safe zone

[Guest guest]

I heard a story on NPR (National Public Radio) about Kansas

City. They're building a fancy new public library downtown

and trying to create a " safe zone " around it. The purpose

is to attract the " right kind " of people back to the

downtown area. Housing to accommodate those people is being

fixed up within that " safe zone. "

" Safe, " in this case, means that the area will exclude

those whom the " right kind " of people do not wish to see.

At first, the " wrong " behaviors are described according to

minor crime: public urination, public drinking, minor drug

sales, etc. The reason for describing the " behaviors "

according to " crimes " is so they (the ones doing the

excluding) won't be seen as targeting " the homeless "

en mass. In theory, well-behaved homeless people would be

able to use the library, too.

Further on in the story, however, one official refers to

" the mentally ill " who " can't control themselves " and may

exhibit " behaviors " that " the right kind of people " don't

want to have to see. Users of the library, or of the

sidewalks in the " safe zone, " will have to be able to

maintain an appearance of " normality, " it seems, or risk

being deported back to the " unsafe zone. "

I suspect would risk exile if he were so bold as

to sit and rock (if he were so " inconvenient " as to sit

and be himself) in the new Kansas City library. :-(

Jane

[Guest guest]

Jane Meyerding wrote:

> I suspect would risk exile if he were so bold as to sit and

> rock (if he were so " inconvenient " as to sit and be himself) in the

> new Kansas City library. :-(

If I lived there, I would go right there and be as " myself " as

possible. I don't just rock-- I flap too.

The ADA prohibits things like this. Those idiots want to associate

being unusual with public urination and drug sales... that's a bunch of

nonsense, of course.

[Guest guest]

> If I lived there, I would go right there and be as " myself " as

> possible. I don't just rock-- I flap too.

Yes, I wish more of us lived near there so we could have a big

" autistic day " in the " safe zone " .

[Guest guest]

> Further on in the story, however, one official refers to

> " the mentally ill " who " can't control themselves " and may

> exhibit " behaviors " that " the right kind of people " don't

> want to have to see. Users of the library, or of the

> sidewalks in the " safe zone, " will have to be able to

> maintain an appearance of " normality, " it seems, or risk

> being deported back to the " unsafe zone. "

I believe the official was a homeless advocate (or possibly homeless

himself?) who was saying, basically, " Some people urinate in public and

whatever other crimes because they can't control themselves, not because

they are doing it intentionally - and they shouldn't be banned from the

library. " (paraphrased obviously) I don't think it was one of the law's

supporters, but instead the person making that statement was one of the

law's opponents.

That said, I do think the law is bad. If someone is breaking society's

laws in a way which needs separation from society, there are ways we

already have to do that (and they are bad enough). If they aren't

breaking laws bad enough to separate them from society, then we shouldn't

separate them from society. I don't like laws like this at all, and

suspect some of us are looked at as the kind of people they don't want to

see in public. But they were mostly targeting actual crime, not " weird

behavior " , and I don't think most of us make a habit out of breaking laws

- I think the reason to oppose this law is less that it affects us

directly then it is just a bad law.

If a library is a place of learning (not just free internet access!

<grin>), you would expect people to be welcomed...

And for some of the crime (public urination specifically), one obvious

solution is to provide public toilets. Most cities have a serious lack of

public toilets, and if you have to spend all day in a downtown area where

you aren't wanted in stores and such, where do you pee? As for the other

crimes, there may be similar " obvious " solutions which deal with the

problem not the symptom. But most laws that affect homeless are " Get them

out of sight " laws, not " fix the real problem. " (A great example of this

is a fairly recent Denver law which prohibits sleeping in city parks - it

caused the homeless to have to sleep in hidden places rather then in the

safer large groups many of them slept in; A year later, a half dozen

homeless men were found brutally murdered - personally, I find these

events to be connected.)

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