Each year, a million fans from all over the world come together to one city for the NFL Super Bowl. However, while businesses thrive and while the city itself gets a notable profit, there are hundreds of homeless residents getting relocated and hidden from the public eye.

Leading up to the 2016 Super Bowl, San Francisco began moving homeless residents from the streets surrounding the stadium. One homeless man expressed his feelings to a local videographer:

“They don’t want the people coming from out of state to see the homeless. Even though they all know we’re here. They can’t not know it.”

According to many businessmen and speculating fans, the last thing a person wants to see are homeless people lining the entrance to the big game. One San Franciscan working citizen complained in a letter:

“I shouldn’t have to see the pain, struggle, and despair of homeless people to and from my way to work every day.”

Unfortunately, this ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mentality has carried over during each Super Bowl event. Last year, a few months before Houston hosted the NFL championship, a fence was built up along the city highway and dozens of homeless people were ordered to leave the area. One resident living along the US 59 underpass openly complained to a reporter:

“They want to make it seem like we don’t have any problems in our city. Everything is milk and honey, but it’s not like that.”

This year, my home city, Minneapolis, is hosting the Super Bowl LII, and I believe it is important to put a light on the homelessness issue within it. As the excitement and anticipation of the game makes the news headlines, there are dozens of people in need of shelter who are being relocated away from U.S. Bank Stadium. While it is in the city’s best interest to make their roads and buildings as clean and inviting as possible, it’s important not to forget the people who normally live along Super Bowl city. Turning a blind eye is a reoccurring trend within the United States. However, homelessness is affecting thousands of people in Minnesota every night, and as we ignore the problem, real people suffer.

When asked what he would tell people if given the platform, a homeless resident from San Francisco puts it best:

“Be a little more considerate. Everybody who is out here is not drug addicts. There are really some honest genuine people that have worked all their lives that [are] now homeless.”

It can be difficult trying to place ourselves in their shoes or even to imagine being at a point where access to the bare necessities is limited. However, when we strip ourselves of the opportunities handed to us, the unearned privileges given to us, and the advantages placed on us, it suddenly becomes a lot easier.

So by all means, let’s enjoy the festivities and root for our favorite team, but let’s not forget the human beings who are being shoved under the rug during the process. Most importantly, let’s look past the stereotypes that peg them as dangerous, drug-addicted, and unmotivated people and instead, do what we can to be educated on the issue and support them in any way we can.