“The Invisible Man” sculpture

In the 1952 novel The Invisible Man Ralph Ellison tells the story of an “unnamed African American man who considers himself socially invisible.” I contend that in 2012 the rank of the ‘invisible’ has grown. Many poor, minorities, disabled, prisoners are hidden from our sight. Even if something significant happens to them they are considered invisible.

For example last Tuesday we had a prayer vigil for a 48 year old woman who was killed on the south side of Milwaukee. Since she had not family or friends present at the prayer vigil all we knew about her was in the newspaper. The police gave her name, age; her arrest record in the 90’s and said the homicide may be drug related.

Today my son, a police officer in northern Wisconsin, went to a funeral of fireman who had died while fighting a fire in a small town near the middle of the State. The death was all over the news; there were large crowds, many who did not know him, at his funeral. He was praised and honored, as it should be.

The woman killed on the Southside may have been a hero to someone. We will never know anything about her and only close family and friends may be at the funeral. She was an invisible person.

We hear and believe how God loves all, poor and rich, sinners and saints with the same unconditional and infinite love. This may be true but in our world there are many invisible persons.

I am working on a plan that the invisible people in an concentrated neighborhood on the North Central side of Milwaukee can be better served by home visits by members of the St. Vincent De Paul Society in the surrounding area. In the 60’s this area was the center of civil rights marching for open housing. Now it is an invisible area, the most segregated neighborhood of the most segregated city in the USA and the poorest of the 4th poorest city.

Even at Marquette University when we speak out the message that Marquette teaches killing administrators, faculty, students mostly ignore us, walking by us as we were invisible.

The invisible are everywhere if we can see them.

Comments

(:commentboxchrono:)