People of the Downtown Eastside (DTES) are unimportant, yes, you say? These are false perceptions. They are only unimportant in the dominant society’s perspective from which we strip off their dignity and their humanity. It is through the notorious labels that we automatically attach to the DTES residents that we perceive them as unimportant and contribute to their marginalization in the society. These labels are identity tags that put them into categories that do not fully define who they are.
When we hear “Downtown Eastside,” it has somehow been engraved in many people’s heads to think that it is the home of the economically impoverished, psychologically-ill drug addicts, homeless, people who have no self-esteem, no respect of their body and are not capable of achieving anything in life.
Thus, we often fail to see and understand the people and the lives behind these tags. They don’t choose their labels, and they’re not even given the chance to be recognized as something more because they’re already boxed into a limited category.
The truth is, if a person is a drug addict, it does not mean that they chose to be one. Often times, the use of substances is their way of coping through problems such as abuse and trauma that they have and continue to experience throughout their life. Some people have had difficult childhoods where they witnessed those close to them wrestle with alcohol and drug use, so, they too have become attached to them.
A presenter from Megaphone, an DTES organization that fosters an opportunity to amplify the voice of those who are in poverty and/or homeless, spoke about her personal experience with abuse and drug use. In her testimony, she described that the use of substance was her way of self-medicating because of the lack of other resources.
Similarly, in the compelling documentary “Eastside Stories” which shows personal experiences of what it’s like to be living in the DTES, a resident affirmed that he nor his comrades never aspired to be perceived as a “homeless crackhead”. Only the perception of the dominant society about their circumstances make up these imaginations.
On another note, many people want to go through detox and stay clean, but their conditions do not allow them to do so. They cannot legally acquire a job until a specific amount of time because of the criminalization of being a drug addict. However, even if they passed that requirement, they still lack some essentials to getting a job like clothing and bus fare.
When going through the detox process, it is particularly difficult to keep themselves busy during the day and especially when they don’t a have a home that keeps them away from the temptation of drugs. People are witnessing friends pass away due to abhorrent living conditions of hotels in which they reside. Many people choose to live in the streets instead, therefore contributing to the 2,181 homeless people in Vancouver according to the Vancouver Homeless Count 2018.
With this in mind, do you remember seeing someone limping and trying to manoeuvre their way around downtown? It’s possible that they’re out in the streets because the hospital refuses to provide them care because of what they look like: dirty and homeless. Perhaps, maybe they were beat by the police for rummaging through garbage bins to collect recyclables that they would have sold in exchange for some quarters to buy their long-awaited meal.
With that said, it is also important to recognize the strong and tight-knit community in the DTES that is fighting to resist their infamous tags and labels. They have a compassionate community of friends and neighbours who stand together in solidarity through all the odds stacked against them. Their common struggles essentially motivate them to support and love one another as a way of helping each other.
In fact, an organization called the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) emerged out of the community to continue to promote the improvement of living conditions of drug users. Residents of the DTES confirmed in the “Eastside Stories” documentary and in many VANDU meeting notes that peer outreach is very effective in saving lives.
Now, each of us have complex stories about our lives and people of the DTES are no different. An illustrator named Lauren Brem who worked closely with DTES residents compellingly said that “there [are] some cool stories in the faces we choose not to look at” as she learned more about the people that she drew.
It can be difficult to see them past our lens of privilege because we may not have had the same experiences. However, let’s not use this to justify our neglect about the DTES. Bear in mind that a DTES resident themselves mentioned in a community meeting that “degradation is not a reason to stop [using drugs], it’s often a reason to use” because people use to kill the pain and shame that they feel.
So, I challenge you to join me to seek to understand their stories which will truly shift our perspectives and our actions toward the residents of the DTES so that we can bring them in from the margins and contribute to the better of our society. Perhaps, smile instead of giving them the cold shoulder the next time you walk by a DTES resident.
