Sophomore physiology and neurobiology major
I was waiting for a Metro train the other day to go to Washington when, at the stop, I saw a woman and her son cautiously walk around a sleeping man, who appeared to be homeless. It seemed as though I was watching a scene from The Pink Panther as the two carefully weaved their way around the man. Curiously, I heard the mother tell her son to “try to avoid” people like that man and to “be careful around them.”
While this was an isolated event, it evoked a rather visceral response from me, as I felt angered by her degradation of this individual into some sort of second-class citizen. Sure, while some homeless people might be dangerous or violent, this mom and the message she was sending to her son seemed to go too far, to the point of establishing a rather dangerous precedent for future generations.
When you first think of fears or phobias that might exist cross-culturally, you generally think of some of the more irrational ones, such as transphobia or homophobia. But one that people often completely ignore is fear of the homeless — a “hobophobia” of sorts. Believe it or not, hobophobia is a societal perception that seems to be growing in our country. The problem with it lies with its rather tacit and rampant growth that allows it to slip from our radar. Essentially, its evolution has grown with our increasing tendency to neglect and forget the homeless.
I, too, am sometimes guilty of embodying this hobophobic problem by sometimes consciously and unconsciously seeming to zone out the homeless and pretend they’re not even there. The problem with this phobia lies not only in our gross negligence but also with its possible future consequences: Could we possibly reach a point where ignoring the poor and unfortunate becomes the new norm?
Thankfully, in this country, our religious beliefs and constitutional amendments prevent this societal categorization and economic segregation, but we are increasingly establishing an unwritten rule in regard to the treatment of homeless people.
Instead of shunning them, we should all collectively try to do more to help those in need. Recently, the U.S. Census Bureau published that more than 48 million Americans live in poverty, with 16 percent of children living in poverty. While it might be easier to act selfishly, our taxes still ultimately funnel into supporting these impoverished citizens, so why not try to help them before they need these financial safety nets?
In the end, we all have to become more cognizant of our actions and tendencies. While it is impossible to blame everyone broadly for being disrespectful toward and scared of the homeless, it is still important to remember they are just like us and could be us had the scenarios and random chances of life turned out differently. There are a lot of things to fear in this world, but the homeless should not play a part in any of our irrational fears.
Max An is a sophomore physiology and neurobiology major. He can be reached at maxandbk@gmail.com.
