This behavior – treating others as outcasts – happens in the White House, and it happens in our own community
“What really makes me an addict is that I use drugs against my will, even when I don’t want to, and it is clear that drugs are making my life unmanageable and that they are killing me.”
These are the words of Jason Everly, a periodic vendor with Street Roots who writes in this edition (July 19-25) about his struggles with addiction, its consequences, and how he desperately wants it to end, if given a chance. He speaks honestly about his situation and the barrier of alienation that comes with society’s moral condemnation.
Being dismissed and marginalized is a barrier experienced by many of our vendors and people on the streets. Each day, they absorb judgment upon judgment, taking on the palpable weight of “othering.”
We witness every day how this kind of treatment undercuts even the most basic of aspirations – to be healthy, to be productive, to be a part of society – aspirations that are the foundation of overcoming addiction and homelessness. This treatment robs people of their self-worth, and pushes them to the fringes of society. And yet it permeates our own city and nation – it’s even sanctioned from the highest office in the land.
There are people in this city who see people on the streets and decide their life story, often accusing them of traveling homeless to Portland to take advantage of our services. Why are we using our resources to take care of them? It’s a disproved premise, but one people repeat from high horses, and it translates to many scapegoats.
In Portland and all across Oregon, there are lines drawn in the sand over immigration and the basic human rights of our friends and neighbors from Latin America. Men, women and children are reclassified as aliens and illegals to distinguish them from a particular brand of humanity, the one worthy of human dignity and the opportunity to thrive. Legally, the U.S. immigration system is a selective minefield intended to keep people of color away and out of sight, with enforcement practices reminiscent of para-military groups in occupied states. The message is to run and hide.
And every day, this is fueled by the racism and xenophobia spewing from the White House, while the rest of the GOP, including some Oregon lawmakers, try to whitesplain it away.
This week, the president told a select group of congresswomen to “go back to where they came from” – the latest in a string of infamous Tweets. The members targeted were all women, and only one of them was born outside of the United states.
They’ve heard the “go home” message before. They were all women of color.
As the 2020 election draws closer, we can expect more of these racist political ploys, and more silence from the rest of the GOP. Against that silence, chants of “send her home,” become all the louder.
We may all agree that this behavior is disgusting. We may all agree that we would challenge any such conduct in our community. But we also have to agree that when it comes to “othering,” we all do it, on different levels, in one direction or another, and it sabotages the very solutions we claim to seek.
This is so true on the streets, where too often we rob people of their worth while demanding they justify their value in our esteem.
This week, volunteers with Street Roots and other organizations conducted surveys on how society could respond better to the crisis on the streets. The response has been overwhelmingly positive, but not unanimous.
“We should not be getting feedback from homeless campers on how to help them if they are unwilling to put in the work to get themselves clean and off the streets,” wrote one person on Twitter. “You are asking for ideas from people who have made terrible choices for their own life.”
We’re asking, and we’re listening.
STREET ROOTS SPECIAL REPORT: Portland Street Response: How can Portland address crises on the street in a compassionate, responsive way?
At the end of his article, Jason asks readers to hold him in their thoughts. He asks this of strangers to help him stay clean when he walks out of jail, because he knows that with no money and no home, he will struggle to survive the first day upon release. But if he has no hope, he will surely fail. We will keep him in our thoughts and do what we can to give him the chance he asks for and deserves.
Next to Jason’s article is an interview with Morgan Godvin, a former addict herself who was imprisoned for providing the drugs that resulted in a person’s death. She is clean now, in college and an advocate for addiction awareness.
“The message society gives people who use drugs is still the same. You are ‘bad’; you are a ‘criminal,’” Godvin said. “We are forced to isolate and suffer in solitude, driven away by layers of stigma and shame. I began using because I was suffering internal pain, then the cues I received from society only amplified my pain. Then structural barriers robbed me of all hope. This is not compassion. This is not love. To recover, we need compassion and love.”
So true. We, as a society, have a lot of problems, and not a one of them will be solved by hate.
Street Roots is an award-winning, nonprofit, weekly newspaper focusing on economic, environmental and social justice issues. Our newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Learn more about Street Roots . Support your community newspaper by making a one-time or recurring gift today .
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