Yesterday, Dr. Cornel West
and Travis Smiley appeared on the Morning Joe Show on MSNBC. The discussion was of the class of poor in America that
has fallen between the economic cracks and the 22% of American children that are
born into and living in poverty. They
made the point that the poor are either ignored or blamed for the economic
crisis that the United
States is now facing.
Social programs for the poor
are being targeted for cuts as a means of bringing our budget under
control. The Republicans would do away
with MEDICAID, food stamps, Aide to Dependent Children, support for women’s
health clinics and financial support for public schools in the poorest
neighborhoods.
To compound this problem
Democratic legislators are not vocal against or openly defiant in opposition of
the cuts.
Dr. West and Mr. Smiley are
adamant that the social support network not only be maintained, but increased,
in order to assist this demographic to move into the middle class and become
self supporting.
The problem is real, but the
answer is not as simple as maintaining and increasing social programs for the
poor – though this surely needs to be done.
Being among the poorest in America is a
self-fulfilling prophecy. The days are
long gone that a high school graduate, much less a high school drop-out, could
make a living wage in a factory or mill.
All jobs today that pay a living wage require some degree of education
beyond the high school level.
Children from the poorest
neighborhoods and rural communities are often in unstable home environments;
environments void of education enrichments, and a parent or parents that do not
value, or are unable to contribute to, the education of their children. Many of these children are street wise and pose
problems in school.
The reputation of these lower
performing public schools tend not to attract, in most cases, the best and the
brightest teachers and administrators.
Many of the students in these schools are socially deficient and some
are outright dangerous. The conditions
in most of these schools are substandard and school boards and parents tend to
be unsupportive of teachers and administrators. It is a lose-lose situation for teachers.
The following is a clip
posted by a student in a village school in Alaska.
As you can see these schools can pose a difficult environment for
teachers and administrators. This clip
takes a minute or two to load and the first half minute is bizarre before you
see the school scene, but it is an eye opener and worth viewing to the end.
I will not go into, on this
post, the problems faced by the classroom teachers in the difficult venues; and
I will note that there are many qualified and dedicated women and men who
choose to serve these young people despite the hardships.
But the fact remains; without
education beyond the high school level, the parents and the children of these
parents are destine to remain on and require social programs to survive.
If we are to solve the
self-sustaining culture of the poor, we must have extensive social programs for
poor parents that will include training for the parents, child care and
comprehensive and well funded preschool, elementary and high school curriculums
aimed specifically at the cultural and social environment of the student.
Education is the only answer
to lift people from the role of poverty.
Poor people did not cause or
bring about the economic decline; this was the results of rich people willing
to increase their wealth at any cost.
When attempting to repair the economy the cause must be acknowledged and
dealt with. For Republicans, blaming
the poor and cutting social programs amounts to a smoke and mirror attempt to
divert attention from their complicity and to avoid breaking their social
contract with the rich.
the Ol’Buzzard
.jpg)
