INSPIRE RACIAL EQUALITY

January 10, 2014

POVERTY & OPPRESSION 

The delivery of human services to those who were disadvantaged originated through the Church of England and then their government. There was no way out, once poor and residing in deplorable work houses you were well aware of your fate.  The lives of the poor continued to be regulated by others and they were treated as though their poverty was self-inflicted. This perception rings a bell of truth for the contemporary view points of why the poor remain in poverty. The stigma, degradation and slavery mentality continues to cement the building blocks of poverty today.  The mindset of the wealthy is viewed from the same lens of hypocrisy in order to maintain command over the minority classes, in fear of losing global positioning based on social, political and economic control.  What is also offensive is the comparison one can make to England's social service delivery with the contemporary public assistance program. 

The government guidelines in receiving and maintaining public assistance eligibility, revolves around the gross income of all family members who are working. Moreover, those who do work or retain employment, are criminally prosecuted if the job and income received is not reported. In addition the audacity to develop a policy that requires all monetary GIFTS to be reported, is by far the most nonsensical day dream of the century!  Are you serious..talk about the Grinch! Back in the 1970's don't think for one second that I reported money MY MOTHER gave me.

Dr. Amy Glasmeir makes a valid point when she communicated that there needs to be a new way to measure poverty. The current threshold is measured and is maintained in the President’s office however; the thought is that it needs to be moved to an independent authority or an organization that helps improve the lives of those in poverty.  The current poverty measure does not adequately represent the current economic and societal conditions of the day.

It appears that throughout history the person in need of any type of public assistance, is chained to a negative stereotypical description of what a person of poverty should look like. They may be described as the Appalachian poor, inner city African Americans, the immigrant Mexican, all uneducated, drug addicted, lazy, or unmotivated to work hard in order to get ahead. As poverty may have generational roots, it also appears that the governments control of minorities most notably the Black community, along with their prejudicial, stereotypical mindset are rooted as well.  

      The funny thing is, that throughout the years the mass media portrayed the "typical" Welfare recipient as young Black females with multiple children however, the reality was and currently still is, that the percentage breakdown reflects that there are many more white families who receive public assistance than Black families! Surprise, surprise.

The realities of relying on Public Assistance, provides the benefit recipient with the hard core realization that they cannot get ahead strictly on their own without the support of extended family and they need to follow the rules of the game.  The major internal shift occurs as a benefit recipient, which results from an accumulation of degrading experiences which in turn, can quietly subvert one’s self-esteem, trust me I know from first-hand experience!  Experiences such as standing in line for welfare cheese, or buying groceries with actual paper food stamps, resembling play Monopoly money from the 1970’s and 80’s, or attempting to locate a participating doctor or dentist who accepts a medical assistance card or receiving baby formula at the public grocery store with WIC coupons.

Now in today's  world of of the Green House affect all benefits are placed on a handy, dandy little plastic debit looking cards! These are all examples of the forms of insidious psychological coercion applied by the dominate white culture.

Over the past 40 years, it appears that there are a couple of significant changes that have occurred regarding the cycle of poverty in this country. One recognizable change is that the lifestyle and stigma of poverty appears on the surface to have become somewhat more civilized so to speak, which in turn, makes it easier to ask for assistance.   However, this does not imply that the underlying message of oppression does not continue to resonate throughout society. 

        Although it is easier to seek out assistance in modern times, there is a catch. The catch being that the requirements that are needed to apply and maintain any type of public benefits, can be a little bit more than just overwhelming and cumbersome! Couple this with any type of mental health issues and/or cognitive deficits, not to mention if you have a substance abuse problem and/or you are a victim of domestic violence, etc. then your benefits might be cut off for not having the ability to follow through on the instructions given. Multiply the numbers of public programs as well as, the sets of requirements and time lines for each program and you have numerous packages of expectations placed on the benefit recipient to adhere to.  Maneuvering through the bureaucratic system is in and of itself an entirely different beast all together.

Why is there a historically based persistence to place blame on the poor and then to turn a blind eye? One important and positive aspect that was lost in history, was the value of meaningful social responsibility of the wealthy for the vulnerable population. Only recently, when the recession became a reality in the U.S., and affected large segments of the financially secure and wealthier populations, did glimmers of empathy begin to illuminate. There are many upper class professionals that are affected by the current economic circumstances, who now publically proclaim that their circumstances are out of their control. When describing their financial downward spiral, they also associate the cause to be societal factors including the turn of the economic tide.  Echoes of tolerance also began to be heard for those who became unemployed and bankrupt for the first time in their life. Although there is indeed, a level of sympathy for these sectors of the population, it has been forgotten that these times are crushing the working and non working poor as well as the so-called middle class.

In addition to the working poor and middle class, stories began to appear about the unprecedented number of home foreclosures, which forced many highly professional middle aged adult children, to move back to their aged parent’s home because they had spent beyond their means.  Also, interviews with seniors who lost their earned fortune who are now reduced to working at Wal-Mart, all became subjects of a major response from society and a spotlight placed on their situations, by featuring news stories in the evening and Sunday shows.

What happens to the elderly women receiving social security benefits, who is experiencing sub-zero degree frigid temperatures in her heatless home, which ultimately results in her death? Her 5 minutes of fame on the evening news is nothing more than a quick blurb as if its importance were nothing more than a factual news obituary at best! 

    Tolerance is taught to children in school yet the actions are never modeled. Until society refuses to allow social and biological classification, as well as oppressive policies and laws, one would hope that a humane level of empathy would be extended to those who have simply lived and experienced poverty as a way of life. Society needs to refrain from passing judgment as if poverty were nothing more than a self-determined condition. 

             Wake The Hell Up America!