We
all know the best thing about Lyndon B. Johnson was Lady Bird, who is a
national treasure and deserves to treated as such, but he had his moments.
Such as when he declared a war on poverty and believed it could be
erradicated through the creation of "better schools, and better health,
and better homes, and better training, and better job opportunities.” It
was unprecedented, a move that would never again be matched by any President.
President Johnson believed that it was the responsiblity of the governemnt
to intervene on behalf of it's citizen's for the common good. This was
the beginning and end of a war that could have drastically changed the face of
poverty in America. In 1964, spending was increased for programs such as
Head Start, Work Study, food stamps, and Medicare and Medicaid. The
Revenue Act of 1964 and the Economic Opportunity Act provided additional relief
to the poor and middle class that had become limited in their upward mobility.
The Revenue Act cut taxes by 20% and the Economic Opportunity Act created
major programs like Work Study, Job Corps, and Adult Basic Education.
Those living below the poverty rate dropped from 23%
to 12%.
This is a slippery slope, an informal fallacy that
relies on the ignorance of the general public, misonceptions of the media, and
the negative framework of poverty that is created by politicians. Let me
be clear; I am not unaware of the myriad issues surrounding poverty and the
individuals who experience it. Have I seen individuals that attempt to game
the system, of course...but if you want to bring up individuals who have
"cheated" the system, lets talk about Bernie Madoff, the financial
crisis of 2007, sub-prime mortgages, the FHA and redlining, and corporate faud.
Which is probably costing you more tax dollars than the millions upon
billions of crappy poor people who are "cheating" the welfare system.
You CANNOT have a one sided argument. Let me introduce you to the
"evil rich"....but we'll come back to that, right now we are
discussing the gross poor people that are too lazy to go get a job.
As of 2012
the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that 10.5
million individuals formed the "working poor". These are people
who are living in poverty and working. Let me stress the working part.
Do they deserve to live in poverty because they don't work hard enough? I
don't know, did that guy who died from a snake bite not believe in Jesus hard
enough? It's relative to what your belief system is but the fact is, you
don't have to be an asshole about it. Look, I get it, if you want to
assume that people who are poor are just a bunch of jerks who can't crawl their
way out of the gutter than I'm going to assume that you are an idiot who is
floating down a douche river in a canoe. It is incredibly irresponsible
to make such assumptions about people, especially those who are poor.
Politicians and society love to flap their gums about the wonderful
post-racial utopia we are currently (not) living in: WE HAVE A BLACK
PRESIDENT, THAT ONE LADY IN SOME GOVERNMENT SEAT IS A MEXICAN OR SOMETHING,
MINORITIES NOW OUT NUMBER WHITE PEOPLE!!! Listen white people, just
because SEVERAL groups of MINORITIES out number you does not a
majority make. You are still a majority so relax and be comforted in the
many benefits of which you reap simply by being born white.
An issue
that is consistently brought up in conversation, especially in regards to
economic opportunities and race, is that minorities simply can't make it in the
world and whatever failings they have in life, it is all their fault.
Fair enough. But kind of
empirically wrong.
Let's start with being born poor, lets begin:
Congratulations lazy poor incubator, you have just given birth to a child.
You have little to no human capital, one because you are a women (ewwwww)
and two, you are not white. Being the poor single mother that you are
(and cause for all of the poverty in the world because the world is
misogynistic), you live in a pretty crappy neighborhood. Your neighbor
was recently shot and you know at least one person who has
an entrepreneurial goal of becoming a drug dealer. You poor
person, have brought into this world another new poor person who will most
likely go to a crap school where there will be limited resources and limited
options for securing a quality education. 22% of children in poverty do
not graduate from high school as compared to only 6% of those who are not
living in poverty.
Your parastitic child who is also to lazy to get a job is spending all your hard earned money on necessities like food and clothing so you have to get some benefits, whatever welfare queen! Alright, so you managed to get the scoundrel to graduate from high school, now what...well, very little. College, hahahaha, are you kidding me!! Have you seen how expensive it is to go to college? So get a job, maybe? A good one? NOPE. Look, I'm taking some liberties here and at this point I'm bored so lets talk about institutionalized racism and it's going to be quick. If you can't understand that Jim Crow Laws, the FHA redlining and the G.I. Bill utilized racist policies to ensure that white neighborhoods blossomed and black ghettos flourished, then you really need to reconsider your position as telling people you are not prejudiced.
The United States has systematically enagaged in
racist and discriminatory policies. It has not stopped.
1850- Approximately 305,000 individuals forcibly
transported on via U.S. vessels as part of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade from mid 1600's to
1850.
1876- Jim Crow Laws put into effect. They were
not abolished until 1965.
1830- Indian Removal Act of 1830. This was a
form of ethnic cleansing that resulted in the deaths of approximately 2,000-6,000 Native Americans.
1913- California Alien Land Law of 1913 prohibited
American Indians from owning land, stripped them of land rights. Was not repealed until 1952.
1921- National Origins Formula based number of
immigrants on a quota system.
1923- United States vs. Bhagat Singh Thind classified
Indians as non-white, retroactively stripped Indians of their citizenship. No case has ever overturned this
classification.
1929- Mexican Repatriation: forced migration of
approximately 2 million Mexican Americans
1934- National Housing Act of 1934 established the FHA
which utilized discriminatory redlining practices and blockbusting. Was not abolished until the
Fair Housing Act of 1968 but still needed a second act, the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 to encourage
fair lending practices.
1942- Japanese American Internment.
1981- Until 1997, the United States Department of
Agriculture denied loans to Black farmers that were given to White farmers that were experiencing similar
issues.
The racism that existed in the past may not be as overt but those who are racist have chosen to do so in a way that is outside of the public eye. It is done in secret and in ways that prey on the fears of Americans. It is in the Republican Southern Strategy, Stop and Frisk Laws, and in Immigration Laws in Arizona. It is in the way we determine someone's worth based on the community in which they live, the way in which black men with no criminal records and a good education are routinely passed over for white men with less experience and criminal records. It is in the way we stereotype. If you cannot have the empathy to understand what minorities go through without the caveat of "well maybe they shouldn't commit so many crimes, do so many drugs, have so many children...etc" then it is safe to say you live in a white bubble void of compassion and empathy. Probably happy and enjoying life and that is fine. You continue living the way that makes you happy.
Race does not exist, it was created on the machinations of a white majority, who on a whim would determine what and who was white, with no regard to the lives they were ruining and the pain they were causing. So what do they deserve? Have they been given enough in the last 70 years after suffering for hundreds? What about you, what do you deserve?
