The Great Bench Debate

by Shannon Moriarty · 2008-11-25 05:45:00 UTC
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The picturesque mountain town of Asheville, North Carolina is lacking downtown seating these days. City officials recently removed two park benches in front of the library because of alleged "drug dealing and aggressive panhandling," according to the Asheville Citizen Times.

This isn't the first time government officials have used park benches as a scapegoat for masking discrimination against the homelessness. For years, cities across the country have been hiding their homeless by removing benches from public areas rather than using friendlier tactics to help these individuals.

In the article, Police Chief Bill Hogan says, "With whatever we do downtown our goal is to make it comfortable for everyone to be down there." Apparently, his definition of "everyone" does not include people without a home.

Luckily, Asheville has it's share of passionate homelessness advocates to speak for the underrepresented. Douglas Ewen, a local shelter volunteer, staged a sit-in to protest the removal of the benches. He told the Times:

It's a pattern of trying to remove people from public view, who do not have representation or a voice. If crimes are being committed [by people using these benches], you prosecute the crimes, you don't remove the benches.

He's absolutely right. If we are to follow the chief's logic, perhaps we should start tearing down crime-ridden buildings and demolishing dangerous alleyways, since these are the places where crimes occur.

Seems like Asheville might be on its way to joining the ranks of America's Meanest Cities. What's next? Prohibitions on feeding the homeless in public? (I'm not making that up, unfortunately.)

Get real, city officials. Put the benches back and start working with folks like Douglas Ewen towards REAL solutions to addressing homelessness in Asheville. It's in everybody's best interests.

[Picture: Benches in downtown Asheville, North Carolina.]

Shannon Moriarty has worked in various homeless shelters and service organizations around the country. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.
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