[AZFISHKILLER]

I have been watching and thinking about this for a while now, at least a year.

I have my own theories on the why of what I am about to post, but I want to see what others think as well, so I will with hold my theory until later.

This may not be the case in other areas, not sure, but it sure is here.

Almost without exception, all the homeless people that are visible to the genral public, in the Phoenix Metro area are white.

I have seen a few black people, but not many, and I have never, and I mean never seen a latino homeless person.

I am not saying there aren't any, only that I have not seen them, where I travel, live, work and visit around the city.

With a population make up of 60% white 35% Latin and 5% black, I find this odd and curious.

I think I know some of the answers, but I would like other opinions.

What do you think, and how is it where you are?

This post edited by AZFISHKILLER 08:43 AM 03/21/2008

 

[Gaucho]

Well I visit the #1 homeless shelter Monday-Friday....it's called the NYC Subway system.

Here in NYC what I have noticed is the homeless situation is made up of mostly Black with Whites almost tied for first. I do see Latinos but not as much, I harldy ever see an Asian.

I have a friend that I bowl with that is a train conductor and he see them in the tunnels...now with the size of the rats down there you have to be pretty screwed up to sleep down there.

Sad situation in a country that has so much.

 

[CHEVY1]

None by me

I travel all around Long Island and I have only found two homeless people. Both are white and one is a male the other a woman. They both have carts and collect cans and both appear to be in there 50's. I know there are many many more, but they tend to be in areas I do not tend to go to.

 

[6to8ftSeas]

Not an easy answer. I think there are a few factors.

One, the homeless population, though not entirely, has a large percentage of mentally ill. so if you look at mental illness in relation to race you may find an answer there.

Second, willingness to seek and participate in programs providing aid for homelessness prevention and rehabilitation is race and gender sensitive. Men as well as certain races are frequently resistant to aid.

Third, different cultures have different ideals and ethics when it comes to the family unit. I think it is a fair assumption to assume that a homeless individual most likely does not have close ties to the rest of his or her family. In some cultures the value of the families unity is to great for that to happen, in most cases.

I'm sure there are studies on this but I have not read them or don't remember. If there's enough interest I can be talked into finding one

But, more importantly, I want to hear AZ's theories first.

 

[onitis]

In my 6 decades of riding the subway i once saw a homeless asian lady.I also once saw a Hasidic midget but he wasnt homeless.

 

[gverb1219]

OK, in my line of work, (I work on bridges) I probably run into more homeless people than most. They set up house under the bridges, and even up in between the bridge beams.
When I say I see more than most, I'm talking about some areas where there are bridges with only 1 homeless person there to bridges where there are as many as 20 living under it.

In cities such as Bridgeport New Haven and Stamford, CT I've noticed the homeless population is made up of basically 3 types. Drug addicts, Alcoholics and the true homeless. Mostly they all keep to their own.

Blacks count for about 40%
Whites count for about 60%

I honestly haven't seen many Hispanic or Asian homeless.....maybe a couple here and there so not even enough to count.

Out of the drunks, druggies and truely homeless I would break it down as such:

Black homeless, for the most part out of the 40% are ....around 30% alcoholics and 10% druggies.

White homeless, for the most part out of the 60% are.....around 50% druggies and 10% alcoholics

As far as homeless women, most all I've seen are white, and about equal split of druggies and alcoholics, with women being about 10% of all the homeless.

The truely plain ol homeless person that is not a drunk or druggie is normally white males about 30 to 45 years old.

The sad part of my job is whenever we have to work on a bridge where the homeless are, we have to have them removed. We try to go and give them as much notice as possible to collect their belongings and leave, refering them to shelters, but many simply move to another bridge. There are always those that refuse to leave, in which case the police have to come in and remove them. When that happens, we have to go in and remove their belongings, which usually just gets tossed into a dump truck and hauled to a dumpster
When we can, we try to put the stuff in boxes and move it to outside our work area so they can come and retrieve it.

Maybe one day I'll snap some pics...........some homeless are pretty ingenious when it comes to setting up "home".........even running electricity from the bridge lighting to power small appliances..............

 

[basslegend]

If you are white and go down to get help, financial,food stamps,health plan, shelter you almost always get turned away !!
Bottom line !!!

sounds racist,but I know alot of white people that needed some type of help and were refused,while I know a few "other" people that get handed all kinds of services and they were not as in bad shape as the whites.

One lady who ran out of health insurance went down to social services to apply for VERY NEEDED medical insurance plan and was told by the desk person " why waste your time,the'll turn you down" !!! And they sure did !

I'm not saying no white people get help,but if they do it's usually a white lady with 3 kids from a black man !!!

sorry if it offeneds someone,I just have no problem telling it like it really is !!
Tim

 

[6to8ftSeas]

Many addicts and alcoholics are MICA........Mental Ill Chemical Abusers. Basically the reason they drink or use is because they have a mental illness that is not being treated.

The ratio of homeless chemical abusers being MICA is much higher than the general population because homelessness is an indication of the lowest level of functioning. I have known many serious addicts where homelessness was the rock bottom that scared them straight. The problem is you can't tell if a drunk is mentally ill until they are sober.

Then of course some homeless are just drunks and crack heads.

oh yeah

onitis wrote:
In my 6 decades of riding the subway i once saw a homeless asian lady.I also once saw a Hasidic midget but he wasnt homeless.

 

[Gaucho]

basslegend wrote:
If you are white and go down to get help, financial,food stamps,health plan, shelter you almost always get turned away !!
Bottom line !!!


huh

That reminds me of an old SNL episode where Eddie Murphy dressed up like a white person for a day to see what it was like and they were giving him stuff all day long.

 

[jpd]

There used (maybe still is) to be a woman on the corner of 57th and Madison, that used to cover herself with with a plastic sheet and shiver naked on the corner in front of the Bank of NY. I walked by her every day of the week.

The NY Post followed her home to her Harlem apartment and saw her come out dressed in a fancy track suit. She shared the 3 bedroom apt with her sister, and the paper estimated she was taking in $100-$150 a day tax free on that corner. They put her on the front page.