Civil rights are being violated, innocent people are being jailed, the seriously ill are being denied appropriate respect and even the military is under suspicion. It may sound like a B-movie plot, or something straight out of Guantanamo Bay. But we're talking about the Coffee Plantation on Mill Avenue.
At least that's the story you get when you talk to Jesse MacBeth, a young Iraq war veteran. If in the past week you read about the Free to Camp protest against the 'establishment,' or have seen the FTC's recent flier campaign, you probably know that that the evil corporate coffee empire is out to get you.
Though customers may be "quietly sipping their coffee," as MacBeth puts it, if you don't fit the mold of their preferred customer, you may be removed from the premises, or possibly the whole of Mill Avenue, under threat of lock and key.
Being the good little liberals that we are, we decided to investigate further the atrocities that sometimes come with a cup of coffee at Coffee Plantation. And just as in every case of conflict, there is no black and white, and finding real solutions to the problems that lie beneath takes more than simply holding up posters or riling up some security guards on Mill Avenue.
None of us can deny that there is both de jure and de facto discrimination against the homeless in our community, as there is anywhere else. But the primary component of the struggle for fair treatment is being fair yourself, and that largely relies on exposing the whole truth. If in fact injustice has been done, the use of hyperbole and omission don't do anyone any good.
MacBeth may have been sipping his coffee peacefully when he was asked to leave ... but no one ever mentioned that he told the management to "f--- off " and that it is his "right as an American" to not be asked to leave (even though American law may tell you otherwise. Private property is funny like that).
Nor did anyone mention that another patron who felt violated by the management assaulted the owner's wife. Similarly, the fact that Coffee Plantation has spent hundreds of dollars renovating their restroom facilities after they had been smeared with graffiti and destroyed by people bathing in them also went unmentioned. Discrimination surely breeds contempt, but vandalism and assault are hardly a solution to the problem.
When giving consideration to justice and the rights of the homeless, we cannot focus solely on the rights of individuals, but also the rights of businesses they frequent. No business has a logical interest in scaring away its clientele, regardless of what groups like Free to Camp, who organized the protests, may want you to believe.
While Elizabeth Venable, head of Free to Camp, has declined to respond to all of our attempts at contact, the Free to Camp Web site provided a glimpse of the group's philosophy. Venable calls Mill Avenue "our own little piece of corporate globalization," and organizing protests against Coffee Plantation is the front from which she wages war on homelessness, apathy and the Tempe City Council. The latest action, being by far the most publicized, added discrimination against veterans and civil rights violations to the list of wrongs done to the homeless community.
But while it is easy to get caught up in the abstract concepts of "globalization," "social welfare," and "discrimination," it is necessary to examine the situation on a local level and find local solutions.
These solutions have to come from all members of the community, including citizens, the social service industry, political entities, business owners, law enforcement and grassroots groups, among others.
Dumping guilt and assigning responsibility is short, sweet and simple. Anyone can come to a protest or post a disclaimer in the window of a business, then hide behind a public relations statement or refuse interaction if there is no immediate and complete agreement to conditions aligned with one's own interests.
In response to this, here is a revolutionary idea: STOP WHINING AND DO SOMETHING.
Like what?
Like what the City of Tempe did upon the request of Mayor Neil Giuliano in 1999 when it created the Homeless Task Force.
The City Council brought together a diverse cross-section of Tempe residents, social service providers, and business people for the HTF, and in September 2000, a report was published specifying a mission statement, vision, and goals for addressing homelessness in Tempe. Among the points in the mission statement was the fact that "all homeless people within the City of Tempe should have access to services that meet basic needs such as housing, food and clothing."
In that same report, the HTF also recommended the creation of a daytime resource center for the homeless. The Tempe Youth Resource Center, a stone's throw from Mill Avenue's Brickyard and City Hall, is a giant step toward that goal.
The Youth Resource Center was established 18 months ago as a part of the Valley's Tumbleweed Center for Youth Development. Its goals are the betterment of homeless youth and the betterment of the community we all share.
Businesses have also shown their care for and interest in the homeless community. For example, Pizzeria UNO often donates food to local shelters.
But perhaps the most important and hardest step along the way to good community relations is the first step: open communication.
Shawn Croskey, who has been working with Tumbleweed for the past four years and has been at the Tempe location since it opened, is one individual who sees the importance of open discourse about the issue at hand.
"Part of my job is to see both sides of the issues that affect the homeless ... from their perspective, and from the perspectives of those that they come into contact with," Croskey said. "Social responsibility is a large part of what the center advocates."
Croskey said he was aware of the rift that had seemingly formed between homeless patrons of Coffee Plantation and staff. Before the recent protests, some of the center's clients had voiced displeasure with the way the establishment treated them. He encouraged the youths at the Resource Center to find constructive solutions to their problems, instead of disruptive ones.
Croskey pointed out that Tempe is "just on the cusp" of effectively dealing with homelessness. When asked how he would ideally improve the homeless problem in Tempe, he noted, "Opening up a dialogue is far preferable to an angry forum."
So, does accusing people of violating your rights, assaulting them, and trespassing qualify as an "angry forum?" Yeah, we think so. We called Jesse MacBeth to see if he'd be willing to convey his anger at Coffee Plantation in a manner other than a protest. "No," he said. "I mean, if they wanna talk, maybe we'll talk, but they did me wrong, so they'll have to initiate it ... and protesting makes me feel good." It's a shame we didn't take that into consideration.
To be honest, it's hard not to be disappointed in this entire situation. When one of the main characters in the movement would rather risk arrest than put his pride aside, we cannot help but wonder if there are motivations other than the welfare of veterans and the homeless driving this movement.
The only way in which this community can help the homeless is to put labels like "hippie," "hobo" and "capitalist pig" on the shelf right next to their egos. Perhaps they should borrow a page from Ghandi, who said, "We must be the change we wish to see in the world."
We ask that everyone who has a stake in this issue -- and all of us do for one reason or another -- take interest in it and act. For this problem to be resolved, we need the involvement of student business associations, political groups and anyone else who wants to make a positive difference in his or her community. Homelessness is not only the problem of the homeless. It's ours too.
Lucia Bill is a political science freshman and can be reached at lucia.bill@asu.edu. Brian Clapp is a biology and political science senior, and welcomes your comments at brian.clap@asu.edu. For more information on Tempe's policies toward the homeless, contact Theresa James, Tempe's coordinator for the homeless at (480) 858-2360.
