Professor: 'We are Closer to the Homeless on the Street'

Professor Edward Gomez came to Redlands' Ed Hales Park on Saturday to speak about the rich, the poor, their history and the world they all inhabit.

It was an address that stopped many in their tracks, especially when he attacked the notion of the "middle class." The term, he told a crowd of some 60 people, implies most possess at least half the wealth of some billionaires.

“Someone pulled the skin over my eyes and wants you and me to believe we are at least halfway to the billionaire's world,” Gomez said with intense passion in his voice. “We are nowhere near them. And if you don’t understand this 99 percent -- and I’m sure you do because I’m preaching to the choir -- I know that … somebody in our level is nowhere near them. We are (financially) closer to the homeless on the street.”

Gomez, an associate professor of history at San Bernardino Valley College, was a guest of Occupy Redlands as part of their regular Teach-Ins. Gomez’s passionate address included a glance at the progression that led to a deepening chasm between economic classes.

He spoke of royalty, birthrights and wealthy landowners. He spoke of control and submission. But he also spoke of the 99 percent’s right to dignity and the ability to shake off the labels placed upon those who fight to maintain power, he said.

The goal or charge was to reconnect with everyone and never feeling ashamed of you are and where you came from, he said.

“We may want to insulate ourselves in a beautiful world, Redlands is a beautiful city,” he said. “I love Redlands. I’ve met a lot of wonderful people. But I feel we’re insulating ourselves as the result of the world falls around us.”

The address touched a nerve for many.

“As long as I can remember I have felt uneasy about having too much,” said Helen Courtney of Redlands. “I’ve always identified with liberation theology not the authoritarian Catholicism; The Beatitudes of Jesus ‘blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ And a lot of what he said today spoke to that.”

He talked about a few things that were Christian, she said.

“But it’s all connected,” she said. “Whether it’s Buddhism, Judaism or Christianity, like he said, we’re all human. We’re in it together.”