| Welcome to HerndonDavis.com! Home of The Herndon Davis Diversity Reports Educational, Inspirational, Motivational |
| The Face of American Poverty by: Herndon L. Davis |
A staggering 37 million people within the United States live in poverty. Even more
disturbing is that 13 million of these people are children. Further, an estimated 45
million people in America are living without any type of health insurance coverage.
To apply these cold, hard US Census Bureau facts and figures to everyday life,
roughly 13 people that you will encounter on a daily basis are living in poverty.
Think of all the people you interact with on a daily basis through your job, in your
church, or in your neighborhood. At least 13 of them are living, existing, and
struggling in poverty.
Imagine 7 adults, 5 children, and 1 senior citizen; this is the age demographic of
American poverty. In fact many of the adults considered to be poor actually can be
classified as the working poor. Although not quite destitute or living in extreme
poverty stricken conditions, these individuals still continuously struggle to make
ends meet as their low wages often are not able to cover their rising dependent
costs.
In fact in many instances the working poor are indeed individuals who are willing
to work, who have jobs, who own homes and cars but still fall into the poverty
category because of their negative net worth (assets minus debt) as well as their
inability to close this widening gap. And of course, there is the severe or the
destitute poor, who must make daily choices of whether to pay for food or
medicine, plus individuals who must seek out daily shelter from the elements.
disturbing is that 13 million of these people are children. Further, an estimated 45
million people in America are living without any type of health insurance coverage.
To apply these cold, hard US Census Bureau facts and figures to everyday life,
roughly 13 people that you will encounter on a daily basis are living in poverty.
Think of all the people you interact with on a daily basis through your job, in your
church, or in your neighborhood. At least 13 of them are living, existing, and
struggling in poverty.
Imagine 7 adults, 5 children, and 1 senior citizen; this is the age demographic of
American poverty. In fact many of the adults considered to be poor actually can be
classified as the working poor. Although not quite destitute or living in extreme
poverty stricken conditions, these individuals still continuously struggle to make
ends meet as their low wages often are not able to cover their rising dependent
costs.
In fact in many instances the working poor are indeed individuals who are willing
to work, who have jobs, who own homes and cars but still fall into the poverty
category because of their negative net worth (assets minus debt) as well as their
inability to close this widening gap. And of course, there is the severe or the
destitute poor, who must make daily choices of whether to pay for food or
medicine, plus individuals who must seek out daily shelter from the elements.
The racial demographic of poverty doesn’t leave anyone out of the picture either. According to the latest Census Bureau Study on poverty,
16.8 million Whites, 9.1 million Hispanic (any race), 9 million Blacks, and 1.2 million Asians live in poverty.
However, if one were to compare the number of people in poverty with their relative racial composition of the total US population, stunning
revelations come to the forefront.
While Whites comprise 67% of the nation they only account for 47% of the number in poverty. However, Blacks comprise 12.8% of the
nation, but they make up 24% of those in poverty- nearly double their population proportion.
Hispanics comprise 14% of the nation, while they consist of nearly 25% of those in poverty- nearly double their population proportion as
well. Meanwhile, Asians, who comprise 4.2% of the nation’s population, only consist of 3.2% of those in poverty.
This begs the question of whether American poverty is really a Black and Hispanic issue.
In September 2005, the ravages of Hurricane Katrina exposed the plight of poverty stricken blacks in New Orleans in comparison to their
affluent white suburban neighbors who were able to flee ahead of the storm.
However just a few miles to the east, the poor white rural communities of Mississippi were just as devastated by the torment of Katrina.
These residents too had little resources to evacuate their homes for higher and safer ground and in fact many remained in their homes as
well.
So where does poverty live in America? The answer may surprise you. Traditionally, the South has led the nation in terms of poverty.
In fact 9 of the top ten states/regions with the highest poverty rates are located in the south (Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, New
Mexico, Texas, West Virginia, District of Columbia, Alabama, Kentucky, and North Carolina).
However, what is indeed surprising is that the Midwest has suddenly jumped into the forefront in terms of increasing poverty rates. The
states of Indiana, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin all have experienced increases in their poverty rates over the past few years. These states
also join the Northeast state of Pennsylvania with rising growths of poverty.
Meanwhile the tiny state of New Hampshire has a virtual lock on the lowest poverty rate in the nation at 5.6%.
In fact 9 of the top ten states/regions with the highest poverty rates are located in the south (Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, New
Mexico, Texas, West Virginia, District of Columbia, Alabama, Kentucky, and North Carolina).
However, what is indeed surprising is that the Midwest has suddenly jumped into the forefront in terms of increasing poverty rates. The
states of Indiana, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin all have experienced increases in their poverty rates over the past few years. These states
also join the Northeast state of Pennsylvania with rising growths of poverty.
Meanwhile the tiny state of New Hampshire has a virtual lock on the lowest poverty rate in the nation at 5.6%.
Depending on the political party to which you belong, the solution on how to reduce poverty varies dramatically. In the past everything
from lowering taxes, increasing the minimum wage, providing job training programs, providing subsidized housing, food stamps, vouchers,
health care, childcare, and scholarships have been offered up as solutions but so has reducing most of the aforementioned programs in
order to prevent an entitlement mentality and instead create a competitive “up by your bootstraps” mentality.
In addition there are numerous ancillary organizations which seek to bridge the gap of poverty by providing both the crucial basic needs for
survival as well as social justice representation for the nation’s poor. Two such organizations are America’s Second Harvest and ACORN.
America's Second Harvest—The Nation's Food Bank Network is the nation's largest charitable hunger-relief organization. It consists of a
network of more than 200 Member food banks and food-rescue organizations serving all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto
Rico.
The America's Second Harvest Network secures and distributes nearly 2 billion pounds of donated food and grocery products annually and
supports approximately 50,000 local charitable agencies operating more than 94,000 programs including food pantries, soup kitchens,
emergency shelters, after-school programs, Kids Cafes and BackPack programs.
Last year alone the network provided food assistance to more than 25 million low-income hungry people in the United States, including
more than 9 million children and nearly 3 million seniors.
ACORN, which stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is the nation's largest community organization of
low- and moderate-income families, working together for social justice and for stronger communities. The organization has successfully
launched campaigns for better housing, schools, neighborhood safety, health care, job conditions, and more.
From a grassroots perspective as well as through lobbying efforts, ACORN operates offices in 75 cities across the United States dedicated
to improving the housing conditions for the economically disadvantaged, increasing community safety, securing living wages for all workers
and improving the quality of local schools.
from lowering taxes, increasing the minimum wage, providing job training programs, providing subsidized housing, food stamps, vouchers,
health care, childcare, and scholarships have been offered up as solutions but so has reducing most of the aforementioned programs in
order to prevent an entitlement mentality and instead create a competitive “up by your bootstraps” mentality.
In addition there are numerous ancillary organizations which seek to bridge the gap of poverty by providing both the crucial basic needs for
survival as well as social justice representation for the nation’s poor. Two such organizations are America’s Second Harvest and ACORN.
America's Second Harvest—The Nation's Food Bank Network is the nation's largest charitable hunger-relief organization. It consists of a
network of more than 200 Member food banks and food-rescue organizations serving all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto
Rico.
The America's Second Harvest Network secures and distributes nearly 2 billion pounds of donated food and grocery products annually and
supports approximately 50,000 local charitable agencies operating more than 94,000 programs including food pantries, soup kitchens,
emergency shelters, after-school programs, Kids Cafes and BackPack programs.
Last year alone the network provided food assistance to more than 25 million low-income hungry people in the United States, including
more than 9 million children and nearly 3 million seniors.
ACORN, which stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is the nation's largest community organization of
low- and moderate-income families, working together for social justice and for stronger communities. The organization has successfully
launched campaigns for better housing, schools, neighborhood safety, health care, job conditions, and more.
From a grassroots perspective as well as through lobbying efforts, ACORN operates offices in 75 cities across the United States dedicated
to improving the housing conditions for the economically disadvantaged, increasing community safety, securing living wages for all workers
and improving the quality of local schools.
| The Future of American Poverty |
With the 2006 congressional races just five months away and the 2008 Presidential race on its heels, it would appear that poverty would
be one of the major campaign issues to tout. With Super Tuesday Southern states and electoral heavy Midwestern states both feeling the
pinch of poverty, it would seem that savvy politicians would jump upon the opportunity to court, sway, and secure the votes of the
working poor.
But within every election cycle, making campaign promises is one thing, but making good on them is another thing. Unfortunately for 37
million Americans they can ill-afford to make a wrong choice at the ballot box because their next meal literally depends upon it.
be one of the major campaign issues to tout. With Super Tuesday Southern states and electoral heavy Midwestern states both feeling the
pinch of poverty, it would seem that savvy politicians would jump upon the opportunity to court, sway, and secure the votes of the
working poor.
But within every election cycle, making campaign promises is one thing, but making good on them is another thing. Unfortunately for 37
million Americans they can ill-afford to make a wrong choice at the ballot box because their next meal literally depends upon it.
Copyrighted 2006
Herndon Davis is an author, lecturer, and TV/Radio Host of The Herndon Davis Reports. He can be
reached directly at http://herndondavis.com
Herndon Davis is an author, lecturer, and TV/Radio Host of The Herndon Davis Reports. He can be
reached directly at http://herndondavis.com
| Returning in Spring 2006 to: The Dish Network, Channel 223 Time Warner Cable "The Healthy Living Channel" PRIME TIME Every Thursday evening 10pm Eastern, 9pm Central, 8pm Mountain, 7pm Pacific Additional Cable Outlets: Comcast, Adelphia, Charter |
| Empowering The World's Diversity |
Is Poverty a Racial Thing?
Is Poverty a Geographical Thing??
So What’s Being Done to Reduce Poverty?