Beyond the Culture of Poverty Myth

1. Beyond the �Culture of Poverty� Myth by Paul C. Gorski - gorski@EdChange.org

2. 2 What We (Think We) Know The Quiz

3. 3 The Quiz 1. In 1978 corporate CEOs in the United States earned, on average, 35 times more than the average worker. Today, they earn __ times more than the average worker. 35 150 300

4. 4 The Quiz 1. In 1978 corporate CEOs in the United States earned, on average, 35 times more than the average worker. Today, they earn __ times more than the average worker. 35 150 300

5. 5 The Quiz 2. The majority of poor people in the U.S. live in: urban areas suburban areas rural areas

6. 6 The Quiz 2. The majority of poor people in the U.S. live in: urban areas suburban areas rural areas

7. 7 The Quiz 3. Which of the following variables most closely predicts how high someone will score on the SAT test? race region of residence family income

8. 8 The Quiz 3. Which of the following variables most closely predicts how high someone will score on the SAT test? race region of residence family income

9. 9 The Quiz 5. How many children around the world die each day from hunger-related causes? 1,600 16,000 160,000

10. 10 The Quiz 5. How many children around the world die each day from hunger-related causes? 1,600 16,000 160,000

11. 11 The Quiz 6. How many people in the U.S. live in poverty according to the U.S. Census Bureau? About 17 million About 27 million About 37 million

12. 12 The Quiz 6. How many people in the U.S. live in poverty according to the U.S. Census Bureau? About 17 million About 27 million About 37 million

13. 13 The Quiz 7. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, how much more likely are African American and Latino mortgage applicants to be turned down for a loan, even after controlling for employment, financial, and neighborhood factors? 15% 30% 60%

14. 14 The Quiz 7. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, how much more likely are African American and Latino mortgage applicants to be turned down for a loan, even after controlling for employment, financial, and neighborhood factors? 15% 30% 60% * * *

15. 15 Introductory Stuff:Starting Assumptions Low-income people bear the brunt of almost every imaginable social ill in the U.S. All people, regardless of socioeconomic status, deserve access to basic human rights Inequities in the U.S. (and globally) mean that all people don�t have this access

16. 16 Introductory Stuff: The Agenda Introductory Stuff (in progress) Stereotypes of Low-Income People Key Concepts The Big Picture: Ten Chairs Shifts of Consciousness Being an Anti-Poverty Educator

17. Part II: Oppressors Are Us: Stereotypes of Low-Income People

18. 18 Stereotypers Are Us Pairs: Name all the stereotypes you know about low-income people And note where they come from

19. 19 Stereotypers Are Us Stereotype: Laziness Ah, but: According to the Economic Policy Institute (2002), poor working adults spend more hours working per week on average than their wealthier counterparts.

20. 20 Stereotypers Are Us Stereotype: Don�t Value Education Ah, but: Low-income parents hold the exact same attitudes about education as wealthy parents (Compton-Lilly, 2003; Lareau & Horvat, 1999; Leichter, 1978; Varenne & McDermott, 1986).

21. 21 Stereotypers Are Us Stereotype: Substance Abuse Ah, but: Alcohol abuse is far more prevalent among wealthy people than poor people (Galea, Ahern, Tracy, & Vlahov, 2007). And drug use equally distributed across poor, middle class, and wealthy communities (Saxe, Kadushin, Tighe, Rindskopf, & Beveridge, 2001).

22. 22 Stereotypers Are Us Stereotype: Crime and Violence Ah, but: Poor people do not commit more crime than wealthy people�they only commit more visible crime. Furthermore, white collar crime results in much greater economic (and life) losses than so-called �violent� crime.

23. 23 Stereotypers Are Us Stereotype: Language-Deficient Ah, but: Linguists have known for decades that all varieties of English (such as �Black English vernacular� or Appalachian varieties) are equally complex in structure and grammar (Gee, 2004; Hess, 1974; Miller, Cho, & Bracey, 2005).

24. 24 Stereotypers Are Us Where, then, do these stereotypes come from, and whose purposes do they serve? �more on this later�

25. 25 Mis-perceivers Are Us Point of Reflection: What would you describe as your socioeconomic status?

26. 26 Mis-perceivers Are Us Point of Reflection: Where does the notion of meritocracy come from, and has it ever been true?

27. 27 Mis-perceivers Are Us Point of Reflection: Is poverty an individual experience or a systemic condition?

28. Part III Cool Key Concepts

29. 29 Key Concepts The �Culture of Poverty� Deficit Ideology The �Undeserving� Poor

30. 30 Key Concept:The �Culture of Poverty� What is it? (See hidden rules quizzes.) Who made it up? What the research says Why it�s dangerous Where you�ve seen it in

31. 31 Key Concept:The �Deficit Ideology� Two Components Example: Payne�s reflections on Katrina (see handout) Why it�s dangerous Where you�ve seen it in

32. 32 Key Concept:The �Undeserving Poor� Herbert Gans, The War Against the Poor Deterioration of support for policy �Welfare Reform�

33. Part IV The Big Picture: Ten Chairs and a Pyramid

34. Part V Approaches to Anti-Poverty and Anti-Classism Work

35. 35 Approach #1 Charitable Giving Donating money or goods (often around holidays), but giving little attention to poverty as a systemic condition

36. 36 Approach #2 Sustenance Action Encouraging charity or volunteerism to feed the poor, clothe the poor, and house the poor�or sustain the poor in poverty No attention to poverty as a systemic condition Mitigating rather than eliminating poverty

37. 37 Approach #3 �Fixing� the Poor Offering programs meant to strengthen poor people�s work ethics, morals, and community connections�often in the name of equipping somebody to �pull themselves out of poverty� No attention to poverty as a systemic condition Assumes poverty is about what poor people lack � deficit model

38. 38 Approach #4 Saving the Poor Positing one�s self or one�s organization as the savior of the �pitiable� poor No attention to poverty as a systemic condition Insinuates moral superiority

39. 39 Approach #5 Individual Advocacy Advocating�helping demand rights for�an individual person or family Begins to acknowledge the systemic nature of poverty Putting one�s self in a vulnerable position to fight for the rights of somebody else

40. 40 Approach #6 Systemic Anti-Poverty Fighting for the elimination of poverty by fighting those things that necessitate and cycle poverty Acknowledges systemic nature of poverty Pushing for policy, challenging cultural norms and assumptions * * *

41. Part VI Shifts of Consciousness

42. 42 Shift of Consciousness #1 Must be willing to think critically about those things about which I�ve been taught not to think critically Corporate capitalism Two-party political system Consumer culture And the relationship between these things and racism Myth of meritocracy

43. 43 Shift of Consciousness #2 Must understand the intersectionality of class with gender, disability, race, and other factors. We cannot fully understand poverty without understanding how it relates to these issues�nor can we understand an issue like sexism without understanding economic exploitation.

44. 44 Shift of Consciousness #3 Must acknowledge class-related inequities and oppressions�and understand them as systemic and not just individual acts and practices So changing hearts isn�t enough to create a just society�must prepare ourselves and others to change institutions and policy

45. 45 Shift of Consciousness #4 Must See Our Socialization How are we socialized to perpetuate the myths? How do we perpetuate myths and oppression even through well- intended work?

46. 46 Shift of Consciousness #5 Must refuse to mistake socioeconomic class with �culture� Poverty is sociopolitical in nature�it�s done to people

47. 47 Shift of Consciousness #6 Must be careful to avoid �saviour syndrome� or �messiah mentality� or �missionary mindset� This is an expression of supremacy and privilege Who, exactly, is being �saved� in anti-poverty work?

48. 48 Shift of Consciousness #7 Focus on understanding the cultures and forces of power and privilege, not only on the experiences and cultures of the dispossessed �other� We cannot understand class and poverty without understanding the influence of the wealthy elite * * *

49. Part VII What We Can Do

50. 50 What We Can Do: Fight for Low-Income Students Fight to keep low-income children from being placed unfairly into lower academic tracks. And fight to get them into gifted and talented programs. Or fight educational tracking altogether.

51. 51 What We Can Do: Fight for Low-Income Students Insist on equitable schooling conditions for all students. Fight what Kozol calls the �savage inequalities� of our schools

52. 52 What We Can Do:Educate Youth (and Adults!) About Poverty Lack of living wage jobs Dissolution of labor unions Growing wealth gap Corporate control of government and schools Educate toward fixing these injustices rather than �fixing� poor people

53. 53 What We Can Do:Take Back Our Heroes Resist whitewashing or commercialization of social justice heroes who fought for class equity MLK Helen Keller Mark Twain Black Panthers

54. 54 What We Can Do:Help Individuals & Fight Systems If all of our anti-poverty work goes into addressing symptoms rather than the underlying injustices, nothing will change. If all of our work goes into fighting the underlying injustices while ignoring immediate symptoms, people will die.

55. 55 What We Can Do:Self-Assess Consider: Is your work, or that of your organization, moving us closer to an equitable and just society or world, or is it, despite good intentions, sustaining inequity and injustice?

56. 56 What We Can Do:Do Informed Work Reject the temptation to use popular models (such as Ruby Payne�s) just because they�re popular. Ask why they�re popular. And opt, instead, for models that are based on evidence and proved effectiveness.

57. 57 What We Can Do:Engage Low-Income Folks As we know, the experts are the communities. Avoid the missionary approach by asking what we can do rather doing what we think we ought to do. Work with rather than for.

58. 58 What We Can Do:Learn Never stop identifying our own class biases. (And yes, you do have them.)

59. 59 What We Can Do:See and Work at Intersections Racism/Sexism/Etc. & Poverty Environmental Justice & Poverty Media Conglomeration & Poverty Privatization of Schools & Poverty War & Poverty Globalization & Poverty And so on...

60. 60 What We Can Do:Evaluate Materials Make sure your organization�s materials do not stereotype�even if low-income or working class people * * *

61. A Few Final Thoughts

62. Paul C. Gorski gorski@edchange.org http://www.EdChange.org