Dylan Kinney
Mrs. Williams
English 1A
22 December 2013
Majority
of people believe that poverty only exist on the streets of struggling urban
communities but that is a misconception. Poverty is everywhere from urban and
rural communities to our very own neighborhoods. The goal of this essay is to
dig deeper into the stereotypes of the poverty class. This essay will be
supported by general knowledge I have picked up through my research on the
poverty class and from the book, The Rich
and The Rest of Us. The main points will be the, types of stereo types we
have created for the poverty class, why they exist, and a process for a
solution to begin fading out the stereotypes and the poverty class.
When
people think of the poor or people living in poverty they think of homeless
people, refugees, immigrants and people who ask for a helping hand in front of grocery
store. Yes, it is true that most of these people are in the poverty class. From
the man who once was married and had a thriving small business but is now
divorced and homeless do to the financial crisis. To the immigrants who come
here from all over the world seeking the American dream which is basically like
finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. However, what most Americans
don’t think about, and it might be because they don’t want to face the truth,
is most of us are in the poverty class. It’s not just a, “black and brown thing
that politicians have created” (Cornel,Smiley 72-73). Poverty is everywhere from
the homeless man on the on the curb to a neighbor family down the street, that
between the parents they work five jobs just to squeeze by. People want to
believe they are in the middle class because they can afford luxuries like
cable TV and gym memberships but they are hiding themselves from the
realization that at any movement they can be homeless or dependent on food
stamps.
We
should all know by now that stereotypes exist and they are bad so why do we
continue to use them? Politicians are the cavemen who created the fire behind
the stereotypes for the poverty class. Many major political figures have
contributed to stereotypes of people who live in poverty and one is president
Ronald Regan. In The Rich and the Rest of
Us, the two authors discuss when the stereotypes where brought to the public
eye by president Regan. He addressed the nation about a fictional food stamp
queen who was stealing thousands from us and the government (Smiley, West
77). Politics have created ways to try
and separate the working poverty class and the more visible poverty class like
homeless people. If they can make us believe we are in the middle class and not
in poverty they can continue to quite the cries for help that come from people
who are living in unlivable conditions. Unfortunately we are also to blame for
the continue use of stereotypes associated with the poverty class. We must all
come together to support each other and speak as a whole so the politicians and
the world can see we won’t continue to give in to their propaganda.
The
solution to poverty according to many politicians and average Americans is to
create jobs and lower taxes. However, those ideas are like putting tape on a
whole in a sinking boat. We must first realize we are in the poverty class or
very close to being in it. Then we must stop separating ourselves from other
less fortunate people because we think we don’t have anything in common.
Remember as a whole we are a lot louder than as a few. Lastly we must look over
our local and federal government officials to make sure they are determined to
work for us and not against us. If we can succeed in all of theses ideas we
will start to slowly diminish the poverty class and bring back the middle
class.
Through
out this essay there was three main topics discussed; types of stereotypes
people have for the poverty class, why they exist, and a process for a solution
to begin fading out the stereotypes and poverty class. The goal was to dig
deeper into stereotypes of the poverty class and help you be able to create an
educated opinion of your own on the topic. Think about this, when the
revolutionary war began it was the rebels who left the motherland because of
taxes and religious beliefs. They created this land based on freedom but if we
continue on this path what will stop us from another revolution? And is that
what its going to take to get us out of poverty?
Smiley, Tavis.
Cornel West. The Rich and the Rest of Us.
New York City: Smiley Books, 2012. Print
