This guest post is by Chris Plauche, the volunteer director of the San Antonio Catholic Worker House. It appeared originally in their May, 2015 newsletter.
The Catholic Worker House (CWH) is staying open not because we want to “master the art of civil disobedience” (San Antonio Express News, Sunday April 26th), but because we feel that we have no other choice but to stay open. On December 14, 2013, our then-Councilperson, Ivy Taylor, spoke at a neighborhood meeting and stated that the city attorney ruled that CWH was indeed protected by the Texas Restoration of the Freedom of Religion Act. So we felt justified in staying open ,but why do we NEED to stay open?
We are the only day center of hospitality other than the Prospects Courtyard at Haven For Hope, across town on the Westside. From 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., we strive to provide a “homey” environment because CWH is the closest thing to home our guests have. They can sit in the garden, sip coffee or mint water, eat a meal, chat with friends, play chess or cards, watch a move, surf the internet, wash their clothes, and use the bathroom. It is a place where no one tells them to “move along,” “keep walking,” “go away,” “you are not welcomed here.”
These are phrases they hear many times per week. Why are those experiencing homeless not wanted in our neighborhood, or really in any neighborhood or any tourist area? Because of fear. As children, we are taught to be afraid of the mysterious entity known as the “boogie man.” We are not sure exactly who the boogieman is, we just know that we should fear him. It is a fear of the unknown.
“We fear things in proportion to our ignorance of them,” noted the 19th Century writer Christian Nestell Bovee. This fear is bigger than the issue of homelessness; the “unknown” can be the immigrant, the released prisoner, or the person who simply looks different.
A person who is homeless seems to be just one of the many new boogie men of current times. Laws that restrict the movement, sleeping, eating, and excreting of people who are homeless are creeping up in many cities across the nation, chiefly tourist cities. Why? Out of fear—fear of personal harm, theft, loss of tourist trade and profits, and fear of the unknown. Not unlike many neighbors across the USA, our neighbors state that they do not feel safe with the clients we draw into the neighborhood. They assume that most were criminals.
I agree, some might be criminals: criminals because they violated one of our city’s quality of life ordinances that tend to criminalize body function activities in public spaces. These are the same activities all humans must do: sleep, sit, lay belongings down, excrete – we all do these same activities, but we have the luxury of being able to do these things in the privacy of our own homes. Where would we do these things if we had no home? We would do it on public property because we do not own any private property, of course. Where would we relieve ourselves if nearby public restrooms are closed? Where ever we could find some degree of privacy in outdoor public spaces (and perhaps we HAVE done this on a long road trip.)
Since 2006, it has been a crime to do these things in public; one may get a ticket and a fine and/or go to jail. Why? How can one avoid these activities when they are essential for all the Earth’s 7.1 billion humans? So yes, I agree with the neighbors that some of those who are homeless may be “criminals.” They are criminals for doing the same things that we ourselves do because such activities are absolutely necessary to all humans.
Why are people afraid of this 21st century “boogie man”? They just assume; they hold stereotypes of homelessness as if they are absolute truth. This perpetuates fear. Why? Because they might not personally know anyone who is experiencing homelessness. It is a fear of the unknown. It is often said, “Fear is our worst enemy.” They live in fear of a perceived homeless stereotype — lazy, dirty, drug users, alcoholics, prostitutes and thieves.
Actually those who are experiencing homelessness are much more likely to be the victims of theft rather than the perpetrators. And when they are the victims, it is not a broken window or a destroyed lock that they must fix. When people who are homeless are victims, it is often a broken jaw, nose, or rib that needs fixing. Additionally, when people who are homeless are robbed, they lose their entire “house” (backpack), as well as, photo ID’s. Obtaining a replacement ID may take months since they don’t own a filing cabinet to store important supporting documents needed to get one. And they may miss out on months of no work because they can’t be employed without an ID. Thus, the cycle of homelessness is perpetuated.
It is those who are homeless who actually should be the ones living in fear. And they are! They live hard lives, unprotected by doors and locks; they are society’s most vulnerable citizens. Hate crimes (crimes motivated by bias) against the homeless are three times more common than those against all five FBI monitored legally protected groups (religious, sexual orientation, disabilities, race, and ethnicity) combined. Assaults on people experiencing homeless have resulted in 375 deaths over the past 12 years as compared to 132 deaths in all the protected groups combined (Vulnerable to Hate: Survey of Hate Crimes, National Coalition for the Homeless, June 2014).
Another surprising fact is that many of these homicides have not been investigated nor the perpetrator prosecuted. Thus, these crimes have resulted in no consequences. For those where the demographics of the perpetrators are known, 93% were males, 82% were under the age of 30 yrs and 48% under the age of 20 years. Regarding the homeless victims, 90% were males and 72% were over the age of 40 yrs.
For every one homicide, there are hundreds of bullying episodes, some could be defined as torture. Amazingly some of these episodes end up as videos on YouTube. One clip showed three young men in a pickup truck drinking beer searching for a homeless man. When they spot one walking down an unlighted street, they jump out of the truck, tackle him, bind him with rope, put a pillowcase over his head and then proceed to wrap his body in strings of firecrackers. They light the fuse and watch the victim writhing in pain as each cartridge fires. The men cheer, clap, and continue drinking beer. Afterwards, they unabashedly post their deed on the internet. The deed itself was horrible and repulsive, but even worse, there was no evidence of shame or guilt. And by posting a video, they showed they had no fear of being identified and prosecuted.
How can people bully, torture, and kill persons who are homeless with no shame or guilt? A study conducted at Princeton by Drs. Harris and Fiske demonstrated that well educated students processed photographs of “homeless people” as if they were objects instead of persons!! In this study, students underwent functional MRI scanning to determine the area of the brain that processed certain images: various objects and social classes of humans. Although other human images representing various social groups stimulated activation of the medial pre-frontal cortex (the area of social cognition), images of persons appearing homeless did not. Instead homeless images stimulated activity in areas of the brain (amygdala and hippocampus) that process the emotion of disgust. Brain activation results of the “homeless” images were similar to results obtained when students observed images of objects such as vomit and an overflowing toilet.
The authors concluded that this study provides neural imaging evidence, confirming earlier behavioral studies, that our culture has de-humanized those who are homeless. They state that these studies “begin to explain how one can commit atrocities, such as, hate crimes, prisoner torture and genocide.” (Harris, L. T., & Fiske, S. T. (2006). Dehumanizing the lowest of the low: Neuro-imaging responses to extreme outgroups. Psychological Science, 17, 847-853)
Why do people view someone who is homeless as less than human? Why does the brain register disgust when one views an image of a person who looks homeless? Disgust is a synonym for hatred and hatred is fueled by fear. Why are we afraid? Most of the time we are afraid of the unknown, the unfamiliar, the different. If one fears long enough, fear will eventually produce hate. Love is the opposite of hate. How can we change this fear of those who are homeless into love before the fear fuels the hatred? Maybe the first step is transforming the unknown into the familiar.
“You cannot love one another
unless you know the other.”
Dorothy Day
Dorothy Day (the Founder of the Catholic Worker Movement in 1933; now there are about 250 houses) explains that “you cannot love one another unless you know the other.” In order to respect and love a person who is homeless we must personalize them. We must get past “the homeless” stereotype and see their unique personhood. We must learn their name, listen to their story and come to the realization that “Johnny” or “Susan” is first a person – a person who happens to be homeless.
At CWH, we have seen the transformations of hundreds of people who have volunteered at our soup kitchen. On the first day, they look like a deer in the headlights, wide eyed, bewildered, and scared. Their eyes dart this way and that scanning for any imminent danger. Then after a few hours of interacting with our guests, they relax, and their nervousness and fear melt away. When they prep are to leave, they cheerfully embrace guests and other volunteers alike, expressing their eagerness to come back. The “homeless” regained personhood. The “boogie man” was de-boogied.
To know the “other” restores human-ness to the dehumanized, transforms disgust into acceptance, and eventually changes fear into love. We can love those experiencing homelessness in all of their brokenness because we too are broken; we are all broken in some way. Peter Marin (Dorothy’s CWH co-founder in 1933) proclaimed that CWH should “create communities where it is easy for one to be good”. And the San Antonio CWH is trying to do just that. It is not all about hospitality for those who are homeless, it also is about breaking down stereotypes and about unmasking the “Boogie Man” to discover a warm, breathing, heart-beating human who longs to be loved and also to share love. It is about building bridges between the housed and the houseless, and about transforming fear into love.
