Poverty in America: The History and Prejudice of one of America's Largest Cultures

Poverty describes a condition in which someone has very little or no money. The government describes poverty today as a yearly income of $22,314 supporting a family of four, and $11,139 for an individual.

Imagine!!

• It's been estimated that over 50% of Americans lived in poverty in 1900.
• Due to the Great Depression, approximately 1 out of 4 Americans were unemployed by 1932.

Roosevelt's New Deal Offered Hope

• Launched in 1933, it created the modern American welfare state.
• It had programs to assist the unemployed, homeless, and poor.
• The economy boomed into 1940, reaching the level it had been before the stock market crash of 1929.
• By 1950, the poverty rate lowered to 20% of Americans.
• President Johnson declared war on poverty in 1964. In the next 11 years, spending on means-tested assistance (housing, food, and medical) and AFDC rose 400%.

• While the poverty rate had begun to level out over a few decades, it hit a downturn with the economic decline of recent years.
• The poverty rate in 2010 was 15.1%, which is the highest it has been since 1993. Almost 50 million people live in poverty in America.

A lot of the prejudice against poor people can be credited to the media They associate poverty-stricken people with:

• Bad hygiene
• Diseases
• Only able to work hard manual labor
• Lack of education

The handicapped, the ill, and women (especially pregnant women) that are needy experience a great deal of prejudice from more well-off people as well.

How many of you have seen someone irritated at checkout by someone using food stamps? [Get over it and wait. What if that was you?] This is what I want to say when I see someone growing very rude over something like this.

• Many Americans blame the poor their own poverty! They believe that, if people were not on welfare, they would go find work, and the unemployed could find a job if they really looked. FYI, welfare has an employment requirement.

Many of you have heard of the poverty cycle. Your grandparents were poor, your parents were poor, so you are destined to be poor too. Here are some great American figures that prove this does not always have to be true:

Benjamin Franklin - Inventor

Walt Disney - Entrepreneur

Elvis Presley - Famous Singer / Actor

Amos Bronson Alcott - Innovative Educator

Booker T. Washington - Educator; founded the National Negro Business League

Billy Sunday - Played for Chicago White Sox / famous evangelist

Jackie Robinson - First African American inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame

Speak out on poverty. If you look on the web, it is not given as much attention as other economic issues. No one likes to talk about poverty... except for the politicians who don't seem to be doing what it takes.

Educate yourself and others about poverty. Donate. Most of us are average Americans barely making it on our income. If you can't donate, time is free. Volunteer it to help at charities. Do your part so the poverty rate does not continue to climb.

50 million people in poverty and yet...

• gas prices continue to soar
• power companies make bank during summer months
• inflation on food and other goods continue
• people are losing their homes
• credit card rates increase to maximum

How are Americans supposed to dig themselves out of this hole with all this working against them?

All photos are courtesy Wiki Commons.

Statistical & Historical Information:

CNN.com

socialpsych.uconn.edu

u-s-history.com

huppi.com

harrisinteractive.com

sln.fi.edu

Answers.com: Elvis Presley, Amos Bronson Alcott, Billy Sunday, Booker T. Washington

Associatedcontent.com: Biography of First African American