Poverty in US is “stunning and cruel” Says U.N. Rapporteur on Adequate Housing

Latest

Mike Zint and others of ‘First they came for the homeless’ meets with UN Special Rapporteur on housing and homelessness on the steps of Berkeley Old City Hall, the site of the Poor Tour tent community.
Photo/Sarah Menefee

 
In clear view of some of the most expensive property in the world, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, Leilani Farha remarked while walking San Francisco streets: “I have traveled all over the world seeing slums and people living in poverty, but what I have heard and seen here in the US is stunning to me. There is so much hatred towards poor people here.” She was referring to the anti-homeless laws against activities like sitting and sleeping or sharing food when there is no housing or shelter. “It’s just so… cruel,” she said. She said the slums in Mexico were the slums, but there was community living in poverty working together to support each other. Here the US government does sweeps to break up communities and tells them to “move along.” (This information was reported in the dailykos.com.) “Homelessness is an “egregious violation of human rights […] requiring urgent and immediate human rights responses. […] Homelessness is caused by states’ failure to respond,” said Leilani Farha at a UN meeting in Europe recently.
Only the American people can solve this. As automation eliminates more and more human labor from the workplace, the crisis can only grow. We have to act. As stated in the People’s Tribune editorial on page 2, “The government should take foreclosed-on homes back from the banks that fraudulently stole them, and give them to those without shelter.” This is a step toward a whole new society where everyone life has meaning.
 

“Momma” Crystal of the Dare to Change tent community, part of “First they came for the homeless” at Berkeley Old City Hall, speaks to a fellow resident. She, with her son and two teenage daughters, helps provide recovery tents for people from the streets with substance abuse issues, as a sister part of the Poor Tour. The U.N. rapporteur expressed admiration for this community.
PHOTO/SARAH MENEFEE

 

Fight or Freeze


 

Homeless reader responds to ‘The Real Plight of the Homeless told by the Homeless’


 

The uncanny hatred towards the homeless endangers the homeless community


 

Iowa Chamber of Commerce decisions could render seniors homeless


 
http://peoplestribune.org/pt-news/2018/02/homeless-james-thomas/
 

+ Articles by this author

Free to republish but please credit the People's Tribune. Visit us at www.peoplestribune.org, email peoplestribune@gmail.com, or call 773-486-3551.

The People’s Tribune brings you articles written by individuals or organizations, along with our own reporting. Bylined articles reflect the views of the authors. Unsigned articles reflect the views of the editorial board. Please credit the source when sharing: ©2024 peoplestribune.org. Please donate to help us keep bringing you voices of the movement. Click here. We’re all volunteer, no paid staff.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Featured

More Californians Are Freezing to Death. And More Are Older and Homeless

More people — many older and homeless — are freezing to death during winter in California. Hypothermia is the underlying or contributing cause of death for Californians last year, more than double than a decade ago,

Michael Moore Issues Manifesto Against For-Profit Health Insurance

Filmmaker Michael Moore says the boiling anger at the healthcare system that is currently coming to the fore is "1000% justified."

Outrage Against America’s For Profit Health Care System Grows

The US public response to the murder speaks volumes about Americans’ widespread disgust with a profit-driven health care system that leaves so many destitute or simply dead, says Jacobin.

Immigrants Begin 13th Hunger Strike This Year at Tacoma Detention Center

More than 40 migrants held at ICE's infamous Northwest Detention Center in Washington state have begun a hunger strike to protest conditions there.

The Right Wants to Divide Rural People and the Working Class. Here’s How We Unite.

The director of the Appalachia People's Union speaks on why the South is ready to stand up to Trump.

More from the People's Tribune