Letters To The Editor

Panhandling foes should aim at poverty

Regarding the article, “Residents protest panhandling,” in the March 5 South Side Voice:

The protesters interviewed for this article convey a tone of bitterness, almost hatred, toward the poor. The aim of their protest is to prevent people from begging for money and to prevent people who drive near the intersection of Fourth and Maple from giving these people any money, because “they’re telling him (the poor person) to stay around and make a mess.”

Apparently their goal is to drive people who beg for money out of their neighborhood. Where should they go?

The protesters do not say and, apparently, do not care as long as there is no litter in their neighborhood.

I am not arguing that some people who beg for money do not litter, or buy alcohol with the money they receive. I do maintain, however, that people who beg for money are not the only ones who might litter or drink alcohol.

Just go to an area where people do not beg for money, i.e., the freeway, and see how much litter you can find. My guess is that Cannon’s Addition would not be free of litter, including beer bottles, if the people who beg for money went away.

My proposal is that these protesters do something more constructive with their time than photograph and record the comings and goings of people who beg for money.

Is it too crazy to suggest that panhandling might be a “problem” because poverty is a problem? How about participating in an anti-poverty program rather than an anti-poor one. Jota L. Borgmann Spokane