Response # 3

Alan Wood

8/29/11

Response # 3

When reading the forward and introduction to Someplace Like America it talked about the plight of Americas homeless. The beginning of the introduction spoke of a thirty-five year old hobo named Kenneth Burr being murdered in 1984 in Santa Barbara, California. Then someone who was unrelated to the murder of Kenneth Burr, posted a note to capitalize on the murder. The note depicted that the homeless are the scum of the Earth and that they have no place in Santa Barbara. These kinds of acts show us what kind of world we live I today, a world that is bound to hate anyone who is not somewhat like ourselves. Isn’t America supposed to be the land of the free and aren’t all men created equal. Evidently not, evidently America is the land of the oppressed and those who think they’re better than everyone else.

People today think that the homeless are bad and are the scum of America. Most homeless people however are people who were just like us that befell some type of financial tragedy. The author speaks of a woman who had fallen from upper class privileges and a frugal white collar mom, who is raising her children on her own, who works two jobs year around and is barely able to survive. He talks of a waitress in her sixties whose tips are so down she will never be able to retire and will probably work till she dies. Or a Latino man who is citizen of the United States, who fears being beaten by the cops who believe that he is undocumented just because of the color of his skin. All of these people are no different than ourselves, everyday hard working people who have just fallen down on their luck. But yet every day we persecute them for being a little different, a little less rich then us, a little less fortunate.

Someplace Like America helped open my eyes to the plight of the poor and the homeless in America. These people live as if they are in a third world country, but they aren’t living in a third world country instead they are living in the richest country in the world. But clearly we are too rich too share with those who are in need. Clearly we think that because we are richer and that other people are poorer that they shouldn’t be around. It is supposed to be that all men are equal to one another, but it’s not that way. There will always be those people who feel like they are better or those who feel the need to oppress those they don’t like or don’t approve of. These people are oppressing people who are just like themselves. People who are everyday working class people. People come to America because they believe it to be a free land full of accepting people, which is the way it should be. But books such as Someplace Like America may just help open people’s eyes to make America a better place.