Is Poverty a Crime? Examining Barbara Ehrenreich's NYT Piece

Introduction

We all know what a crime is but is poverty illegal, so making it a crime? We can only answer that if we know exactly what we want to attain by discussing this topic which is never debated. With us on steering wheel we would like to dissect Barbara Ehrenreich piece from August 2009 in the New York Times which talks about poverty and crime with the article, "Is It Now a Crime to Be Poor?" she bluntly talks about the poverty line increasing where man people are becoming poor in a period where 'it is almost illegal to be poor'. this article and today's topic talks about making sure that everybody has common basic requirements like affordable housing, good schools for their kids and reliable public transportation so as to curb the growing poverty levels in America.

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Barbara continues to write those poor people leaving on the streets are left on the mercy of city officials who are in violation of city ordinances by doing basic human necessities like sleeping, sitting, or lying down. Further saying this discriminatory acts go back from the start of gentrification of 1980s and 90s, where in recent years a study was carried out by the, "National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty" which found out that criminalizing the poor has been on the rise since the year 2006 where minor transgressions like, littering, jaywalking or having an open alcohol container are grounds for ticketing or even arrests (Ehrenreich,2009).

As the article continues to intensify, Barbara endures on the crackdown by officials towards poor people at which reports state that San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Honolulu are the three largest meanest cities America. A ban on begging in Colorado Grand Junction is being considered, as Tempe Arizona indigent (poor person) crackdown was carried out for four days, with indigent being said to be, " a person whom an ordinary rational person would consider to be permitted to receive or apply public assistance".

She goes a step further and becomes personal, by talking about a 62-year-old veteran man known as Al Szekely who was injured back in 1972 in the Vietnam War now the owner of a wheelchair living in a homeless shelter in Washington now arrested for having an outstanding arrest warrant and the charge was not appearing in court for "criminal trespassing" and that was sleeping on a suburb sidewalk in Washington. With Barbara asserting, "They arrested a homeless man in a shelter for being homeless" (Ehrenreich,2009). For Al and him being arrested meant he lost his spot in the homeless shelter and now has to sleep outside on the streets where he is constantly harassed by security guards.

Conclusion

This article was catchy and thought-provoking with the author reminding us that there are yet another two ways of being termed a criminal in our country for being poor. She warns if you are not yet homeless you in danger of falling into debt and the other thing she specifies is our race. In Texas, one can sit in jail if one cannot afford to pay his or her traffic tickets. For having the wrong skin color can wager your indignation, by wearing a wrong color T-shirt can be said to be in connection with a local gang. This piece is a bold one speaking out about the discrimination that poor people go through and the legislation put forth to enable all this to go through swiftly with no setback.

References

Ehrenreich, B. (2009). Is it now a crime to be poor? New York Times, 8, 9.