As a Californian I have been keeping track of the wildfires burning all over the bottom third of the state. The news coverage from my local area t.v. stations has been wall to wall. I was sad to hear this morning that as many as 1500 homes had been destroyed. And that some of the fires may have been set by arsonists.Earlier in the week I heard a few things that bothered me when people being interviewed at San Diego's Qualcomm stadium (where 15,000 evacuees are being housed) tried to make comparisons between the organized scene there and the chaos that was reported after hurricane Katrina in the New Orleans Super Dome. The overtones of the comparison seemed racist.
But this morning I heard something even more disturbing. As one of my local t.v. stations was doing a report from San Diego's Qualcomm stadium and a person being interviewed said that they had been having problems with homeless people coming to the stadium and trying to get in. I could not believe my ears. I thought did he really just say that? The volunteer went on to say that the police had gotten involved and that they had decided to Begin to screen people and hand out wristbands to keep the Homeless out.
I must say that if this is truly the case I am totally and completely outraged. During a time of crisis, when as many as 15,000 people becoming at least temporally homeless, these people are turning homeless people away. I suppose that you have to be a certain type of homeless to get food and shelter in San Diego. Apparently they will begin to make people prove which kind of homeless they are when someone arrives for help at the stadium. I certainly hope none of the rich and affluent San Diegans who have lost their home also lost their identification as well. Because they might be deemed just a regular homeless person as opposed to a victim of the fires and be turned away.
The callousness of my fellow Americans never ceases to amaze me.
4 comments:
wow, so sad. I must admit though, when I heard about 'rich california' being on fire and how fast they set up a stadium to help. I knew for sure they would have VERY GOOD treatment as opposed to Katrina victims.
But to start distinguishing the homeless, that is sad and interesting.
Its like they want the elite not to feel like they themselves are homeless -because it was just a fluke that they became homeless- (and they probably have some cash in a bank somewhere) where as the others who are just po', well....
And sad, because can't they feel and know that ppl in need are just ppl in need? If anything, they should be feeling bad that nothing (i'm assuming) was done for the homeless of that town!
Miriam,
It is sad and disturbing. I was really appalled thismorning when I heard about this. I have worked with homeless people and like all minority populations in America the are meligned in the media. Most are simply trying to survive.
And the comparisons being made to Katrina by the fire victims themselves made me lose a lot of sympathy for their plight. They are showing themselves to be bigots.
And you're right the response was amazing. The stadium and red cross, federal gov and state gov were on this in a heartbeat. No one had to wait a week for help. Imagine that.
Thanks
This is shameful. I suppose they wanted to make sure the poor homeless don't get the goodies the temporary homeless get. I mean nice stuff to pass the time at the shelters like, oboe lessons and yoga. I am serious.
Comparisons with Katrina? Night and day!
I'd hope it was because California is ready for wild fires and FEMA has learned some lessons. But, this turning away the already homeless shows me that they have learned nothing.
Hi Jackie,
I'm not sure if FEMA has learned anything. I think it was mostly a California response this time.
I've seen in previous reports that at the stadium there was too much food and other supplies. So they did not turn the homeless away becasue they were afraid they would run out of anything.
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