{"id":93232,"date":"2020-11-11T12:58:19","date_gmt":"2020-11-11T18:58:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=93232"},"modified":"2020-11-11T12:59:12","modified_gmt":"2020-11-11T18:59:12","slug":"on-election-day-chicagos-homeless-population-grapples-with-what-it-means-for-them-to-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/on-election-day-chicagos-homeless-population-grapples-with-what-it-means-for-them-to-vote\/","title":{"rendered":"On Election Day, Chicago\u2019s homeless population grapples with what it means for them to vote"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Hannah Lichtenstein<\/strong><\/p>\n

Medill Reports\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On the day millions headed to the polls to vote for an American president, Mike McCool offered up a very different option for the country\u2019s future leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think this country should just turn itself back over to England and say, \u2018we apologize for the Revolutionary War. We\u2019ll never do it again,\u2019\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

McCool admitted he does not care much about how the 2020 election turns out and did not vote. As one of the 76,998 Chicagoans experiencing homelessness, his focus lands less on which politicians the masses entrust with policy-making and more on his immediate needs and stability. \u201cI\u2019ve got my own issues to worry about,\u201d the 64-year-old said, \u201cI\u2019m trying to straighten out my life.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Four and a half miles away in Uptown on the Tuesday morning, JD Steele Jr. expressed similar apathy. \u201cThey (politicians) are all the same,\u201d the 76-year-old former precinct captain said while on his way to grab beer from a local store, \u201cit won\u2019t matter much what happens I think.\u201d Even more unconcerned with the implications of Nov. 3, 2020 was Robert Montgomery. Approached with the question of whether he voted, the 50-year-old replied: \u201cGeorge Bush.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The feelings of disconnect from the country\u2019s larger political moments are common among the homeless population, according to Neressa Billingsley, a case manager at Lincoln Park Community Services. Educating those guests who \u201caren\u2019t as thrilled about voting\u201d is part of the work the 38-year-old and her colleagues do at the homeless shelter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Billingsley noted, however, that there is a portion of their guests who do not need any coaxing to get involved in the democratic process. \u201cSometimes we have those who are avid voters,\u201d she said, \u201cThey work the polls and they\u2019ve been doing it for years even throughout their circumstances.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Their circumstances include cycles of substance abuse that make people experiencing homelessness unable to hold down a job. They include increased interactions with police that force them to move tents from one street to the next. In American cities, the realities the homeless population reckons with do not scream, \u201cthis place is for you\u201d or \u201cthis is yours.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Which is perhaps why, for some members of the homeless population, voting stands as an important opportunity to take ownership. Dennis Nelson, 54, sees taking ownership of America\u2019s future as being intrinsically tied to his own situation. He identified as middle class before he lost his job, which is why he says he voted in the interests of the middle class in this election. Tremel James, a 53-year-old former secretary who has been homeless since 2009, was also motivated by the sense of ownership that comes with voting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want anybody to say, \u2018well if you\u2019ve got all these problems then you should have voted.\u2019\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hannah is a sports journalism student at Medill. You can follow her on Twitter at\u00a0@HannahLichten.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Hannah Lichtenstein Medill Reports\u00a0 On the day millions headed to the polls to vote for an American president, Mike McCool offered up a very different option for the country\u2019s future leadership. \u201cI think this country should just turn itself back over to England and say, \u2018we apologize for the Revolutionary War. We\u2019ll never do […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":418,"featured_media":93237,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5045],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2020"],"yoast_head":"\nOn Election Day, Chicago\u2019s homeless population grapples with what it means for them to vote - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/on-election-day-chicagos-homeless-population-grapples-with-what-it-means-for-them-to-vote\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On Election Day, Chicago\u2019s homeless population grapples with what it means for them to vote - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Hannah Lichtenstein Medill Reports\u00a0 On the day millions headed to the polls to vote for an American president, Mike McCool offered up a very different option for the country\u2019s future leadership. \u201cI think this country should just turn itself back over to England and say, \u2018we apologize for the Revolutionary War. 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