WASHINGTON, DC – With the cold weather hitting hard, government employees are putting their feet down and standing up against injustice. “Why are there so many homeless in D.C.?” administrative officer Thomas Robinwood questioned fervently. “It’s ridiculous; this is our nation’s capital and this should not be the case… these homeless people are so inconsiderate! Bothering us everywhere we go, asking us for food and money we know they’re going to spend on drugs, and just being in our way when we have to be places. They need to get their shit together and get out of our hair. We need to end homelessness now.”

 

As usual, federal government officials have not been the first ones to notice this problem; according to a 2013 National Alliance to End Homelessness research report, D.C. has the largest rate of homelessness in the country. The report – authored by the Alliance’s Homelessness Research Institute – records D.C.’s rate at 113 homeless per 10,000 people. Although the percentage may seem insignificant, the United States’ rate is 20 per 10,000, five and a half times less than D.C.’s rate. Hawaii boasts the second highest rate in the country with 45 per 10,000 people—less than half of D.C.’s rate. The same report notes that D.C. also has the largest change in unsheltered homelessness, flaunting a 123% increase from 2011 to 2012. Vermont holds the second greatest change with an 81% increase, although this is much less of a surprise considering the amount of people that actually live in and/or care about Vermont.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some local residents seem oblivious to the high rate though—as resident Ashton Martin, Jr. put so deftly, “What homeless people? You mean those people sleeping on every street? I assumed they owned those sidewalks. I mean I only inherited my estate and current position as CEO of a Fortune 500 from my father. Those lucky bastards inherited those areas of the city and have the indecency to flaunt them everyday? What has society come to?” Martin was surprised when we presented him with some alarming facts and figures about poverty and homelessness in D.C. These include about one-fifth of D.C.’s population reporting food hardship (D.C. Hunger Solutions) and 45% of “unaccompanied adults” reporting no income for the past year (Chapman et al. 43). Martin astutely rebutted, “Those sound like some lazy people. They need to get off their asses and get some jobs and houses for themselves immediately. Do you know how hard my father worked to create his company? God, some people have to learn how to support themselves.”

 

Martin also voiced his uncertainty to why there is so much homelessness, besides “pure laziness.” When informing Martin of the causes of homelessness, we broke them down into three categories: mental illness, HIV/AIDs, and the condition of homeless shelters. We gave him the following statistics and evidence:

• “20-25% of the single adult homeless population suffers from some form of severe and persistent mental illness” (National Coalition for the Homeless, “Mental Illness and Homelessness,” 1), while “66% [of homeless people] report either substance use and/or mental health problems” (PBS). A case study in the Journal of Public Mental Health suggests that focusing on mental health could prevent homeless people from going in and out of prisons and hospitals (Cockersell)

• “3.4% of homeless people were HIV-positive in 2006, compared to 0.4% of adults and adolescents in the general population,” while the high costs of care for HIV/AIDS patients are too high and they face discrimination from some employers (HIV/AIDS and Homelessness, 1)

• David Pirtle, a former homeless man and a current member of the Homelessness Speakers’ Bureau for the National Coalition for the Homeless, spoke out on National Public Radio about how shelters are infested with drugs, thieves, and rodents.

When we made Ashton Martin, Jr. aware of these facts, he simply responded, “What do you want me to do about it? They need to get their lives in order and control their shelters. What more can I say?” He refused to comment any further.

 

Martin poses a fair argument; namely, how could D.C. solve this problem when they already have so many other ones, such as citizens like Martin existing? Government official Robert Walter Theodore offered one solution, “How about we just make a better local government? The federal government has enough to do; we don’t need to worry about some city, too. D.C. home rule is really screwing us.” The D.C. home rule that Theodore refers to is that which allows D.C. to have a mayor and a 13-member city council, a common US city government; however, home rule restricts the local government’s power and grants ultimate control to Congress on local issues (DC Council). And that makes a lot of sense considering the fact that D.C. has no representation in Congress—“taxation without representation” at its finest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                  

 

Theodore’s solution of a stronger D.C. government holds a lot of merit. He followed up questioning, “Can we do that? Like, can we just not manage them anymore?” We asked him why the federal government would not just exhibit less control over the local government, to which he raised a perfect objection—“Cause.” As a follow-up solution, we suggested that D.C. could control itself without Congress. “Well everything would just go to shit. You wanna make it a state or something? It won’t happen.” And, as he pointed out, history has refused D.C. statehood as well. In 1993, the House of Representatives rejected the proposal 277 to 153 (Ayres). “And besides, we couldn’t change from 50 states! It’s a multiple of 10. It’s a multiple of 5. It’s the perfect number,” confirming suspicions of members of the House having OCD. Finally, we suggested D.C. could just receive representation in Congress. He immediately rebutted, “You know damn well that it’s unconstitutional for D.C. to have representation in Congress!” And just like he said, according to Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution, “The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.” However, when we asked him whether or not it was “constitutional” for the capital of the United States to have been taxed $3.973 billion dollars (DC Council) so far this year alone without any representation or say in the government, he refused to comment any further.

 

There have been attempts to end homelessness in D.C. through a combined effort of the federal and local governments, the most notable of which was known as the D.C. Initiative (King). This initiative, led by the Clinton administration around the same time as the vote for D.C. statehood took place, had the then-mayor and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development work together in an effort to end homelessness. However, this initiative ultimately failed when, “After weeks of meetings stretched into months, the cash-strapped District signed an agreement in 1994 transferring the city’s responsibility to an entity known as the Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness” (King). Of course, this made complete sense for the government to hand this responsibility over to an organization founded five years before in 1989 (The Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness). This failure was obviously the fault of the newly founded organization that had the entire burden of homelessness in D.C. that the government itself could not handle. The government could never be wrong in that situation.

 

Of course there are always other solutions to homelessness. One writer suggests that

D.C. look into its vacant apartments for more affordable housing. Aaron Wiener points

to the Parkway Overlook Apartments in the southeast D.C. neighborhood of Anacostia,

which contains 266 units, half of which are three-bedroom. Up until six years ago, this

apartment complex was in use; however, due to the neglect of the Department of

Housing and Urban Development, it became unlivable (Wiener). Due to the fact that

Wiener is a young, white professional, he obviously never suggests that maybe this

apartment complex could be used to house homeless people. But why would any

young, white professional want to focus on something that did not make his life a

little bit easier? After all, young, white professionals do have the hardest lives.

 

 

 

Regardless of Wiener’s noble suggestion, this response would not prevent homelessness; only offer a temporary solution. The only plausible solution to homelessness is a better local government through one of the three solutions we offered that Theodore rebutted so articulately. In fact, a local government would benefit more than just the homeless population. Elderly white resident Burton Wilder comments, “I haven’t seen other old people in a long time. My son doesn’t really let me leave the house so I just take care of his kids. I escaped a few weeks ago and everything was too hip and new, but all the black people had disappeared! Then I accidentally ran too far and happened upon an overwhelming amount of minorities. What have the white people done?” Before Wilder could finish talking to us, his son mumbled something about dementia and dragged the elderly man away.

 

“It’s white people’s fault. It’s always white people’s fault,” local black resident Darrell Williams commented. “Wait, what are we talking about?”

 

We looked into Wilder’s supposed breakdown and Williams’

well-informed statement and found truth in their words.

By 1960, D.C. had become predominantly black with 53.9%

of the population identifying themselves as African

American (US Census Bureau). By 1970, the black

population in D.C. peaked at 71.1%; however, it gradually

declined from there (US Census Bureau). By the 80s and

90s, the black population had greatly diminished and in

2011, it dipped below 50% for the first time in over 50 years

(Tavernise). Writer Sabrina Tavernise also notes that, “the

white population jumped by 31 percent in the past decade,

while the black population declined by 11 percent — many

less affluent blacks say they are feeling left out of the city’s

improving fortunes. In April, the Census Bureau reported

that Ward 8, in the city’s mostly poor and black southeast,

had the highest jobless rate in the country.” Additionally,

older residents have similar complaints as they feel that

new businesses in D.C. are aimed at the younger generation

(Bahrampour). Meanwhile, minorities are being pushed out

of D.C. while, “Washington, D.C., and Atlanta posted the

largest increases in white share since 2000, each up

5 percentage points to 44 percent and 36 percent,

respectively” (AP/CBSNews). Obviously, there is something                                                       

strange going on here—could it be “white people?”

 

In the International Journal of Urban and Rural Research, one writer suggests that gentrification has united these groups of people through poverty, overcrowding, and ultimately homelessness (Watt 209). In other words, D.C.’s influx of young, white professionals – whether those are government officials or white-collar workers – and their desire to create a more sociable environment for themselves is causing a neglect of D.C.’s residents and the removal of minorities. Most importantly, this neglect prevents the homeless from furthering themselves. “Exactly, that’s how we set up the system,” government official Billy Bob Oldwood III proudly declares. “If you’re not benefitting the federal government, then why are you even in D.C.? You don’t belong here!”

 

“It’s not fair,” local black resident Shawna Johnson complains. “We pay the taxes, we get underrepresented, and we get neglected all because we don’t fit into D.C.’s cookie-cutter mold. We need representation and we need it now.”

 

Although Oldwood and Johnson hold different views on the neglect of the people of D.C., they both agree that something needs to be done about homelessness. “I just don’t want to see good people on the streets,” Johnson offers. Oldwood agrees, “Yeah, my friends and I hate being on the street when all those filthy homeless people are out and about.”

 

Johnson strangely mimicked the exact words used in this article, “The only way for D.C. to end homelessness and the overall neglect of its people is to strengthen the local government through one of the following options—give the local government more power, allow the local government to control itself without Congress – maybe by becoming a state – or give D.C. representation in Congress although it's not a state.”

 

Oldwood adds, “We [the government] know if we put our minds to it, we can rid D.C. of homeless people, just like we’re currently doing with the black population and what we did with the immigrants and minorities. How do you think they all got to the suburbs? That’s right—you’re welcome.”

 

 

*All facts, figures, and quotes from organizations and articles presented in this article are real; any testimony given by “government officials” or “residents” (Robinwood, Martin, Theodore, Wilder, Williams, Oldwood, Johnson) about the homeless are fictional. These fictional characters are not intended to reflect the beliefs of the author of this piece or represent any real persons.