black – DARK UNIVERSITY

“Young people just want a handout, they are not willing to do the work necessary to be self-sufficient in this world, and they are given an education but make no use of their skills.”

By Shivam Zaveri

‘Young people just want a handout, they are not willing to do the work necessary to be self-sufficient in this world, and they are given an education but make no use of their skills.’

While these claims might be substantive for a few Americans, they disregard the local context that lead people to use the welfare system. When these claims are made by older generations towards younger generations, they equivocate their upbringing and opportunities as being the same for younger generations. Covid-19 has not been friendly to anyone and it will remain more devastating to people in poverty. The effects of this pandemic will not be understood until after a year or 3.

Older perspectives overlook the systemic biases favoring the resourceful. Outspoken welfare critics use these claims to create a conflated narrative of US welfare users loaded with stereotypes, maintained over decades. This narrative is appropriated to gather support for fiscally responsible welfare initiatives, which leads to tighter constraints to access aid further destabilizing already vulnerable communities. These communities have grown over the past few years and will continue to grow. Welfare services need to be expanded to allow all disadvantaged in a community access services and escape poverty. This piece covers a few of the factors pushing people into the welfare system such as poverty, unemployment, and incarceration and details the disadvantaged populations within them.

The stats listed next are there to exemplify the amount of support given currently is not enough to end poverty but to keep people there.

One first needs to understand that percentages are useful in comparison, but undercut the number of individuals, especially in the context of US populations. Out of the 320.7 million Americans, 61% or 195 million are white and 39% or 125 million are minorities [5]. Living in the same country does not mean the various races will see a proportional relationship in the factors leading to welfare. Many vulnerable populations might seem as insignificant percentages but represent millions of individuals.

Poverty

When narrowing the US population to people in poverty, 34 million people are in poverty of which 10.5 million are children 0-18 years old. From 2017 to 2019, 4.6 to 4.9 million elders respectively above 65 years are in poverty [2]. These 14.9 million people are at a point in life where they are unable to support themselves and this vulnerable population has been increasing over the last decade.

In the 2016 KKF report, most US states had higher percentages of blacks and Hispanics in poverty, with a total of 17.4 million whites, 8.7 million blacks, and 11.2 million Hispanics [2]. However, poverty in 2019 changed to 14.2 million whites, 8.1 million blacks, and 9.5 Hispanics [2].

There are 3.4 million more minority people in poverty than whites.

The sheer amount of minorities in poverty burden their respective communities even more. The narrative of the stereotypical freeloading adult can only reference 18.7 million US adults in poverty. Of this vulnerable population, 7.9 million adults in poverty have children. These people are subject to the same constraints of using the welfare system such as having a clean criminal record and a time cap on certain welfare services.

Labor Force

Of the 164 million people in the labor force, there are 10.7 million unemployed people [6]. These are adults seeking employment in an economy where there are more people than jobs. Of the unemployed, young adults and minorities have the highest rate of unemployment. For comparison, 9.9% 20-year-old and older blacks were unemployed as opposed to 6% of their whites peers. As a young black American, there are inherent biases in hiring practices that can further disadvantage one from attaining a position with the same salary as their peers [1]. The competitive nature of the U.S. labor market ensures people in poverty’s existence. The divestment away from the US welfare programs bolsters poverty and a lack of opportunity for all US people with a larger disparate effect on minorities.

Arrested

In the U.S., 11 million people go to jail every year and 6.84 million people are serving time or on probation [7]. If in poverty, the chances of affording proper legal representation are far less than selecting a court-appointed attorney. While pleading guilty to a charge for a lesser sentence may seem tempting, their communities will suffer while they serve time and a conviction stigma affects employment ability after time served. Incarcerated people become trapped in poverty, unable to access certain welfare services, and on average earn less than their non-incarcerated peers [4]. Furthermore, black people are the most incarcerated population at 880,000 people [4]. If an individual from a vulnerable population is caught in the judicial system, they should expect to become even more vulnerable.

Welfare Users

When comparing the various vulnerable populations to the users of the welfare system a different narrative appears. In 2012, there were 52 million people participating one of the six major US welfare programs, where a majority of the users were children between 0-18 [3]. Of the 46 million people in poverty, 31 million accessed welfare services [3]. Of the 12.5 million unemployed in the labor force, 4.1 million accessed welfare services [3]. While only 3% of US is arrested, this can have negative consequences throughout one’s life and become unable to even access certain welfare serves.

Vulnerable populations are bound to increase if welfare programs are cut. Especially with the negative effects of Covid-19, people are bound to enter poverty at faster rates. The argument that the majority of these people receive enough benefits to survive is only referencing a select portion of the population. Children and elderly are in helpless position, and there have been more laborers than jobs for the last decade. Welfare programs do not encourage people to be freeloaders; they allow vulnerable populations to attend to their needs and not to spend everything they earn on surviving. In a predominantly white community, people in poverty, unemployed, or arrested have a higher chance of finding opportunity and becoming self-sufficient. If you are a white person in this community, those chances are even higher.

References

[1] Bertrand, M., & Mullainathan, S. (2002). A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination. 1-40.

[2] Census Bureau. (2019). Poverty Rate by Race. Retrieved from kkf.org: https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/poverty-rate-by-raceethnicity/?dataView=0&currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D

[3] Irving, S., & Loveless, T. (2015). Dynamics of Economic Well-Being. Washington D.C.: US Census Bureau.

[4] Rabuy, B., & Kopf, D. (2015, July 9). Prisons of Poverty. Retrieved from Prison Policy Initiative : https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/income.html

[5] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics . (2017). Labor force characteristics by race and ethnicity, 2016.

[6] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2020). News Release December 2020. Washington D.C.: Department of Labor.

[7] Wagner, P., & Rabuy, B. (2017). Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2017. Retrieved from Prison Policy Initiative: https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2017.html

[8] Picture – https://www.reddit.com/r/Art/comments/kx4a1a/enter_nightmedigital2020/

I do not understand the plight of the African-American community. All minorities, including me an Asian-American practicing a minority religion – Hinduism, have benefited from their continuing movements. There should be no difference between us (whichever group you self-identify) and them.

Alas, Black Lives Matter more so than ever, and the least we can do is support the cause since all of us will benefit from the movement. Even the racist/prejudice folk – you are a minority in some shape or form.

Progress from the Plights of the Black Person. This one is rough.

African-Americans have suffered centuries of injustice likened to being treated less than animals. Slaves were a thing/property/object up until the 1860’s [1]. Even though Lincoln set them free (change them to 5/5 of man) these men, women, and children had no way of leaving their condition. Imagine becoming a full adult with the education of middle school and an entire life of submission (master says withhold food – slave complies and suffers retribution). The emancipated person’s life was already over – since they had a life expectancy of 21 years old with the only job qualification of being a slave [2]. Their legacy’s life was bound for continued systemic oppression.

Plight – 20 year old African-Americans now have the possible opportunity to get an education (equivocated as a job) and create a life for themselves. If you are Black, you have a 60% chance of coming from an uneducated family (40% chance as White where the sheer volume of White students eclipses all minorities) [3]. Also, if you are Black and from 2003, 33% of the men in your community will be jailed or have been at some point. These are harrowing facts of a current day Black American. The stigma for the jailed and erosion of rights is a lasting effect of systemic oppression – take away their rights to enact changes in the oppression system.

Even then (post-civil war) as with now, racism did not vanish overnight. Racism was prevalent both in the north and the south. Prejudices have remained strong in all communities. Lynching became an outcome of maintaining oppression for economic, social, migratory, and plain fuckery reasons [5]. From 1882-1968, 4,743 lynchings occurred in the United States [6]; however, the recent Arbery lynching serves as a reminder that Black Lives Matters differently in different neighborhoods [7].

Southern trees bear strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop. [8]

I bring lynching up to STRESS the effects it has on the psyche of Black Americans and frankly any minority group. Death is a somber event. But when death is brought early on through lynching, it becomes a message. We choose to heed the last message from our fallen or not. The message being – your life is an object that can be taken without major repercussion.

When will the life of a minority stop being considered a second class citizen?

Black men and women began creating wealth for themselves, but it was too much for Black Wall Street to exist (1920s), so it was burnt down along with innocent Blacks being massacred [9]. Even academics took advantage of the Black body. The Institution Review Board is a reactive solution for the Tuskegee experiment where unwitting Africans were live subjects harboring syphilis – an experiment that lasted over 40 years [10].

Cue our old racist/sexist/bigoted uncle Jim Crow using public laws (state and federal laws) to keep systemic oppression alive and well. New laws followed the 13^th Amendment segregating colored folk. For the ones who couldn’t afford homes or live in a decent area, the urban ghetto was the solution.

Ever wonder how to make urban ghetto? Here is the recipe.

First, take a barren land with no industry or minable resources.

Second, cram in BUS loads of people from low socio-economic backgrounds.

Third, only create enough space for public transport, but ensure the physical infrastructure surrounding the ghetto prevents public transportation from reaching affluent economically-thriving areas [11].

Fourth, most critical, implement an overburdened and under-resourced public education system so children grow up underprepared while systematically maiming their ambition and drive.

Fifth, “sprinkle some crack,” as Dave Chappelle honestly states ( or a slew of vices into these communities..) while simultaneously enacting laws that primarily impact specific races WITH mandatory minimum sentencing – (necessary to break up the family unit and put mothers on social safety nets leading more children into the poverty cycle) [12]. While I had the fortune of studying under someone who addressed this modern Black plight using mixed-income neighborhoods and relocation programs, the housing and urban development department like the public education system remains overburdened and underfunded.

The true atrocity to the Black people is not the ghetto cage, it is the systemic reduction in wealth opportunities dating back to the 1920s. Black men joined the military and fought for our country. Only to return to second class options in the nation they defended. Housing programs for veterans and lending institutions (mortgage banks) for average Black men were blatant discrimination tactics used under the “lawful” equal but separate segregation standard. Public works projects like the Tennessee Valley Authority had villages for the whites and shacks for the Blacks because “negroes do not fit into the program” [13]. Then finally when a Black person secured housing in a white neighborhood, the remaining folk would sell their houses above market value to profit off of the flow and move elsewhere. In much of the 1900s, the African-American community was redlined, racially zoned, exclusionary zoned, denied loans, legally harassed, specifically targeted, and treated as second class citizens – I guess as 4/5 man.

But then we had change. Dr. King, Malcolm X, and Hugh P Newton among other activists who stepped up and created cascading changes for ALL MINORITIES only to be euthanized for giving minorities a voice while preventing mass bloodshed. I truly believe humanity has become far less violent in the past 50 years. But 50 years aint shit. Since then, a new form of systemic oppression was empowered – law enforcement. The way laws were enforced in minority communities vastly differ from affluent (who happen to be White) communities. One can raise the argument of gangs and drugs, but even those major issues are the produce of fertile urban ghetto grounds. Ground to rage systemic oppression tactics while wildly profittng. The urban ghetto plight is one that remains vibrant, but is now being addressed through forms of gentrification and cultural and educational movements.

As a minority, I understand the aforementioned facts as facts not legacy. I see the plight that was reserved for African-Americans now the plight of all young people who wish to be individuals. We live in a world were there is only intergenerational wealth opportunities. There are slim chances for you to become wealthier than your parent, especially as individual, while the American Dream fades [14]. While African-American continue to be targeted and subjugated, I implore you to understand what has caused their condition. Those are the lessons history will teach us. Those are the messages I heed. Making a dent through creating wealth for individual is the only chance we have at sidestepping systematic oppression in a capitalistic world.

Black Lives Matter.

1 – https://www.history.com/topics/Black-history/slavery

2https://geriatrics.stanford.edu/ethnomed/african_american/fund/health_history/longevity.html#:~:text=Despite%20the%20harsh%20living%20conditions,for%20Whites%20at%20age%2025.5.

3 – https://firstgen.naspa.org/files/dmfile/FactSheet-01.pdf

4 – https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/piusp01.pdf pg 8.

5 – https://web-b-ebscohost-com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=8697bfb2-fde0-429d-9231-0e1e93008e34%40pdc-v-sessmgr05&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=75231975&db=aph

6 – https://www.naacp.org/history-of-lynchings/

7-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxSzy7yF3DM&fbclid=IwAR06L6Y0qbxAYWKJmT7pIuebvTO4J2cTSRDGqm4AZS243lhfZHJ8wIMmwYo

8 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnlTHvJBeP0

9 – https://daily.jstor.org/the-devastation-of-Black-wall-street/

10 – https://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/timeline.htm

11 – https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-09/robert-moses-and-his-racist-parkway-explained