In my last post, I broke down privilege and why it is not necessarily a bad thing unless it is not fully acknowledged. In this blog post, I want to explore harmful ideologies and rhetoric that stem from racism and work to keep people impoverished and promote feelings of shame for our most disenfranchised populations. Just a little think piece for the folks…

I think we have all heard someone say they refuse to give money to someone on the street because they fear that the money will be used for drugs or other activities that go against this idea of respectability. I always find that interesting because I was raised to give when I can no matter what for many reasons. First, you never know when you will find yourself in the exact same position and it’s unfair to make assumptions about individuals you absolutely have no concrete information about. Second, I believe that whatever energy you put out into the world is what you will receive. I want to receive love, generous gifts, compassion, and empathy from the world so why not give it out? Finally, I think we live in a society where we fault and shame individuals going through a rough situation as if this world is not inherently unfair and difficult to navigate in general. We get on our high horse and have the attitude that If I could do x, then other people should be able to do it too. This is where understanding privilege comes into play. You do not know everyone’s story and even if you did, it is not your place to judge their choices or current state.

Okay fine, maybe you just do not want to give your last two dollars in cash to some random person on the street. But I would like to dig a little deeper… The idea that people who have lived hard lives that inevitably result in them asking you for a dollar or two on the street are “lazy” or in some way are “taking the easy route” comes from somewhere. It comes from racism… It comes from centuries of white men setting the tone for us to shame people for not advancing or being self-sufficient in world that was systematically designed to keep non-white communities poor and “begging”.

Black Americans have had the reputation of being lazy, dependent, and unintelligent from the inception of the Americas. I think it is kind of ironic because we were forced to produce labor and carried the burden of maintaining to economy for years yet we’re the lazy. Also, once we were “freed” from the cycle of slavery, we were pushed into experiencing the insufferable conditions of Jim Crow. We were judged and ridiculed because of how our communities were still fragmented and in its infancy in comparison to the stolen achievements of the neighboring white communities. Jumping through hoops of fire just to feed your family, work and live in harmony with the very people that enslaved you is something that we have always been expected to do… and with a smile. As Black people and people of color started to climb the ladder of success and power, some of us eagerly adopted the white man’s mentality of “you need to do better!” without realizing the means to do just that are not as easily accessible, if accessible at all.

You can lead a horse to water and tell it to drink but if there’s no water what is that horse to do? oh right, travel miles to savage for that water even if they die in the process… Black people and people of color who have succeeded despite the inequitable conditions faced within the U.S are not the rule but the exception. So, it is unfair for us to look down upon people who are not willing to struggle and die behind a system that has made it exceedingly hard to simply exist. Racism has created a very specific type if rhetoric that people use to shame those on public assistance or simply struggling; at least once before we have heard someone complain about those that “abuse” government assistance programs without understanding how hard it is for people to benefit from these programs.

So, lets establish some truths… recipients of public assistance face a myriad of headaches throughout the process of attaining theses “benefits”. According to an article by Claudia Macaluso, the main benefit programs (TANF, SNAP etc.) provide limited support to a single poor person. For example, many of the benefits programs have work requirements and are geared towards individuals that have children under 18. Also, there is a limit to the number of hours you can work while receiving these benefits. Often, individuals must limit their hours at their workplace so that they can qualify for benefits. If not, they probably would not be able to survive otherwise. Instead of public assistance doing what the name implies… assisting. These programs make it difficult for people to qualify and once individuals do qualify there is no systematic way to gradually help them survive without it.

The assistance programs do not take into consideration that you could be working multiple jobs exceeding 30 hours and still not have enough to survive. If you make over a certain amount, you are not eligible to receive this support because you “make too much”. This leaves people in desperate situations! If you are working two jobs and can barely keep food in your fridge, it would make more sense to work less hours, apply for assistance which could potentially provide you with food stamps, Medicaid, and cash assistance––that is easier said than done. These are the difficult decisions that the poor and working-class poor must make in order to survive. You cannot fault someone for deciding to work less hours because they know this is the only way for them to have the bare necessities.

The scenario I provided above is not the only example of how individuals are failed by public assistance services. Individuals that are attempting to get an education and perhaps raise their earning capabilities are burdened with still having to meet the 30-hour work week required by the programs. As a student that has the privilege of not being forced to work to survive, I could not imagine having to work and balance my school load. It would impact my ability to do well or even pass. There are individuals able to work a lot of hours and still succeed but that is not a large majority of people. So, in summary, public assistance programs are very difficult to qualify for and they do not leave room for recipients to phase out of receiving these benefits.

I think the biggest question to ask ourselves is why we reuse the words the of our racist forefathers to further belittle and diminish the experiences of our communities (and even other communities) … Getting a leg up in society or pulling ourselves up by the bootstraps is not as clear cut as the privileged few would like to make it seem. Some people made it out of the hood or escaped the reality of their circumstances in ways that are not entirely attributed to their own merit … We must remember that even though slavery was a few decades ago and that there have been some improvements as far as quality of life for Black and Brown communities, there are still a ton of issues that work against us.

Let’s challenge each other to try our best to work towards creating a world that does less judging and engages in being proactive in reducing poverty. We cannot forget about the very real social structures that exist to make people feel defeated and ultimately become victims of poverty. If we redirect our focus and energy into making living conditions in this world more sustainable and equitable rather than targeting individuals for not dancing around barriers, we would be making change instead of toasting to the oppressive design of racism.

Cheers! To a better world and kinder way of thinking…

— BWE