you should have. Do we want to globalize the image of white men with children on street corners begging for money? What will this do to the moral spirit of the people at large? What will this do to our image as a global world power? Whatever it takes--please get white men with children off the streets before we are invaded by foreign governments and forced to speak Farsi.

I learned when I was traveling a lot that home is
wherever you have the majority of your clean underwear.
if that happens to be your suitcase, home is where you is.
if you have no clean underwear your are either vagrant,
hopelessly degenerate, recently robbed, have flown on
Continental Airlines and have no luggage, or... homeless...
If he had no clean underwear, he had no home to go
to... scam is too obvious!

Carmen - thanks for sharing your experiences.

I have a friend who is homeless. Maybe acquaintence is the right word today, but it is a relationship I want to engage. I give him small amounts of money. I sit down and visit with him as often as I can. I speak to him by name. I am hoping that my friendship will support him in ways that money cannot. I am also hoping that, as I get to know him, I will understand better how to help him meet his physical needs (right now he needs his bike fixed, and me giving him money is not going to help him there).

My point is this... engaging in a relationship with even just one homeless person is one way to go. Certainly not the only way, but it is a great way for me personally to engage. I know his life story (or some of it). I know I am not getting scammed. I hope I am helping him. I know it is life giving for me.

The scary thing is, I don't know where it is going, and it will probably be painful at some point if I continue to engage. It is certainly a journey.

Hi Jenny,

I don't necessarily disagree with you. However, if we're talking about helping people, I believe teaching people the skills you mention is truly helping. A handout is not a permanent fix and it does nothing for the individual's self-worth. Generally speaking, dependent people are resentful of those with their handouts. Nobody wants to be helpless and obligated. I also agree that swindlers come in all sizes, shapes, colors, and income brackets from homeless to mega rich.