Acorn

The idea that poverty is a problem is not new. Even in the United States there are areas of consistent poverty in susceptible regions for various reasons:

Poor financial planning, addictions, child support payments, past due rent, or just plain old lethargy.

Some people actually think these are the causes of poverty. There are many here in the United States that are of the attitude that poverty is the result of some wrong action taken on the part of the poor, or some immoral choice of personal vice over posterity.

The idea that some individuals think that those that live in squalor are somehow less morally good than someone with a BMW and a stocked refrigerator infuriates me. ?

In other words, there are those that think it the poor person?s own fault that they are poor. There are even some striking opinions that state that poverty is a choice.

I am not contesting that the aforementioned ?causes? of poverty do not exist. On the contrary, they run in the social fabric of society. It must be said that in most cases, these are after-effects of poverty, not initial causes of it.

What I am contesting is that the historical and persistent levels of poverty that are most crippling are caused not by addictions or laziness, but by inequitable policy and a willingness to blame the victims of formerly racist and currently unfair political choices.

Hurricane Katrina exploited an area that was already saturated with poverty. Louisiana and Mississippi are among the poorest states in America, with median incomes of $35,110 and $31,642 respectively.

In this area of the country women make only about 70 cents on the male dollar, at best.

Louisiana in particular has a 19.4% poverty rate, Orleans parish has a 23.2 % poverty rate, and the city of New Orleans is ranked the 9th poorest city in the country. Is it really any wonder why the response was so sluggish?

What does this say about government?s priorities?

What would have happened if Hurricane Katrina made landfall at Marin County, CA or Morris County, NJ? How much faster do you think the local and federal response would have been?

The mindset in this country can sometimes be racist without being RACIST. Do you know what I mean? And this is where the crack in the veneer lie.

Being racist and not realizing it makes its way into policy choices and budgets, laws and national attitudes.

This affects, in an extremely disadvantageous manner, millions of American citizens over a long period of time.

With a little bit of compassion and open mindedness, some charity and perhaps a firm federal commitment to lead the way, there is no reason that so many people should be left to wallow in garbage and feces in the land of milk and honey.

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