 | The plight of the American Underclassposted by Paris Tompkins, Limited AccessSunday, March 28th 2010 @ 7:04 PM (not yet rated) |
A few weeks ago I wrote an article about the black Underclass…those who were left behind after the civil rights movement and black flight to white suburbs; but there is another greater, more inclusive Underclass in America, “a social class consisting of people so underprivileged that they are seen as being excluded from mainstream society.” This Underclass consists of people from all ethnic groups who are at or below the poverty line.
In this Underclass are those who are working poor, parents on welfare or men and women on government assistance, the unemployed, and the disabled. They may or may not be un- or under-educated, but are often thought by the middle and upper classes to be mentally challenged, or have some “problem” which has put and kept them in their situation.
The Underclass of America are fodder for our prison systems, foster care systems, inadequate school systems, poor medical and dental systems, mental health systems, and any other systems into which the lowest class of citizens are shuffled for attention to their needs.
The primary causes of the growth and maintenance of the numbers of the American Underclass is a lack of education and support. These citizens are generally reduced to files and numbers; stripped of their dignity and humanity, except when used to fuel “government programs” set up to appear to be compassionate and care-taking, but which are often closed or shut-down when they seem to be working or making on effective change.
If one would look closely, how can a disabled person or a single parent living on less than $1,000 a month compete or advance in a country where men and women are paid millions to play sports and act or role play, while their entitlements are periodically being whittled down by $5 or $10 to shore up a failing economy?
Is there a solution to solving the plight of the Underclass? Perhaps the Bible’s self-fulfilling prophecy has come true in America. The one I paraphrase that says “the poor will be with us always.” I can relate to that premise, but I ask you, does it have to be a deliberate act?
