Letters to the Editor

Letter: Don’t look down on homeless people

I have a little bone to pick with society, especially here in Alaska: What happened to you, as a loving, caring, giving and understanding people? That helped, loved and cared for all? You sit here high and mighty, over and above everyone, throw dirt, shame, guilt, put down and make fun of the homeless. I used to be homeless for 20 years but am currently in a motel. I cannot and will not tolerate this type of bullying any longer.

I still consider myself homeless; we have feelings and we still have hope, even if it’s just a tiny drop. Has it ever occurred to you in “higher class” society that we have unhealed trauma — from you, from family, from supposed friends? Has it occurred to you that with you all putting us down, treating us like we’re animals, talking to us like we’re nothing, keeping us in this low self-worth state — that it is you who help keep us here? Your off-the-wall remarks and judgment need to be reevaluated.

We are the ones who take the brunt of all your failures and mistakes; we are the ones who carry your burdens. And, yet, we are looked at as the animals.

Not a single one of you in “higher class” society can spend one night out here and still hold your head up high. Has it occurred to you as a society that we want to be heard, to be seen? We, as a human race, all have unhealed trauma. We are one race, one entity. Listen to “Imagine” and tell me how you feel afterward. Because I believe in God, the many blessings He gives us daily and I believe in miracles.

— Jarona J. Edison

Anchorage

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