TO THE EDITOR:
The saddening rhetoric in Monday’s front page article on panhandling reflects a nationwide culture that values capital over human beings.
I personally know and work with many of the women and men in Chapel Hill who are victims of cyclical poverty. They are forced onto the streets in search of income out of economic necessity, and I can say with certainty that not a single one of them wants to be panhandling on Franklin Street; no one is earning a living wage.
I want to remind our community that these people are not “panhandlers,” “bums” and “vagrants.” That is not their identity. They are human beings who are experiencing poverty and are deserving of respect and dignity — that means not removing them because you believe they are inconvenient.
I agree wholeheartedly with Bret Oliverio that there must be a fundamental change in the way panhandling is treated to end it, but I also know that criminalizing the poor is not the solution.
People panhandle because they lack a sustainable means of income. Arresting these people tarnishes their records, thereby decreasing their likelihood of obtaining employment and increasing the likelihood that they will be forced to panhandle in the future.
Our community is privileged to have so many organizations dedicated to alleviating poverty, and we should continue to support them, but they cannot end poverty single-handedly.
If we earnestly desire to solve the problem of poverty, we must first open our hearts to the members of our community who are most vulnerable and change the culture that criminalizes and dehumanizes the poor.
Paddy Cavanaugh
