There are television shows dedicated to the building of (and living in) these 'tiny houses'. People all over the country, for varying reasons, decide that downsizing (literally) is what they want to do so they pay, huge sums in some cases, to have a tiny house built; something in the neighborhood of 8 x 10 complete with kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. For someone who has been literally living 'on the street' for years, sleeping on the ground, someone for whom the idea of owning their own home seems like a fairy tale someone made up, one of these 'tiny houses' can be a dream come true. To be able to " ... shut the door, go lay down, quiet. " and have a bed with a place to lay their things, that is a God-send! Do the L.A. Officials think they are God now, that they can take this gift away from them? The article raised some questions for me though. If the houses are on wheels, why can't they just be moved to a different area? And if someone is given one of the houses, it belongs to them, so how can the city just take it away? That's like, if I build a treehouse as a bedroom for one of my kids (don't laugh, it's being done!) and the city comes along and says he can't live in it and tears it down, what gives them the right? These places aren't costing the city anything, and people pay to live in tiny houses! They are 'endangering their lives'?? Where are they coming up with this crap? And the man that built these houses, I'd sure love to know what the 'officials' are saying to him.....
This is not the original video I intended to run; due to technical limitations I was unable to use that one. The video and original article are here. The above video is on YouTube, and can be found here. It does explain a bit more about what's happening, which actually makes it worse instead of better! I just can't understand it, and it's obvious that the people in the 2nd video can't either. What gets me more than just about anything about this though, is the city is saying "We need a permanent solution, and this is not it." So since it's not a permanent solution, take them away and leave the homeless people on the street??? Does that make sense to anyone? If so, please comment below and help me to understand, maybe there's something I'm missing.
A few years ago I would have been shocked about something like this; starting with the fact that someone would even request the plate, let alone that it would be given to the requestor, would have shocked me right out of my shoes...
Now however, I'm not as surprised as I am angry at yet another sign of where this society is headed. IMO, the fact that someone has generally classified a whole race of people as something so negative as to make this kind of public statement, and was aided in the deed by whoever approved the request, that is not a good place for this country to be headed.
Haji Yusuf, a Somali-American Muslim born and
raised in Kenya, was sitting on the sofa in his Minnesota home with his
wife and two kids when the phone rang Saturday night. "This young kid calls me and he's like, 'Haji, you have to see this,'" Yusuf told NBC News. Earlier that day, two of Yusuf's friends were
driving in St. Cloud, Minnesota, a city about an hour northwest of
Minneapolis with a growing Muslim population, when they spotted a red
pickup truck with license plates that read "FMUSLMS."
They snapped a photo and, that evening, sent the photo through Facebook to Yusuf, cofounder and community director of #UniteCloud,
an organization established last year to address rising anti-Muslim and
anti-immigrant sentiment in the city of roughly 66,000. Yusuf, who
lives in St. Cloud, posted the photo on his Facebook page, where it was shared by more than 600 people, some of whom contacted the state government and demanded action, he said. By Monday, Minnesota's Department of Public
Safety (DPS) said it was in the process of revoking the plates, and Gov.
Mark Dayton had issued a statement saying he was ordering a review of
procedures to ensure something like this never happens again. "I am appalled that this license plate was
issued by the state of Minnesota," Dayton said in the statement. "It is
offensive, and the person who requested it should be ashamed. That
prejudice has no place in Minnesota."
DPS spokesman Bruce Gordon told NBC News in an
email Tuesday that he could not release the name of the person who had
the license plates because of state and federal laws. In a statement, DPS said it had made a mistake
when it issued the plates last June. The application was processed at a
deputy registrar's office and was reviewed by Driver and Vehicle
Services, a division of DPS, according to the statement. In Minnesota,
no more than seven characters are permitted on personalized license
plates for passenger vehicles. Yusuf, who studied at St. Cloud State
University, said fellow Minnesotans have been very supportive throughout
the incident, adding that the person who applied for the vanity plates
does not represent the majority of people he knows. "We don't want something that is offensive to anybody because we are all neighbors and we all live together," Yusuf said.
St. Cloud's Muslim and foreign-born population
began to grow around 2007, Yusuf said, as immigrants from African
countries like Somalia, South Sudan, and Ethiopia settled there to join
their families and look for work. Many ended up finding jobs at poultry
slaughterhouses and factories, he said. According to the Census,
the black or African American population of St. Cloud more than doubled
between 2000 and 2010, increasing from 1,402 to 5,152. During those 10
years, St. Cloud's total population also increased by nearly 10 percent,
while the percentage of whites decreased from 91 percent to 84 percent,
the Census shows. That demographic shift has fueled anti-Muslim
and anti-immigrant feelings, Yusuf said, prompting executive director
Natalie Ringsmuth to found #UniteCloud last year in an effort to bring
the community closer together.
Yusuf said he was personally happy that
Minnesota's state government apologized for issuing the "FMUSLMS"
license plate and promised it would take them back. He added that what's
important now is having a conversation to prevent something similar
from happening in the future. "It's just one person that gives us a bad name
in the community, but this community is bigger than that," Yusuf said.
"They came together, they are supportive of their neighbors — and that's
what really matters at the end of the day."
