America Doesn't Care About Poor People

"I jus' want somethin' to eat" is a plea you get used to hearing in Hyde Park, Chicago, usually accompanied by an outstretched hand and eyes that are surprisingly self-assured -- even assertive -- for someone who depends upon strangers for sustenance. The typical University of Chicago student -- white, wealthy, and professedly liberal -- will do one of two things: either stop to hand him some change or, in an overwhelming majority of the time, pretend not to see him.

Something interesting happens when the road less traveled is taken, however; the man accepts the change, usually with a sincere expression of gratitude, and walks away. The student, meanwhile, leaves with a feeling that is more pronounced than indifference, yet less self-righteous than outright pride. It is a sentiment that can more or less be summed up by a defeated sigh; yes, the world may be a horrible place, but I don't have to buy into it.

A week after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, I (along with thousands of others in the blogosphere, I'm sure) chided Barbara Bush for a particularly uncouth choice of words she used to describe her visit to the Astrodome, where many of the evacuees who ended up in Houston were being housed. In a column for my high school newspaper, I wrote:

After surveying the conditions inside the Reliant Astrodome, former First Lady Barbara Bush made this puzzling remark: "Many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them." Bush, who once vented to Diane Sawyer, "Why should we hear about body bags and deaths? It's not relevant. Why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?" when asked about her son's war in Iraq, also shared her concern that some of the storm refugees might want to stay in Texas for good -- "which is sort of scary," she says. Well, allow me to put Barbara's beautiful mind at ease.

Two years later, I am sad to say that Barbara Bush was right. Far from being "puzzling," her remark -- as devoid of taste and compassion as it was -- also happened to be dead-on. Many of the people in the Astrodome were "underprivileged;" in fact, many of the people in New Orleans were "underprivileged." Before Hurricane Katrina, nearly one out of every four families in New Orleans lived below the poverty line. In a city with no light rail or subway system to speak of, nearly 30 percent of New Orleans' homes did not have a car. In other words, a disaster existed long before a disaster hit.

Mrs. Bush's most controversial assertion was that things were "working very well" for the evacuees. After all, being forced out of your home and potentially losing your loved ones is hardly an image that one would associate with things working well (the Bush administration notwithstanding). But Mrs. Bush was on to something in her observation that poor people were being treated differently in the Astrodome, post-Katrina, than they had been treated in New Orleans, pre-Katrina. For a few days in September, they were being cared for.

It's funny, in a country that Ray Nagin, Kathleen Blanco, Michael Brown, Michael Chertoff, and George W. Bush all call home, Kanye West -- of all people -- managed to elicit a public outcry when he said, "George Bush doesn't care about black people." Well, he was partly right. America's worst-kept secret is that it doesn't care about poor people. No, not that it doesn't do enough to help (it tries), or that it doesn't at least claim to be concerned (it does) ... no, America literally does not care about poor people. In the same way that most Americans do not care about soccer or Kevin Federline.

It hurts me to say this, because I know that this sentiment is generally not shared among the Americans (and non-Americans) who I am fortunate enough to know. Two years ago, I wrote:

And to this day, I squirm at the praise lauded upon our country for our resolve and our fortitude in the face of such adversities. Individual heroes -- the countless, nameless, faceless men and women who work tirelessly to give our evacuees a temporary home complete with cots and clothes and food supplies, or, in remoter regions of the world, devote their lives to improving the well-being of others -- they deserve our revering attention, our unbridled adulation. But we, as a nation, are quite simply and patently not there yet.

My feelings today are largely unchanged. In our public consciousness, poor people exist only to feed the notion that, if they scratch and claw hard enough, they might one day be able to join the coveted ranks of the American middle class. Our society reveres and elevates the rich and powerful; even when we make fun of them, we do not disparage their wealth or power but simply what they choose to do with it. We are so fixated on looking longingly upwards that we do not see the people we have trampled upon underneath. (My lower-middle class upbringing, for example, taught me little about the way people lived just a stratum below me, but a great deal about the class that I was one day supposed to infiltrate.)

The problem is, of course, that this all comes at a time when incomes are rising and, technically, we're all getting wealthier; our collective well-being over the past few decades has skyrocketed. Even television shows that depict characters in the most desperate of situations -- say, a show about an airplane that has crashed onto a deserted island and the survivors are left to fend for themselves -- are filled with urban professionals who must adjust to a strange new lifestyle of scarcity. Otherwise, we continue to gorge ourselves on stories about celebrities with too much disposable income, or doctors with too much disposable income, or my personal favorite -- Dirty Sexy Money, a new show coming this fall about Manhattanites with too much disposable income -- in a country where 40 million people do not have health insurance.

We make fun of the rich, yes, but we crucify the poor. We do not like hearing about them; we do not like seeing them; we do not like thinking about them in terms of anything other than their supposed failure to achieve America's promise of social mobility. Different standards for different people; and let the damned be damned. In this context, the warm feeling that came from knowing that, thanks to you, someone has food in his stomach for another evening takes on a slightly demented tone when you reach for your third bag of Fritos in your quest to pull off yet another all-nighter, doesn't it?

You see, that's the hideous truth that Katrina was brazen enough to reveal to us two years ago, and still, we have done nothing to decelerate the ever-widening chasm between the American poor and the American mainstream. Why should we, when even idealistic young college students are growing increasingly content in pretending that they don't see a problem? Katrina was not strong enough to cause the crisis of American poverty to come to a head... so what will be?

Comments

[katlade]

Exactly. It is not about race. It is about social standing.

[RS]

Right on, katlade. As the old saying goes, "It's not what you know--IT'S WHO YOU KNOW!"

[cktirumalai]

I think that a proportion of Americans believe that in many cases the poor have only themselves to blame for their poverty. An American who was not particularly well off expressed the view that the rich are less sinful, that is, they have acquired the habits which lead to wealth.
As for the seriously rich, they are probably as much admired in America as envied. And if the wealth was acquired through ruthless competition or even by dubious means, it can always be submerged in subsequent philanthropy.

[indypete]

A portion of the poor do only have themselves to blame, but most are suffering from living in a stacked deck. I was poor once and could lay the blame on nobody's doorstep but my own. I had a couple of strokes of luck, however and clawed myself into the lower-middle class.That was a long time ago, though, when all opportunity had not been siphoned off from the lower levels of society like myself. I'm now in constant danger of slipping back because we're living in a different world now where nothing matters but greed and only assholes prosper. Unfortunately, I'm not greedy or an asshole so I suppose I'm screwed.

[maddogbitesback]

A lot of people are poor because they are honest. Unlike a lot of rich people who are rich because they are dishonest. Prime example - the whole of the Bush family. They make the mafia seem moral but they are rich. And not in jail either. That is the amazing thing.

[FearlessFreep]

Too many Americans care just enough to blame the victim.

[UltraClassic]

America does not care about it's poor. Yah, right. I'm down here on the Mexican border. Do you want to see abuse of the poor? Look across the river where 40 of the most filthy rich families on this planet as well as the Catholic church keep a country in dire straights because of greed.

Sorry Mr Lin, I'm in the poorest area in the United states, south Texas. There are no hungry people begging in the streets but the numbers of obese people are sky rocketing. I know, I know, it's President Bush's fault. The poor are either eating too much or not enough but in any event, it's W's fault.

And as far as the Katrina arguement is concerned, it is a fraud, a political straw man that will go away if a democrat wins the white house in 08.

[indypete]

Actually, obesity isn't bush's fault. It has, however, been made worse by the system of greed pervasive in America and the rest of the world today whereas many people who can't afford enough to eat are eating food full of empty, fattening calories because that's what is cheapest. Katrina may go away if a dem wins the white house in 08... problems like this tend to go away when somebody does something about them instead of simply saying, "Let 'em eat cake."

[AZDave]

Oh yes, ALL of AMerica's problems will vanish if a Demo is put in the White House in 2008. The birds will start chirping a better tune, and even the homeless guy on the corner will look and smell better.

The whole country will look like a Mary Poppins stage play.

[rmreddicks]

Been to NOLA lately? And I'm certain that you are doing your part to make south Tejas (mid-Mexico) the poorest area in the United States. Oh, Is that the United States of America or the United States of Mexico? Well, north and south can get so confusing when you're all in a swirl!

[FlowerGirl]

Want to try for the Mississippi Delta? There are a lot of poor people in this country. And a lot of stuffed shirts who don't give a damn about them. But, surely it didn't take Katrina to tell us that.

[maddogbitesback]

And your point is? I am not sure. Mexico should be like the States or the States should be like Mexico? Or you should consider that both countries are an outrage.

[Fairfloss]

I think Mr Lin is completely unaware of all the social programs that exist in this Country for low income people.

He is obviously neither a pregnant woman or breast feeding mother nor has he had to avail himself of what we use to call "food stamps" which now comes in, what looks like a credit card, as to not embarrass the user.

W.I.C, which stands for Women, Infants and Children, provide a substantial amount of nourishing food and baby formula (if needed) each month. There is also food cards for young and old, if needed. Low income housing is available. Often there is a waiting list.

Senior Citizens Community Centers, provide healthy mid-day meals for seniors in almost every community and for a nominal fee.

There are health clinic's for those who can not afford to go to the doctor. Here in Southern California, especially in San Diego county, if Spanish is not your first language and if you do not have a Hispanic surname you are often turned away.

Birth control, free of charge, including abortions, are available, as is testing for STD's.

The intricate network of government assisted social programs is vast if anyone ever cared to investigate it. There are some in our society who know all the "in's" far better than I.

I would have to tell Mr. Lin, America cares for it's poor much better than he knows and much better than many other Countries do.

[klmebane]

i live in illinois and i know for a fact that here WIC doesn't provide "a substantial amount of nourishing food and baby formula." they will give you coupons for formula, but as for the food you get coupons for 46oz of juice, a small bag of dried beans, eggs, and a 1lb block of cheese. and they won't all come on the same coupon (you get 4 a month of the food coupons). you can't mix and match, and when the store you go to is out of the size formula you need (or anything else on the WIC coupon) you just have to go to another store.

america kind of takes care of its poor, but european countries seem to be doing a much better job of it what with free healthcare for everyone. low income housing here has a waiting list measured in years.

those food cards are great if you qualify for it. but if you make "too much money" (the gov't cut off) but still can't feed yourself and/or your family, you're just shit outta luck.

so while the social programs do exist, they aren't doing anywhere near as much as is needed.

[RobertArend]

"I would have to tell Mr. Lin, America cares for it's poor much better than he knows and much better than many other Countries do."

And if GWB has his way, America will have millions more poor people to care about with less governmental assistance available.

[nihilon x]

This is a very well-written article which addresses a very serious issue that plagues not only this country, but many countries around the world.

We always sweep the poor into the corners, the ghettos, the barrios, the trailer parks; you will see twenty stories about Paris Hilton for every one story about the victims of Katrina or those living on Skid Row, but ultimately Paris will be fine -- its the people on Skid Row who truly need our attention.

Thanks for shining a much needed light on this issue.