Being Poor in America

The pushback from last week’s blog on white privilege and racism was swift and in some cases, vitriolic. Bullshit was a common comment, as was inviting me to perform an anatomically impossible act. Vulgar GIFs were also common. Emoji responses were predominantly laughter, sprinkled with some anger and, gratefully, more than a few thumbs up. I wrote much of the negativity off as denial of the exact point I was trying to make. The fact that people are in denial about their privilege makes it no less real. It is part of what makes conversation on race so difficult. There is a deep seated assumption that being American means being white.

There were also some assumptions underlying the comments. Boot strap theology and the notion of rugged individuality were common.  Boot strap theology can be summed up by the phrase, “God helps those who help themselves.” It is the belief that everyone can raise themselves to a higher socio-economic standing with hard work and diligence. This combines with rugged individuality to reinforce the fallacy that successful people are self-made. The opposite is also true; if you are poor it is your own fault.

I discovered early on there was no point in arguing with these folks as they had no interest in another point of view. They were predominantly interested in belittling, judging and generally being rude. Some were quite good at it.

There was, however, another voice worth noting. These were people who took time to respond with something of their own truth; people who worked 2-3 jobs and were barely scraping by. These were people who never saw any privilege associated with their being white–people who lived in generational poverty. They defined privilege as opportunity that was not given to them, mostly education and employment.

I learned that my white privilege is not everyone’s privilege, my opportunities are not everyone’s opportunities and my educational access is not everyone’s educational access. It occurred to me that there is just as much anger in poor whites as in poor blacks. Giving more information to poor white people will not cause them to have a sudden epiphany. It will just piss them off.  Racism is not their issue, poverty is.

I learned something from my readers this week and I am both humbled and grateful. Seeking insight sent me off to my study and prayer closet. This is the fruit of that seeking and prayer. I may be way off, but that is a chance I am willing to take. I pretend no expertise in this area, just a series of observations about the last week’s blog post.

First, the privilege associated with being white diminishes with socio-economic status. It appeared that the poorer white people were the less privilege their whiteness afforded them. It speaks volumes to the economic inequities in our society. Poverty is no respecter of persons, skin color or gender, though women are more apt to experience greater income inequity than their poor male counterparts, regardless of ethnicity.

Second, there are disenfranchised people on both ends of the continuum of the ethnic divide. Poor whites and poor blacks feel they have no access to the means for upward mobility.

Third, there is an urgent need for reconciliation–true and deep reconciliation. This is a theological construct that is based in deep listening and understanding one another, without necessarily agreeing. It honors the differences in people’s experiences without judgement and seeks to build new relationships based on this new understanding. Both sides let go of their need to be right, their need to be self-righteous and their need to be the dominant voice, even if it is the voice of victimhood. Arguing about who has had it the worst is an exercise in frustration at best, deepening division at worst.

Learning to talk with one another and listen to one another are increasingly rare phenomena in our culture. Being right and being utterly convinced of the righteousness of a position makes conversation and insight impossible. As divisions in our culture grow deeper and more violent it makes the kind of conversation needed almost impossible. I have no idea what the answer is, but I feel sure that it has a strong root in a commitment to deep listening and reconciliation.