stupid system.

racism is still rampantly raging in our society.

i've been hearing stories lately from some of the residents about time they spent in jail. one of the residents, who has an amazingly similar likeness to my poppop miller, was telling me the other day how he was once in a town he didn't know for a job and he was trying to find the metro station. so, like any practical person would do, he was asking people he passed on the street where the metro was. no one could (or chose to) help him. and after about 10 minutes, a policeman came up and told him that he was arresting him for panhandling. even though my resident pops protested and told him he was looking for the metro, he didn't care. he was put on probation, but didn't follow it because he needed to travel for his job. next thing he knew, he spent three months in jail. now, if i were lost in that town and asking for directions, there's no way a policeman would arrest me for panhandling. because i'm white, and he's black.

today, though, i experienced racism and the impossibility of the structures that our society has put in place for poor men and women. argh, i'm still so mad. two of the residents and i went to a social security office because they had either lost or had their social security cards taken from them in the hospital. we waited for about 2 hours before they were given the chance to be seen, and even then, i think it was the fact that i was the only white person in the room and i was with them as their "social worker" or something that they were taken back. both of them filled out all the paperwork and had the only id cards that they possessed with them. and both were denied. straight up denied. and not even told what they needed to get to get their cards, just "some other form of id."

i'm seriously mad about this. it is an endless circle of being trapped for them, and unless they have someone to push and push until that circle can be broken, they just keep going round and round in the endless cycle of poverty. one of the residents is trying to get a copy of his birth certificate, which he can't get until he has his social security card, which he can't get without government issued id or driver's license, which he can't get until he has his birth certificate... and on and on. he has his food stamps photo id card and his medicaid card, but no, those aren't good enough. he even knows his social security number, and the record is still there. but they send him away, rudely, coldly, without much of a care. one more rejected application for the paper shredder. it ticks me off. i know that there are processes for reasons, that they can't just go handing anything out to anyone. but the bureaucracy of it all is so incredibly difficult to penetrate. and he's at least still trying. but how long can you try, can you fight, can you run up against brick walls without giving up? poverty is systemic. think about that next time you see a homeless man on the street or a woman at a soup kitchen. i sure need to.

after all that shinanigans, we went to mcdonalds for lunch. but even with the promise of all that deliciously greasy food, my pops only wanted a milkshake. "i'm too upset to eat," he said. dehumanizing jerks. how dare they rob my pops of his joy?

i'm going to keep fighting.