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Irais Gutierrez
Ms. Williams
English 1A
13 December, 2013
Poverty Stereotypes And How
They Keep Us
Down
Poverty in America is
a reality that
many Americans deny. Access
to modern technology
makes them think
that they can
afford what the
extremely rich people
can. The easiness of
acquiring a credit
card “opens” what
they think it
is financial stability
and an opportunity to
obtain the latest
brands on clothes
or even a
new car puts
them on a
“different” class in
society. Based on their
criteria they exclude
themselves of not
been part of
the poor and
that is how
a stereotype of
poverty is created. Even
if they struggle
to make the payments
for the credit
card or new
car, those things are not
seeing as luxuries, but
rather a way
of showing others
that they are
financially stable, even if it
is a
momentary state of
being. The division between
the haves and
have nots is
clearly made by
materialistic means and
this only prevents
the connection needed
to become a
stronger and united
poor and middle
class society needed to
stop the stereotypes
that the 1%
of the nation’s
wealthiest men and
women create. As Smiley
and West said
on the book, The Rich
And The Rest
Of Us, “the poor
have long been
maligned, stereotyped, and disgraced
as lazy, irresponsible leeches
who are a
detriment to society. Politicians have
color-coded poverty making
it a black
or brown thing.” (72) This is
how they keep
the rest of
us separated and
not able to
achieve
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financial success
in America . It
is like living
together, but separated
by material things
and ethnicity. By color
coding us, we create
our own community
inside an already
categorized “poor” community. We
are not able to
see that to
the government we
are just one
poor group.
The way
that they divide
us is simple. The
government psychologically groups
us by color
and then by
age. We also get
“sorted” by yearly
income
made. Let’s take
government healthcare applications
as an example. The
application clearly states
that the information
given regarding gender
and ethnicity is
voluntary, but our curiosity, like cats, tends
to make us read
the different ethnic
groups that are
listed. For most part, we
see our ethnic
group and we
are driven to
make an “X”
on the box. This
gives a fake
feeling of importance
and of been
different from others. Then , we are
required to give
our birthday to
see if we
qualify. If we surpass the
age group that
can get low
cost healthcare from
the government, we immediately
think that the
ones that qualify
might be children
or elderly people
that need it
the most. The truth
is that we are filing
the application because
we are also
on the lower
income side and
need low healthcare
cost. Also, the income
guidelines that are
set to see
if the applicant
qualifies are not
reasonable. If you make
more than a
certain amount of
money per year, you
are not part
of the needy
poor. That is when
the complete mental
separation begins. That is
when many exclude
themselves from the
least fortunate poor. The
numbers
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do
not seem to
match since there
are a lot of
middle age people
that need government
aid, but they are
excluded from the
aid based on
their age.
The wealthy
1% define the
poverty stereotype and
then transmit it
to the rest
of us. Their definition
of poor is
someone who meets
the criteria for
getting governmental aid. They
also define poverty
as not been
able to acquire
the luxuries that
are part of
their daily lifestyle. Remember what
was mentioned in
the beginning? Credit cards
give many the
feeling of been
able to obtain
those
luxuries, so if
a person doesn’t
qualify for a
credit card or
cannot buy those
costly things, they immediately
are considered as
been poor. The
mass media commercials
that we see
on tv asking
for donations for
the poor or
for hospitals that
help the poor
that cannot afford
to pay for
cancer treatments, gives us the impression
that we are
on a more
fortunate side and
with the ability
to help the
poor. By the way, aren’t
the extremely poor
supposed to qualify
for government aid
since they meet
the government’s required
income? If we pay
attention to the
commercials, which make us
feel compassion, we can
clearly see that
then the government
is not funding
hospitals for the
poor. The compassion we
feel when we see
the innocent faces
on our television
screen, will most likely
not be the same if
instead we see
the face of
one of those
homeless men asking
for money on
the heavily transited
streets. The book The Rich
And The Rest
Of Us mentions
how “before social
researchers and women’s
organizations in the
early 1900’s challenged
staid perceptions of
poverty…poverty was widely
blamed on personal
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flaws such
as immorality, alcoholism,
and criminal behavior.” (24) The government
has created a
stereotype of the poor
that prevents us
to see that
poverty strikes many
people and not
just people that
have taken the
wrong path in
life. The way that
poverty is defined
by the 1%
is not fair
to anyone. The main
intention is to create a
stereotype that will
allow us to
separate whom we
think is not
really poor and
whom seems to
have enough youth
or strength to
succeed if they
only wanted to. By
creating this stereotype, they prefer
to follow the
wealthiest side of
the balance and
do not realize
that they truly
belong to the poor
side of the
balance. We are part
of the 99%
and so we
belong to the
borderline poor or
poor, even if we
deny it.
Denial is
what prevents us
to find a
meaningful solution to
the poverty stereotype. It is
until we want
to see that
poverty does not
have to do
with ethnicity or
with gender that
the rich will
stop controlling us. It
is until then that we
can truly be
compassionate towards one
another and find
a solution to
get us out
of poverty or
“borderline” poverty. If we
unite, we can fight
for proper healthcare, education, and
reasonable living costs
on food and
shelter. The solution is
to see that
we form the
major part of
America and that
we make the
rich richer by
allowing them to
segregate us. We have
to stop been
fools and understand
that laws are
been passed without
our words been
heard. For example, we can
get started by
asking that the
nonsense questions be
removed from governmental
applications. Then, we can ask
for a revision
on the income
guidelines to qualify
for assistance. Everyone will
start getting the
coverage needed
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and
the government would
be using more
money on us
than on other
unnecessary expenditures.
Poverty will still
be a problem, but
we will be
able to see
the money that the
rich make from
our hard labor, at
work. We will be
seen as a community of
all backgrounds. Homeless people
will have access
to government funded
shelters. If only a
couple thousand dollars
a year concludes
who is wealthier
and poor, the new
guidelines will consist of a number
that falls in
between a range
of numbers and
we will see
that we should
all be considered
low income if
we are not
part of the
wealthy 1%. We
will set our
differences aside and
see that the
government is trying
to keep us
apart for their
own benefit of
keeping their financial
stability intact.
In reality, we
all fall in the category
of “borderline” poor
or extremely poor. Most
of us put
our faiths on
a monthly check
that if for
some reason stops
coming our
way, we will be
devastated. We will loose
our daily financial
stability and will
fall into a
deep crevasse of unemployment. Seen
this image in our heads
will help us
connect to the
poor and see
the stereotypes defined
by the 1%. We
will find a
solution that will
helps us come
together as a
community and fight
for our rights. Reading various
materials from this
class made me
realize that my
children and myself
belong to the
99%. Sometime we want
to prove others
that we are
successful by buying
unnecessary things. We do
so in order
to become part
of a society
that is financially
stable. For example, my
own personal desire
was to obtain
a new car
this year. After realizing that I qualified
for a brand
new
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Mercedez Benz
from the dealer, I
balanced myself and
came to realize
that I can
easily loose my
financial stability from
having to make
the monthly payments
of that vehicle
and all to
reflect a stereotype
of not been
poor. I was feeling
an urge to
demonstrate the people
surrounding me that
even though I
am a low
income Latina, I
can afford that
luxury. Then, reality set
in and I
realized that by
buying it I will only
be making the
rich richer and
me, well, I will
be hitting the
borderline of poor. A
material object will
not feed my
family in crucial
times. The solution to
the poverty stereotype
is to be
who we are
and not to try to
mimic the rich
who take advantage
of our desire
to have their
lifestyle. We need to
come closer as a
community and stop
divisions among us
since they prevent
us from connection
to others.
The end
of the poverty
will come when
as human beings
we put our fellow’s
interest before ours. It
will end when
we all see
that together we
form a blanket
that is composed
of multicultural patchworks
that come together
to protect each
other from corruption. “ When it
comes to genuine compassion
to the poor, a
country that takes
pride in its
so-called Christian values
has somehow lost
its way.” (Smiley, West 122) It
is up to
us as individuals
to come closer
and help each
other on rough
economic times without
seen our skin
color as a
barrier. We have to
acknowledge the fact
that we all
belong to a
community that is
hungry for a
change in politics
to our favor. The
change starts with
us.
