Poverty in Fresno

I have seen poverty in many places, but an urban section of Johannesburg, South Africa called Soweto has always served as a benchmark for me. A kind of barometer for just how terribly people in the very same world in which I am living, could be living. In Soweto, a patchwork of AIDS-ridden shanty villages contrast with affluent malls and housing complexes in the suburban foothills. The poor always walk. The wealthy drive. The poor serve. The wealthy consume. In short, the poverty is incredible not only in itself but because resources and opportunity are so nearby.

Last Sunday, just as we reached the outskirts of Fresno, we made a turn into the industrial section of the city. Closed down factories and theaters suggested that this part of town did at one point thrive. Now, it was all but abandoned. Those who were out on the street had no hope. As we approached an underpass, I noticed a couple of tents along the road. As a native New Yorker, this was nothing new. But what I haven't seen is an entire "village" of tents. This tent city, right below the freeway, actually seemed established. There were rows of torn up tents. Raw materials strung together, anything and everything. And it all seemed permanent. Moreover, judging by the dearth of anyone other than the people who lived there, it appears to be a forgotten part of Fresno. There's no reason a place like this should exist in the richest country and richest state in the world.

I tried to take pictures as best I could but I also didn't want to be rude or insensitive.