Kozol reminds us that so many Americans get knocked down by the systems we have in place and once down, the only way to go is further down. I take for example Barbara Brooks, and her fight to keep her family with housing and food. She had a rough life herself, but managed to find her path in life and went back to school. However, when Barabara got a better job and position, along with a raise she got into more trouble. Whenever someone we know gets a raise we immediately think of a job well done to deserve such a thing. Barbara thought that initially too, until she realized it was no longer a prize, but a punishment. The State offered her assistance with housing and food to help support her and her children, but once she received her raise, she lost daycare, food stamps and the aid section 8 provided. The way the system is designed is to keep her down. It's almost as if the government says,"hey you, good job, but now you don't need us at all, you made an extra 50 dollars a month but we are now going to take away any help you may have received and set you back ohh how about 1,000 a month? "I understand the idea behind the system, a raise signifies people standing on their own two feet again, but the way in which the system drops people is ridiculous. I think of a ladder, you need 50 steps to raise the top, and every 5 you move up you have to go back 6. You never reach the top no matter how long or hard you climb. The roofer keeps making the ladder higher and the rungs further apart. Barbara now had to work harder and longer, even with her raise to make up for what she had before with the assistance of the State. Its not Barbara's fault, she was dealt an unlucky hand from the beginning and fighting like hell to get on top got her nowhere. This is another demonstration of how individualism, pure hard work and dedication, is a load of crap.
The other article that I was reminded of was the Coontz article. The video is a perfect demonstration of how American perception, according to Coontz is off. If Barbara worked harder and longer she would be fine she could get herself out of poverty on her own. She must be lazy, she takes government hand outs and doesn't work hard enough. Barbara depends on the States help to survive, without it her family would probably be starving on the street. Barbara is also a direct contradiction to what the idealized American looks like. How many people have grandfathers they can imagine saying, "I walked fifteen miles in the snow, I worked for everything I have, no one gave me a free bee when I needed it." Well grandpa I'm sure you did, but your success was not entirely due to self reliance. Coontz and Shapiro also both give evidence that any and all aid that was available, invisible to the memories of many Americans of course, was meant to help the white-middle class American only. We refuse to see whats right in front of us. Which is why perceptions of the poor are so off and negative.
For example while we were watching the story of Barbara, someone said "she has a gold tooth and jewelry and has her nails done and can't afford food without help."This is true she was wearing Jewelry and this is a negative thought about her and her position. I remember growing up was hard for my mom she was a single mom, like the three in the film trying t make it with three girls who had no idea the complexity of the financial situation we were in. What did the film say? After a divorce a mans quality of life rises 10 % and a woman's decreases by 27 %? Well that was us and I remember my mom always had her nails done every other Saturday for years. When I was around 12 or 13 I got into an argument with her about the dumb nails. I wanted to borrow 10 dollars so I could go to the movies or something and my mom said she didn't have it. Being a hot headed preteen I yelled about her always having her nails done and she should spend that money on something else for a change. I remember she cried and said it was the one thing she got to do for herself since the divorce, it made her feel prettier and better. If I were a mom who's children demanded so much of me, like a roof over their heads, clothes, food, school supplies, electricity, appearances, I may sometimes want to give myself something too. (Now that we're grown she frequently reminds us of what she had to go without in order to make ends meet. The mother guilt code of conduct? Maybe I'm biased about this situation)
Coontz says,
"As long as we
pretend that only poor or abnormal families need outside assistance, we will
shortchange poor families, overcompensate rich ones, and fail to come up with effective policies for helping families in the middle. "
shortchange poor families, overcompensate rich ones, and fail to come up with effective policies for helping families in the middle. "
In other words what Kozol is talking about in these failed systems continuing to fail the poor and blame them for mistakes they cannot control or fix without the forbidden, limited, frowned upon, and invisible outside help.
Also this movie made me think about Shapiro and Oliver. Throughout their entire article they give evidence as to how the African American race has been held back and are now as a result forever concreted to the bottom of the economic ladder. However, did anyone else notice the only African American family we met in the video was Barbara's. The other three stories we saw were a white make and two white females. This makes me wonder of Shapiro and Oliver are off about a few things, like race has not been the only factor to cement people. Im not saying this video accurately represents populations, it just gave new face to the other struggling out there. It makes me think we are all have more in common and face similar woes than just skin color.
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