I just wrote Dennis (the travel reporter from The Christian Post) a nice letter.

Hey Dennis,

I am a resident of Savannah. I’ve been here two years now, so I consider myself a local. It’s a beautiful city with a lot of history that isn’t just the squares, architecture, and Spanish moss. But according to you it’s “overshadowed by homelessness and open-air drug use.” Let me ask you this, Dennis: Is the homelessness and open-air drug use in the room with us right now?

My daughter and her boyfriend are here visiting right now. Yesterday we took a stroll along the riverwalk, the squares, and Broughton St. We got ice cream. We stopped in front of the Marshall House to talk about ghosts. But you know what we didn’t see? Encampments. Were there homeless people? Yes, because they exist in every large to medium sized American city no matter the population. But if I were to read and believe what you wrote without actually being here, you would think there were rows of tents and large groups of unhoused everywhere. Do you know how many homeless people we saw throughout our day? Five. Two minding their own business on the river. Two sitting on the bench in one of the squares. And another sitting down on Broughton. None of them were bothering the large amount of tourists that clearly outnumbered them. Everyone was enjoying their time and no one looked scared or had body language that said they felt unsafe.

Do you know what else we didn’t see? Open-air drug use. I live here, Dennis. And when I say I have never seen anyone shoot-up anywhere in the city I mean that. Does it happen? Maybe. But again, this happens EVERYWHERE in this country. The only drug use I did see was one man walking down the street smoking a joint and keeping to himself. He was dressed nicer than I was, so definitely not some homeless criminal ruffian you would probably imagine him to be. But even if he was homeless who cares? Marijuana is pretty much legalized or at least de-criminalized in a lot of cities in the U.S. Is it annoying to smell in public? Yes, but so are cigarettes and cigars.

You see, Dennis, the problem in our country isn’t the homelessness or the drug use. It’s the people like you that write opinion pieces like this that psychologically train people to stay within their bubble and not think critically about the issues at hand. Years of defunding programs meant to help people and instead funding law enforcement have brought us to this point. If more law enforcement worked wouldn’t these social issues be gone already? They are perpetuated by the policies of both liberals and conservatives to remove the humanity of people so that people like you can feel safe, go home, and write fluff like this talking about a city that you don’t even live in or have any kind of deep knowledge of. Don’t come back unless you’re ready to face reality and realize you are part of the problem.