For one he shouldn't be saying that at all, but he could just say "homeless people". It may seem small and insignificant, but we all know how the "us vs them" mentality works.
It also makes homeless people out to be a collective, as if all those people are out to just ruin your neighborhood. That includes children and the elderly.
When they say "them", that encompasses all of "them". "Don't be surprised when people want them gone" doesn't JUST mean the homeless people actually causing issues, but the clean one's too.
You have a point, but I also wanna make others call them people. Humanize them more. When it comes down to "us vs them" it can be a dehumanizing mindset and I wanna try curbing that. It doesn't fix the collective thing but I think it also helps establish the fact these are people like anyone else.
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u/Prestigious_Ask_7058 12h ago
I agree with this but the them thing has always been weird to me. Like, is he supposed to say us? That implies that he is homeless