In 2007, Florida ranked number one in the country in lethal and non-lethal attacks against homeless people. Los Angeles was second that year. The following year, John McGraham, a homeless man, was set on fire and burned to death on a Los Angeles sidewalk. The city called it a hate crime.
Violence is something that touches everyone: man, woman, black, white, young, old. The experience of violence is different for each person. A young woman might experience a different kind of violence than an older man. A black man will experience violence the likes of which a white man will probably never experience. A child experiences violence differently than an adult.
This article appears in Feb 17-23, 2010.