#4 Homelessness

Reading Response to Jonathan Kozol

"Untouchables."

 

Choosing five questions to respond to:

1) According to Kozol, what are the prevailing attitudes towards the homeless?

Many negative thoughts and actions towards the homeless people. It has become a type of bacteria growth that is rotting the minds of all Americans. First they feel pity, then it quickly escalates into annoyance and dislike.

2) To what extent are government officials and general public part of the problem of homelessness?

They treat homeless people as "vermin" with such a dislike that it affects the way the public feels. There was even an example of Columbia Point where they sent people without homes to all live on a specific island. Sadly, it got so bad that a friend of Kozol's thought that it was identical to Alcatraz. When the government treats human beings like animals, it shows their true character of being animals themselves.

3) In paragraph 38, Kozol says that we are afraid of homeless children. What are we afraid of?

I think the biggest fear we face when thinking of homeless children, is the unknown. We aren't sure where they came from and we don't know where they are going or how they will get there. A big question mark hangs in the air and everyone is afraid to go near it or even contemplate what will be done with the "homeless children."

4) Are any examples particulary moving? Which ones? Why do they affect you the way they do?

The example in paragraph 23 was extremely sobering in my eyes. A homeless man was set on fire and was blazing for over four hours without anyone doing anything. When asked why observers didn't respond sooner, they replied that he was "nuclear waste," that needed to go. I also focused my attention on the story of the homeless woman who had pneumonia and died on Christmas day. No ambulance was even called. I think the reason they affect me is because I dislike seeing people suffer but it hurts me even more when no one does anything about it. Our society has become so self-centered and lazy that it gives me hardly any hope for the future. We are "a perfect union, one and inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes." -The American Creed. 

5) Has your perception of the homeless changed as a result of reading "Untouchables"? Explain. 

My perception has definitely changed and been enlightened. Living on the outskirts of civility, in Ephraim, Utah, it's easy for me to ignore the outside world and only focus on myself and my surroundings. This article of sadness, weariness and social exhaustion is a mind opener for all those who are willing to see another way. When I began reading this story, I noticed that I was slightly repulsed by the information. It's uncomfortable to read about frozen bodies, homeless children and the disgusted politicians. But when you put it into perspective, it would be much more uncomfortable being homeless.