I didn’t know I was poor until I went to junior high with students who came from middle class families with both parents working. Their kids had nice clothes, cars later on, and they took vacations.
This is a great subject, Diane. We all have our own experiences. But I do think many of us who grew up poor experienced that eye-opening moment. I remember learning where I lived, DuPage County, Illinois, (land of Henry Hyde) was something like the 14th wealthiest in the nation. Then learning the "Poverty Line" based on the annual salary for a a family of six kids and we fell beneath it was an eye-opener. We literally grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, in north Elmhurst. But the public schools were fantastic and I'll always be grateful for my education. I'm still friends with several of my teachers. I grew up under my parents' belief system that I called "reverse snobbism" that we were better than the rich people, but I wasn't really sure why. The implication was corruption or something. Anyway, thank you for pointing out that, in the end, there are mostly good people in all walks of life. The really bad ones are a smaller percentage.
Thanks for your sharing. It sounds we have a lot in common. Education in the public schools made me what I am; otherwise I would have been stuck in poverty. I do admit I get angry today when vouchers are given to non-public school families who in most cases can afford private schools. Good public schools are a sign of a healthy democracy, and I find it scary that they are under attack.
In the ghetto in which I lived, it was all about survival. Schools were poor and any after school activities were none. Quit school in the 9th grade. Let me add this footnote: a male child needs a male mentor or gangs become his mentor. Sat on a fire escape after quitting school and said to myself " Where do I go from here? The choices here all start with the letter D. I can steal and wind up Dead, take drugs and be Dead, or join a gang and wind up dead. " I remember my grandfather who served in the army during the Spanish American War and decided to join the military. I left the Dead End when I joined the military.
That’s a wonderful story and outcome. Having male mentors or relatives is lacking more so today. The military was also a way out of poverty for many of my friends. They prospered if they survived Viet Nam and the Gulf War. I was lucky going into teaching after I graduated on a full college scholarship. No loans. I’m the first and only college graduate in my family. It really was a miracle.
Your observation that the extremes of the two political parties were present in every school is right on. However, your last sentence and your conclusion, "Vote Democrat" aren't really explained to those on the fence. Why are whiners and the self-defeating better than the spoiled arrogant rich kids?
Jim--Voting Blue is the only way to fight the current Republican party in the US which has too many crybabies born with silver spoons in their mouths. Look at the Trump family plus the election deniers. We say “follow the money” for a reason. The whiners are rarely among the poor: they are the rich who complain about being targeted by courts.
I actually agree with you so it is hard for me to say exactly how the last two sentences need to be better developed for those on the fence. There are of course those who rise up from poverty like Clarence Thomas who becane Republicans and cast a judgmental eye on those who didn't and are Democrats.
Well done, Diane. There's a quote from one of the kids whose family President Johnson visited, I believe in NC or Appalachia, on one of his anti-poverty tours. "I didn't know I was poor until President Johnson told me I was," the kid was quoted as saying. The conservative author of this piece suggested the federal government had no business making kids self-conscious about what they didn't have. But I suspect, like you, sooner or later they found out. Intellect and studying were your ways out of feeling poor in spirit. I still worry about the kids from poor circumstances I had who aren't so book-smart, who feel hopeless and unsuccessful, seeking negative attention by becoming disruptive and even violent. I tried to give them positive energy. Sometimes it worked, a lot of the time it did not.
I had not heard the quote, but I’m not sure if it was the child or the parent’s bias against the government. Interesting, isn’t it? You are right about poor kids without home support, discipline, and their parents who are so downtrodden they give up leaving unruly disrespectful kids.
This is a great subject, Diane. We all have our own experiences. But I do think many of us who grew up poor experienced that eye-opening moment. I remember learning where I lived, DuPage County, Illinois, (land of Henry Hyde) was something like the 14th wealthiest in the nation. Then learning the "Poverty Line" based on the annual salary for a a family of six kids and we fell beneath it was an eye-opener. We literally grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, in north Elmhurst. But the public schools were fantastic and I'll always be grateful for my education. I'm still friends with several of my teachers. I grew up under my parents' belief system that I called "reverse snobbism" that we were better than the rich people, but I wasn't really sure why. The implication was corruption or something. Anyway, thank you for pointing out that, in the end, there are mostly good people in all walks of life. The really bad ones are a smaller percentage.
Thanks for your sharing. It sounds we have a lot in common. Education in the public schools made me what I am; otherwise I would have been stuck in poverty. I do admit I get angry today when vouchers are given to non-public school families who in most cases can afford private schools. Good public schools are a sign of a healthy democracy, and I find it scary that they are under attack.
Agreed, Diane. The right has been working to degrade our public school system since Reagan. How deplorable.
In the ghetto in which I lived, it was all about survival. Schools were poor and any after school activities were none. Quit school in the 9th grade. Let me add this footnote: a male child needs a male mentor or gangs become his mentor. Sat on a fire escape after quitting school and said to myself " Where do I go from here? The choices here all start with the letter D. I can steal and wind up Dead, take drugs and be Dead, or join a gang and wind up dead. " I remember my grandfather who served in the army during the Spanish American War and decided to join the military. I left the Dead End when I joined the military.
That’s a wonderful story and outcome. Having male mentors or relatives is lacking more so today. The military was also a way out of poverty for many of my friends. They prospered if they survived Viet Nam and the Gulf War. I was lucky going into teaching after I graduated on a full college scholarship. No loans. I’m the first and only college graduate in my family. It really was a miracle.
Your observation that the extremes of the two political parties were present in every school is right on. However, your last sentence and your conclusion, "Vote Democrat" aren't really explained to those on the fence. Why are whiners and the self-defeating better than the spoiled arrogant rich kids?
Jim--Voting Blue is the only way to fight the current Republican party in the US which has too many crybabies born with silver spoons in their mouths. Look at the Trump family plus the election deniers. We say “follow the money” for a reason. The whiners are rarely among the poor: they are the rich who complain about being targeted by courts.
A closer acquaintance with reality, if nothing else?
Yes, thanks, Patris. That’s well-said and closer to my meaning.
I actually agree with you so it is hard for me to say exactly how the last two sentences need to be better developed for those on the fence. There are of course those who rise up from poverty like Clarence Thomas who becane Republicans and cast a judgmental eye on those who didn't and are Democrats.
Often the poverty pushes people to go to the extreme $: Thomas is a disgrace.
Well done, Diane. There's a quote from one of the kids whose family President Johnson visited, I believe in NC or Appalachia, on one of his anti-poverty tours. "I didn't know I was poor until President Johnson told me I was," the kid was quoted as saying. The conservative author of this piece suggested the federal government had no business making kids self-conscious about what they didn't have. But I suspect, like you, sooner or later they found out. Intellect and studying were your ways out of feeling poor in spirit. I still worry about the kids from poor circumstances I had who aren't so book-smart, who feel hopeless and unsuccessful, seeking negative attention by becoming disruptive and even violent. I tried to give them positive energy. Sometimes it worked, a lot of the time it did not.
I had not heard the quote, but I’m not sure if it was the child or the parent’s bias against the government. Interesting, isn’t it? You are right about poor kids without home support, discipline, and their parents who are so downtrodden they give up leaving unruly disrespectful kids.