“Your Kindness Could Kill"

Walking down the picturesque streets of Oxford, surrounded by swanky stores and restaurants, my rhythm is occasionally thrown off by a small plea from below: “Can you spare some change, ma’am?”  I’m sure this has happened to most of us since our stay at Oxford. The first few times, I pulled out my wallet and parted with a few pounds.  But day after day, I would see the same young, healthy-looking men asking for money.  I didn’t want to judge their situation, but I couldn’t help thinking they looked able-bodied enough to get a job. 

One day, a woman shoved a flyer in my hand on the street.  The title of it was “Your Kindness Could Kill.”  As you can see in the photo above, it was an ad urging tourists and Oxford locals not to give money to the people on the street, because  “the money you give people begging is often spent of heroin, crack cocaine, alcohol, and other drugs that will ultimately kill them.”  Instead, the flyer encouraged tourists to give donations to local charities.  I thought this was very interesting, because in the States, I’ve never been handed any kind of flyer like this – even in Athens where panhandling is a pretty big problem.  I this ad relates on multiple levels to what we’ve been discussing in class this week.  It had clear elements of stereotyping and violence.  The ad clearly stereotypes all people begging for money in Oxford as drug addicts.  It also is violent in it’s message, and it’s image.  The message states that these homeless men will die at your hand if you give them money.  Secondly, the image on the ad is pretty dark.  The image is of a body outline covered in the “spare change” given by generous people, like yourself. 

I was also somewhat surprised to see the government URL on the flyer.  I’m not sure exactly how the system works here in England, but in the U.S., if the government were to endorse a program like this, the problem would have to be deep and highly important.  It made me think about Athens.  I wonder if these flyers actually make a difference, or if they’re just increasing the tension between the homeless and the Oxford locals.