The Homeless Are Human
Sleeping under bridges, on cold winter nights and starving until they find scraps of food, are the unimaginable experiences homeless people endure on a daily basis. In this photograph, taken at Skid Row, there is a homeless man lying in front of a painting that depicts a home. This photo brings light to the issue of homelessness and induces change for the homeless people in the United States. This photo is aimed towards the people who typically overlook the thousands of individuals that sleep on the streets and captures their attention through spray-painted artwork. The homeless man becomes a piece of the artwork; therefore, forcing people to examine him and his living conditions. The audience, thus, feels sympathy for …show more content…
The egos of many Americans, however, often cause them to shun and shame homeless people. Professor Paul Toro, of Wayne State University, asserts that “People have these attitudes — that they’re lazy, that they deserve what they get, they haven’t worked hard, they’re just looking for a handout. … and people with these attitudes lack compassion” (qtd. in Figueroa, “Do You Ignore Homeless People?”). Therefore, people blame the homeless for placing themselves in such conditions and simply disregard their presence by walking right by. This photo, fortunately, changes the perspective of viewers who normally overlook homeless individuals. A businessman rushing to work would be stopped at the sight of this photo; he would realize that he would never purposely place himself in such horrible conditions, thus understanding that the homeless man did not deliberately choose to be in the situation he is in. The photo, therefore, invites onlookers to identify with the homeless, thus feeling sympathetic towards them. It reveals that homeless individuals do not choose to be where they are, in fact, they desire to be somewhere better, but overcoming such horrendous circumstances is not as easy as many people think it
Sleeping under bridges, on cold winter nights and starving until they find scraps of food, are the unimaginable experiences homeless people endure on a daily basis. In this photograph, taken at Skid Row, there is a homeless man lying in front of a painting that depicts a home. This photo brings light to the issue of homelessness and induces change for the homeless people in the United States. This photo is aimed towards the people who typically overlook the thousands of individuals that sleep on the streets and captures their attention through spray-painted artwork. The homeless man becomes a piece of the artwork; therefore, forcing people to examine him and his living conditions. The audience, thus, feels sympathy for …show more content…
The egos of many Americans, however, often cause them to shun and shame homeless people. Professor Paul Toro, of Wayne State University, asserts that “People have these attitudes — that they’re lazy, that they deserve what they get, they haven’t worked hard, they’re just looking for a handout. … and people with these attitudes lack compassion” (qtd. in Figueroa, “Do You Ignore Homeless People?”). Therefore, people blame the homeless for placing themselves in such conditions and simply disregard their presence by walking right by. This photo, fortunately, changes the perspective of viewers who normally overlook homeless individuals. A businessman rushing to work would be stopped at the sight of this photo; he would realize that he would never purposely place himself in such horrible conditions, thus understanding that the homeless man did not deliberately choose to be in the situation he is in. The photo, therefore, invites onlookers to identify with the homeless, thus feeling sympathetic towards them. It reveals that homeless individuals do not choose to be where they are, in fact, they desire to be somewhere better, but overcoming such horrendous circumstances is not as easy as many people think it