Poverty in Black America - Research Paper Example

Poverty in Black America TOPIC: Poverty in Black America VIEWPOINT: There is a considerable poverty in African-American community as compared to whites in USA. EVIDENCE: 1. US Census Bureau in its 2010 report stated alarming evidences of poverty and poor living standards in African-American / black American population. Overwhelmingly two reasons have come to light for this situation; these are high rate of unemployment and single mom families in black community. According to report there are 40 million blacks in USA out of which 31.4 million (81%) live in families. 14.2 million blacks live in families with a woman head of family. Out of 40 million, 10.7 million blacks live in poverty (27.4%). A total of 54.6 % of all blacks live in single mother homes. (Black Poverty).1 2. American Black community is not only poor by American standards; rather many amongst them touch “third world” poor status. In USA official unemployment rate is 4.4% whereas official unemployment rate for blacks is 10% .Approximately a million black children in USA are living below poverty line. (Phillip).2 3. Poverty brings other associated problems. Either poverty causes these problems or these problems cause poverty. The problems include poor education standards, broken family structure, violence, high crime rate, mass unemployment, poor living standards and housing, poor health, friction in communities and low contribution towards economy etc. 4. Higher education is considered essential in upgrading the standard of life. However with poor economic status, black families are unable to afford college education and postgraduate studies. The frustrated youth is therefore divulged towards depression, uncertainty, frustration, drugs and crime. 5. Consistently black students in schools have not performed well. According to Carter (Carter) “so many decades have passed since 1954 Brown decision however many people are still intrigued by the (under) performance of Black Students in Americas schools”3 . In schools these students remain in groups. These groups often fight each other to gain dominance. Masculine image amongst black boys is a very dominant concept. The past association with slavery also haunts quite a few black youngsters. There is another impression amongst black students according to which a student involved in studies is not received well amongst the peers. When impact of all these factors is combined it results into distraction from studies and poor results and failure in life later on. 6. There has been a factor of racism as well in few schools where black students have been labeled naturally “dumb”. There has been a feedback from teachers according to which white teachers did not feel comfortable in the company of black students. Unfortunately negative indicators in school life do not point towards bright future of black students. 7. Lack of role models is often cited as a reason for blacks not doing well in many fields specially education. There is a general impression that blacks are not good at studies however they are good in sports and music. However it is considered a wrong argument. Black sportsmen and music celebrities are very few in number. The lifestyles and wealth these celebrities enjoy create a false impression amongst blacks, due to which, black youngsters dream of becoming music or sports stars, through some sort of shortcut in life. The results in real life are far different than dreams. 8. Thirteenth amendment to US constitution was passed in December 1865, according to which slavery was abolished in USA. The country was not stable in that era and southern states continued with practices similar to slavery however union army was limited and could not protect ex-slaves. Few states passed “black codes” according to which unemployed blacks could be arrested and fined .Prisoners that were unable to pay fines could be used as slaves. Blacks were not allowed to buy land and were denied fair wages for work. 9. After the civil war in America most of the southern states passed anti African –American laws full of discrimination. These were known as Jim Crow laws, according to which blacks were forced to use segregated trains, buses, theatres, hotels and public baths. The discrimination continued till 1960s when Supreme Court declared segregation in buses unconstitutional (Jim Crow Laws)4. The discrimination became a reason for blacks being left behind economically and socially. Non availability of equal rights and justice over the centuries resulted into poverty of whole community. 10. In 1877 Federal Government got exhausted due to overstretching of troops to protect ex-slaves and started withdrawing forces. In the same era Southern states passed anti black laws which were upheld by Supreme Court in 1896. Blacks were fined and imprisoned for visiting white towns or drinking from white fountain. Blacks were even killed for violating discrimination and it was called “Lynching”. State and local laws protected these excesses. In this environment black community was pushed to darkness and poverty. The community had to fight for survival let alone prosperity.( Jyotsna)5 11. In 2009, the poverty rates for blacks and Hispanics greatly exceeded US national average. According to data by National Poverty Center, University of Michigan 25.8% of blacks and 25.3% of Hispanics were poor, as compared to 9.4% of non Hispanic whites and 12.5% Asians. (Poverty in United States).6 12. Since there is a great degrees of poverty in African-American community, counties in central America which have high population of African-Americans experience greater poverty rate declines once job growth occurs.( Mark ,Rickman P 200 ) 7 13. “During the decade of 1980s social scientists discovered the “feminization of poverty”- the disproportionate and increasing concentration of poverty among women” especially black women”. ( Lisa) 8 EVALUATION During course of study about African-American community it is very important to evaluate and discuss poverty of the community as a whole. Centuries of injustice, racism, segregation and depression has taken its toll on economic well being of the black community. While looking at the documents cited in the paper one can make out that there is a solid evidence of consistent poverty in black community in America. It is unfortunate that a considerable portion of the wealthiest country in the history of mankind lives under miserable economic condition. Who is responsible for this situation? Can this situation of African-American community be improved and how? Was it a deliberate attempt to keep the black community poor? Has the election of a black President Obama given hope and concrete benefits to the black community? How can black community attain prosperity? Does the black community want to get rid of poverty or it has accepted it as destiny? Has the racism kept the community poor, if yes how? What can the Government do to bring the black people in main stream? Is it justified for the Government and politicians to spend billion of dollars in aid abroad while the black community leads a poor life at home? In the class focus of study is African-American history since 1877, how was the issue of poverty and economic well being taught and deliberated in previous classes? Has poverty and misery of African-American people remained a subject for attention in history? What has been the effort of black people in getting rid of poverty? Who are the rich role models in African-American history? Current print and electronic media has not given due importance to poverty of African-American people rather the debate is mostly focused on poverty of American nation. Since maximum black families are headed by single moms there is a dire need to focus on poverty of black women and children. The large and growing African-American people cannot be left alone even if they wanted to because a large non productive and poor community will impact economic and social fiber of American Nation in the long run. Bibliography “Black Poverty in America 2010.” America's North Shore Journal,. http://northshorejournal.org/black-poverty-in-america-2010 (September 22, 2011) Carter Dorinda J, “Editor's Review of John U. Ogbu's Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement”, Harvard Educational review, Winter 2004 Issue, http://www.hepg.org/her/abstract/38, (September 22,2011) “Jim Crow Laws” Spartacus journal, http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAjimcrow.htm (September 22,2011) Jyotsna Sreenivasan, Poverty and the government in America: a historical encyclopedia, Volume 1-P-562,2009, http://books.google.com/books?id=yk5NI69ZO9sC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false, (September 22,2011) Lisa Levenstein, “A movement without marches: African American women and the politics of poverty in postwar Philadelphia.2009, http://books.google.com/books?id=yk5NI69ZO9sC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false (September 21,2011) Mark, Rickman, “The geography of American poverty: is there a need for place-based policies? p200, 2010, http://books.google.com.pk/books?id=KDUKbGrndf8C&pg=PA200&dq=African-American+poverty&hl=en&ei=suh8TqiTN8XIswaJhIFS&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=African-American%20poverty&f=false (September 21,2011) Phillip Jackson, “Remembering The Millions The American Dream Left Behind,” thenewblackmagazine.com, September 10 2008. http://www.thenewblackmagazine.com/view.aspx?index=1580 (September 22, 2011) Poverty in United States, The university of Michigan , 2011 http://www.npc.umich.edu/poverty/ (September 22,2011) Read More