THE HUTCHINSON REPORT: Poverty is still a dirty word in America.By Earl Ofari Hutchinson
(September 18, 2009)
*The figure on real poverty in America is far worse than the Census Bureau recently reported.
It found that nearly 40 million Americans are living in official poverty (less than $22,000 for a family of four). This is an 11 year high.
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Despite the massive economic hardship, poverty is still a dirty word. Politicians, much of the media and the public have largely ignored the crisis.
There was a brief glimmer of hope during the presidential campaign that top Democratic presidential contenders Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards would put the fight against poverty on the front burner of their agenda. The three contenders thundered in speeches in April 2007 that America had failed the poor and especially the black poor. With the exception of Edwards, whose candidacy soon disintegrated after public revelations about his love tryst, the candidates didn't utter another word about poverty for the rest of the campaign.
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President Obama and most leading Democrats have been closed mouth on poverty for a reason. The poor don't have an active and viable political lobby to fight for their interests. The sole exception to this was a brief moment during the 1960s when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. launched his Poor People Campaign. However, King was murdered and his dream of uniting the poor quickly fell apart amidst organizational and personal squables and disorganization. A small band of anti-poverty groups and organizers did shout, cajole, and actively lobby for a major expansion of anti-poverty programs, funding, and initiatives to reduce poverty in the nation. They attained some success in getting funds and a few new programs, but it didn't last. The anti-poverty crusade quickly fell victim to Lyndon Johnson's Vietnam war ramp up, increased shrill attacks from conservatives that the war on poverty was a scam to reward deadbeats and loafers, and sharp budget cutbacks.
By the close of the 1960s, poverty had not only disppeared from the nation's table, it again became a dirty word. The poor became a political embarassment. Their existence flew in the face of the embedded laissez faire notion that the poor in America aren't poor because of any failing of the system, but because of their personal failings. Conservatives vehemently oppose spending endless dollars on job, skills training, education, health and expanded child care programs to assure jobs for all. The widespread view that government should play a minimal role in assisting the poor has crept through in President Obama's speeches and talks in which he touts personal responsibility as the key to uplift.
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The poor, however, aren't going away. Their numbers are likely to grow. Eventually that may force Obama and the Democrats to do something they haven't done in decades, and that's take the dire plight of the poor seriously. There's nothing dirty about that.
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Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His forthcoming book, How Obama Governed: The Year of Crisis and Challenge (Middle Passage Press) will be released in January, 2010.http://eurweb.com/story/eur56158.cfm 
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