the (before people)

when used before adjectives to make a noun phrase (the elderly, the poor, the blind, the homeless, the aged, the disabled), "the" is disparaging and objectifying, and it reduces people to an anthropological category; it also betrays the writer or speaker as an outsider. Couple the adjective with an accurate and specific noun (elderly residents, poor taxpayers, blind students). "'The,' followed by an adjectival noun stereotypes and renders a diverse group of people as generic. It was a powerful tool then ('the Jews'), and is today. People disappear behind the label 'the.' ... Reducing people to labels is the first step toward prejudicial behavior. Person-first language, as in 'Americans with Disabilities' and 'person with cerebral palsy' help everyone see the person first" (Harold A. Maio, in American Libraries). See also adjectives as nouns.