What Can 'The Wire' Teach Us About Homelessness?

by Shannon Moriarty · 2009-11-02 06:43:00 UTC
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Harvard University officials announced yesterday that the school plans to offer a class that uses Season 5 of HBO's hit show "The Wire" as a case study for "urban issues" in America.

William Julius Wilson - one of the nation's leading scholars on urban poverty - told the Harvard Crimson that, "‘The Wire' has done more to enhance our understanding of the systemic urban inequality that constrains the lives of the poor than any published study."

It's an interesting observation. Why is it that a fictional television drama speak has the ability to speak to us more than data rooted in rigorous research? Are we overloaded with numbers and figures - some accurate, some hyperbolic - that we're wired to tune these things out? Do we only believe what we see with our own eyes, in our own neighborhoods?

If this is the case, then perhaps it's time we evaluate our world view. Our preeminent poverty experts and leading academic institutions are turning to a HBO series for a real look at urban poverty; perhaps we should take note.

Why not give it a try - watch Season 5 of The Wire. Take it a step beyond mindless entertainment and think about the issues presented in the show. We all have something to gain by opening our minds and trying to understand real issues happening the world around us.

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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