Sacramento’s homeless people deserve more concern than Mayor Steinberg’s ‘landscaping’

In the aftermath of a protest that occurred at Mayor Darrell Steinberg’s house, along with The Sacramento Bee’s reports of property damage, my response to a Facebook post was abbreviated in a column by Gil Duran. He insinuated that I had “shushed” someone who had condemned the vandalism.

My belief: In a society where we all cared for each other, we would not destroy or damage each other’s property. As a human, I empathize with Darrell and Julie Steinberg.

My other belief: I am outraged by the human rights violations and violence that were being protested that night. We recently watched a rainstorm with 60 mph winds whip through Sacramento. Those who watched in the greatest fear were those who were unhoused and in the storm. Not all of them survived.

One person can hold two beliefs.

When I saw Caity Maple’s Facebook post about the protest and property damage, I wanted us to refocus on that second belief — one I know she shares — because it was getting lost as the focus shifted to reports of what happened at the mayor’s house.

I wanted us to remember that voters passed a full-cent sales tax in 2018 that could have helped with these issues before an emergency — a concept called “prevention.” In addition, the Measure U Community Advisory Committee has repeatedly advocated for a $100 million annual fund to be used as promised during the campaign: to meet the human needs of Sacramentans who have been left behind.

The people who died during the storm represent the most severe cases of harm to our unhoused neighbors. So, in my comment to my Facebook friend, I put the focus back on human rights. I reminded her that securely housed homeowners like us have to be careful about dictating to people how to fight for their rights even if it’s not the way we might choose to fight.

In our region, an estimated 11,000 people experience homelessness every year because of policy decisions. Our leaders claim to champion social justice, but they frequently do not take actions within their control. Is that not violence caused by pathological indifference?

Sadly, we’re more outraged by what happened to the mayor’s landscaping than what happened to human beings in this region. Now this broken compass is a moral litmus test: The Bee’s Editorial Board has never doggedly pursued comments from councilmembers on sweeps of homeless encampments the way it did for comments on the mayor’s house. And I was required to “specifically address whether you think the violence against Steinberg and his wife was justifiable” for this piece to be published. No requirement to comment on our dead though.

The other danger is that we often only recognize this error in hindsight. People like Duran, who decry what happened at the mayor’s house, might be surprised to find out what their beloved Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had to say about protests and moderates.

Duran’s piece alleges that I shushed Maple. I contend that I thoughtfully engaged another adult and shifted the narrative back to valuing human beings over property. I admire that Maple did not need 50-year hindsight to put recent events in perspective. She simply needed a reminder that valuing diversity in the region is a duty to care for people outside your tax bracket.