C ELEBRA TING < R EC A RE -
Street roots
13
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Education * Dialogue * Independence
History repeats itself on street comers of Portland
magine this: You are out of money, can’t
find work and need a few bucks to get
you through the end of this month. Even
though it’s the last thing you want to do,
you decide to stand on the corner and ask
passersby for spare change. You start out,
and as people walk by and ignore you, you
decide to give up. But, in the distance, you
see someone coming toward you. You dare
to get your hopes up, they look directly in
your eyes, they reach in to their pocket, and
they pull out a ticket! Don’t you know you
can’t ask for money on this corner? Don’t
you know that since you appear able-bodied,
you really aren’t supposed to be asking for
money at all? You move along. Just another
day ip fifteenth-century England.
One of th e most eye opening realizations
I’ve had since starting my courses in social
work this fall, is just how much history
repeats itself. Early in the quarter, 1 was
heading home from class, where we had just
learned about the very beginnings of social
welfare policy: a collection of laws that
regulated where people living in poverty
could live, work, and beg in England during
the middle ages. I decided to cut through
the south park blocks. As I approached city
hall, I saw the protesters settling in for the
night I stopped to talk with them and thank
them for their work to raise awareness of
the need for safe, legal ¡daces for folks
I
Sally M artin is a student a t
Portland State Vhiversify,
and a former pastoral
assistant for The Downtown
Chapel of St. Vincent
DePaul Catholic Parish.
GIVE!GUIDE2009
experiencing homelessness to sleep outside.
As we parted ways, I couldn’t help but think
of the other brave group of protesters who
not top long ago took a similar action
against the Sit'Lie Ordinance. I thought
again of the laws in Queen Elizabeth’s
England that restricted the activities of the
poor there hundreds of years ago. Sittingin
class, or in the library reading about these
things, it seemed like we have come along
way since then, but have we?
The Elizabethan Poor Law stipulated that
the state had a responsibility to relieve want
and suffering in society. It defined who the :
truly “helpless poor” were-and guaranteed
their legal right to assistance. This structure
of early social welfare policy was later
adapted in our,own 13 colonies. Obviously,
we do not have laws on the books today
spelling out who the “deserving poor” are.
But, public perceptions of people living in
poverty, even in 2009 right here in Portland,
do make similar distinctions.
People often talk of not wanting the
things that they have earned shared with
those who have less. Oftentimes we are
critical of someone paying with food stamps
ahead of us in the checkout line. We all do
this. Just the other night I was asked for
change while walking to'diniier. I reached in
my pocket and gave the gentleman the
change I had. He wished us a good evening.
My companion, knowing th a tl usually don’t
give money when approached, shot me a
questioning look. I stammered and
sheepishly admitted that he “looked like he
really needed i t ” Thinking of this now, I am
ashamed- who am I to decide who needs
what? Furthermore, what makes any of us
qualified to determine what others deserve?
If I could go back, to the moment in which
I made a very quick judgement about the
man on the comer who asked me for
change, I would do things differently. I
would slow down, take the time to ask about
his day, and really hear about the challenges
he is facing. I would share more of myself
with him, instead Qf making myself feel
better by hurriedly placing a few coins in his
hand. If I was feeling extra brave, I would
tell him that I hate the fact that in one of
the richest countries in the world, he must
stand in the cold and ask strangers for
money.
Dorothy Day once said, “God help us all if
we just got whaf we deserved.” I think she
was on to something, and I hope that next
time I am challenged to do so l ean give the
person I find in front of me so much more
than they expect, and in doing so, help us
both to become a little more human, a little
more of who we are called to be.
Your support matters now more than ever!
Give to Street Roots this year at www.streetroots.org or
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at www.wweek.com/giveguide/.
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