Atlantans say the city is hiding away its poor
Atlantans say the city is hiding away its poor
ATLANTA, Georgia (Reuter): The homeless of Atlanta on
Wednesday angrily accused the city of trying to clear them off
the streets until the Olympics are over.
"They want to sweep my butt under the carpet and forget all
about me," said 53-year-old Herman Ingram, queuing outside a
downtown church that runs a daily soup kitchen.
Beside him stands Rosie Johnson, shielding her six-year-old
daughter Kannisha from the searing heat as she complains: "They
think every black person is here to hassle Olympic visitors.
People look at you like you don't exist."
Up to 25,000 people sleep rough on the streets of the city
that plays host to the centenary Summer Games from July 19. They
feel like pariahs in their hometown full of glittering
skyscrapers and sparkling new sports stadiums.
Atlanta, the feisty and fast-growing capital of the American
southeast, has a genius for self-promotion, telling investors
this is a "city too busy to hate." But the down and outs say it
is just too busy to care.
The city fathers are bending over backwards to promote the
thrusting and thriving image of a modern cosmopolitan city as the
eyes of the world focus on Atlanta for three weeks.
"But they just want us out of the way, to disappear," said
Robert Atchison, who has been living rough on the streets for two
years since losing his job in a restaurant."
Atchison, one of 400 homeless queuing for food, said: "This
country is built on money and I understand when they have a big
event they want everything to look good. That intensifies their
desire to make us invisible."
Even their usual soup kitchen has been removed from downtown
Atlanta where the main Olympic events are being staged.
One social services department provoked outrage by funding
"Operation Homeward Bound" which offered the homeless one-way bus
tickets out of town. The plan was speedily abandoned among howls
of protest.
But the plan still rankled with volunteer worker Alan Harris
as he dealt with a myriad of daily problems brought to him by
homeless at the Lutheran church where they were each given a
plate of sandwiches, hot dogs and cookies.
"These people are indeed being swept under the carpet and
shoved aside in the name of the Olympics. The rich are being
catered for," said the social worker who has spent 12 years
trying to help the homeless.
"It would take just a slight twist of priorities to do what is
right. They leave it to the churches to provide services for the
homeless. They are dying very slowly out there from a life of
addiction and mental illness. They are a lost group."