Reply #3: "Most of them are bums — plain and simple" [View All]

[kurth]

Last week, Austin's homeless population came under scrutiny when a golfer at the Butler Park Pitch & Putt said he was attacked after asking four men — who were not on course property — to leave the area. The injured man, Jose Angel Gamboa, suffered a broken nose and a detached retina. Two homeless men were arrested. The charges were dropped the next day, and no one else has been arrested in the incident. But the attack has stoked discontent about Austin's homeless. More than 120 comments were left on an Austin American-Statesman blog about the attack. Many expressed disgust with the homeless people in parks, in the woods, on the street corners, sidewalks and trails. "Most of them are bums — plain and simple," one reader wrote. "Austin definitely needs to do something about them."

Advocates for homeless people caught wind of the blog and saw it as a window into community sentiment. They read it, e-mailed it and talked about it for days. They saw it as a barometer of how well they are spreading their message about the root causes of homelessness: drug and alcohol addiction, mental illness, domestic violence, physical disabilities, Austin's high cost of living and the $5.15 minimum wage. It was a test some advocates think they failed. "It has triggered a tremendous amount of discussion about the failure to educate people about the general homeless population," said Richard Troxell, president of the advocacy group House the Homeless. "We have not done our jobs." ...

"These people aren't homeless. Their homes are wherever they pass out. They are drunken bums who only care about getting their next drink. If they wanted anything else, they'd avail themselves of all the charities and shelters in town. Why don't we just build a big "shelter" with a big gate around it. They can have all the alcohol they (want) on one condition . . . there's no way out!" — Comment on Statesman.com
"It is not my duty to go to work each day so I can fund programs for those who simply don't want to have to answer to authority, stay sober, and shower every once in a while. There are plenty of programs for those who truly want off the streets." — Comment on Statesman.com ....

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/08/24homeless.html