I was once homeless and lived in a shelter. That experience gave me empathy for people on the street because I know how close I came to being one of them. But living in California has shown me that compassion for homeless people — the compassion that many of us feel — can be weaponized to stifle honest discussions about the tension caused by homeless people living in public spaces.
I’ve noticed that in California, self-appointed moral police dictate — homeless advocates, elected leaders, and young progressives, among others – try to dictate a narrative about homeless people designed to silence us through guilt. Our discomfort is waved off. Even I, a formerly homeless person, can be made to feel like I need to “watch my priviledge” because I graduated from a university, have a whte-collar job and my own place to live.
This has been quite an education about California since I moved to Sacramento from Tennessee almost 18 months ago…