Tent Cities

By Alissa Scheller

A few weeks ago, Oprah decided my hometown’s tent-city was a newsworthy story. I don’t really know why, though.

Of course, there’s the recession, which has unarguably caused people to lose their homes, and I’m not denying that Sacramento is home to many people who do not, in fact, have homes.

But the tent city near the Sacramento Loaves and Fishes has been there for years. In my memory, at least, there have always been homeless people living down by the river. This is not news.

This article from the Huffington Post discusses the great American tradition of tent cities. Sure, it’s not glamorous, but I can’t quite bring myself to believe it’s news either.

The thing about news is that it’s generally new, and tent cities are not. We had Hoovervilles in the 30s, and John Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath years ago.

Sacramento’s Mayor Kevin Johnson recently said that the tent city would be coming down. While I think it’s commendable that the city, along with homeless advocates and others, are doing something to help the people who live there, I have to wonder what the motivation for doing it now is. The tents have been there for years. Did it really need a huge economic recession and Oprah’s mention to become an issue worthy of this much discussion?