"A City That Has Failed People"

This week, the City of Asheville released 12 hours of police bodycam footage relevant to the December 25, 2021 arrests of two journalists who were covering the sanctuary camping demonstration. This article gives a rundown of the journalists’ arrests, noting the brazen and specific targeting of members of the press, with quotes and timestamps and responses from the Freedom of the Press Foundation. The footage also includes the arrests of others that night, and many interactions between protesters and police; once we’ve combed through it, we’ll share more.

Also this week, a local independent outlet published (and other outlets cross-published) a shameful article about how business owners want more police downtown (you can go read it, though please consider counterbalancing that digital engagement by leaving a comment).

Our friends at Firestorm, a collectively-owned radical community bookstore and event space, wrote the following response on Twitter, and they said we can share it here too <3. (Also, consider buying your books from Firestorm! They ship all over for not much money, and they mean so much to Asheville, and to us).

From @FirestormCoop:

Really sad to see @AvlWatchdog—which has been a valuable source of independent, investigative journalism—stoop to printing low quality copaganda. Let's take a look at their latest piece on crime in #Asheville at https://avlwatchdog.org/41929-2/

Right off the article betrays itself, using the stigmatized term "vagrant" for community members w/o housing. This is not neutral language and is discouraged by @APStylebook, which lists it alongside "disparaging terminology such as derelict, bum, beggar, tramp and hobo".

The article also uses the term "transients," connoting outsiders, but according to the 2022 point-in-time count, 71% of ppl on the streets were already living in Asheville or Western North Carolina before they became homeless. This language is designed to other and exclude.

How do we know that all this crime and disruption is caused by "transients"? To assign guilt as a foregone conclusion risks amplifying bias and misdiagnosing complex issues. When APD made this claim in 2022, its methodology was publicly debunked. https://www.ashevillefreepress.com/apd-blames-downtown-crime-on-camps/

As a storefront business, Firestorm navigates challenging dynamics similar to those described in the article. We've gotten to know many of our unhoused neighbors but there are days where we feel completely overwhelmed. It's a recurring factor in burnout and staff turnover.

But many unstable individuals in our neighborhood aren't homeless. The person who smashed out our windows four times and often stands in the street screaming is not homeless. There are overlapping crises in Asheville—mental health, racism, over policing, overdose, and more.

This is what it looks like to live in a city that has failed people. Anti-social behavior is inevitable when whole segments of society are pushed to the margins and abandoned. Using drugs becomes a flawed but rational choice when faced with despair and endless barriers.

Back to the article by Asheville Watchdog, none of the 25 people quoted are homeless and the piece reads less like an attempt to tell a complete story than a grievance list written to bolster the position of the Chamber of Commerce, whose CEO is among those interviewed.

No mention is made of what's at the root of the growing desperation in our city. No reference to gentrification, soaring housing costs, barriers to treatment, or the prioritization of tourism over city infrastructure. No one working to address these issues gets page space.

For example, public defecation/urination is described nine times, painting a grotesque picture without acknowledging the city's lack of 24 hour bathrooms. Unsanitary conditions are the result of choices city leaders have made, not the innate criminality of the unhoused.

While several of the incidents described are genuinely upsetting, others reveal an illiberal intolerance. Early in the article a photo shows people "congregating in the doorway of a clothing store" as if simply existing in public space is itself a crime against society.

While inaccessible housing is scarcely acknowledged, whole sections ARE devoted to the scarcity of cops. This is driven by interviewed business owners, but it's irresponsible not to name that studies don't support carceral solutions to homelessness. https://www.nyclu.org/en/news/we-cant-police-our-way-out-homelessness-and-mental-health-crises

This lack of editorial discernment is exemplified by an entire section on "organized crime" resting on speculation by one guy. No evidence or additional sources are presented and the busker admits that he "has not directly felt threatened." Why even print this?

Responding to this inflammatory piece masquerading as investigative journalism, someone in the comments has nailed it: "Homeless people are not objects who can’t speak. They don’t appear in a vacuum. What we are experiencing in this city has everything to do with decisions in the last ten years by people in power, who are catering to big money and sold out the heart of this town. This piece is shameful and it lets down the people who live here and love it." Amen.

Thanks for reading and caring, y’all! Several folks will be in court on Monday, March 6, for motions and such, and we’ll share updates after that <3