We currently live in a world that is diverse because there are many cultures, languages, religions and traditions over the world. These beliefs and ideas are shared within groups of people that identify with each other as being similar and following the same dynamics of the group they primarily recognize as theirs. Some examples of these primary exclusive groups are, Latino, White, African American or catholic, Christian. These are some of the groups that people all over the world fall into place based on their families. Often it is your family that contributes to the groups that you find yourself interacting with and understanding. However, another important aspect that falls into the group you belong in is financial situation. A present problem…show more content… The homeless tend to be associated with dirty, lazy, and lying individuals who are in the streets by their own choice. In “Helping and Hating the Homeless” by Peter Marin he mentions that within the group of homeless there are “roots and specks present”. Meaning that the homeless are made up by veterans, mentally ill, physically disabled, the elderly, the unemployed, single parents, runaway children, alcoholics and immigrants. Marin mentions that what all these people have in common is that “before they were homeless they were people like ourselves: members of the working or middle class” (169). Although at one point in their life’s they belonged in a different group society has forgotten and ignored that they once “belonged” and where part of a better group. The homeless is instantly associated with a group that must be judged and dismissed because of the false stereotypes. They are “othered” because many fail to have the empathy to wonder or ask about their past, the fail to answer a question, how did you end up in the…show more content… People tend to walk away or put distance with the homeless because of their appearance and a certainty that they will hurt them. The homeless are often dirty and show signs of low hygiene which is why many are bothered and annoyed by this and decided to treat them poorly. This fear and uncertainty leads many residents of Los Angeles to avoid and ignore the homeless by rudely dismissing them and neglecting them with the help they seek, often food or money, but the biggest a shelter. Many Angelinos are selfish and do not want to give help because they have heard many bad misconceptions of the homeless populations such as that they are dirty, but the case is often that they are not capable of working and that they want the money for drugs and alcohol. Marin states “simply because they are homeless, [they] are strangers, alien and therefore a threat” (172). Marin also mentions that seeing homeless around our neighborhoods is upsetting because a sense of safety and privacy is taken away. It is as if they cannot be calm or feel at peace if there is homeless nearby. That is one reason why the homeless are judged and “othered” because in the eyes of many they are invading their privacy and safety to molest them with their “horrid”
