The Other America Summary

The article Being Poor, Black and American: The Impact of Political, Economic, and Cultural Forces written by William Julius Wilson is about the struggles and inequalities African Americans living in poverty encounter. Wilson discussed political, economic and cultural forces that have an impact on American impoverished communities. The author suggested the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina brought the media and world attention to poverty in the United States. Prior to Katrina, the author believes Americans did not focus or sympathize with poor communities. This unsympathetic attitude stems from the belief that people are poor because they did not work hard enough, or are not doing anything to get out of that situation. After Katrina, Americans started to notice and care about the impoverished communities because the hurricane was a natural disaster and out of their control. Overall, the author explains how politics, economics and cultures forced many families into poverty, and diminishes the idea that people live in poverty because of their own shortcomings.

When working in a field of expertise the experts in that area need to know what defines that field. Social work, with its roots over a hundred years old, started out simply offering assistance to others, has grown and changed, and is currently reconnecting with its roots (Bisman, 2004). Bisman (2004) emphasizes the importance of being an advocate of justice and keeping the field focused on the “social” part of social work. This push to keep social work focused on the needs of others defines social work today. Social work focuses on providing aide to the needy and increasing awareness of those that are oppressed.

The purpose of this essay is to inform the reader of a real problem, media misrepresentation, and to try to have the reader change the way the think, feel, and perceive the poor. She gives examples of encounters she has had that are a result of the damaging depiction and conveys to the reader why those thoughts are wrong by using her own personal experiences. She mentions that before entering college she never thought about social class. However, the comments from both other students and her professors about poverty were alarming to her. Other people viewed the poor as, “shiftless, mindless, lazy, dishonest, and unworthy” indigents. Hook opposes that stereotypical image of the poor, referring back to being taught in a “culture of poverty,” the values to be intelligent, honest, and hard-working. She uses these personal experiences to her advantage by showing she has had an inside look at poverty.

Our America by LeAlan Jones and LLoyd Newman makes readers feel bad about children deaths in Chicago which inspires people to help even though it makes readers feel bad.

In ‘Seeing and Making Culture: Representing the Poor’ by Bell Hooks, issues involving the poor and the rich in the society are brought to light. Hooks addresses issues such as how the poor are viewed in the community, common assumptions about the poor, and how the poor are represented in the media. In her analysis, it is evident that those living in poverty are grossly misrepresented. This misrepresentation affects these people’s daily lives.

When someone thinks of the poor they instantly imagine a homeless man sleeping in a cardboard box or the nearest garbage can, but the working poor especially in the inner-city is commonly overlooked by society. However the working poor, in this case the working poor in the inner-city, are people advancing to try and make their lives better. They are taking minimum wage jobs so that they can barely afford a roof over their heads. Within Katherine Newman?s novel No Shame In My Game, she studies the working poor in the inner-city to draw conclusions about how to help them and dispute common stereotypes and the images people commonly view. Newman?s conclusions along with the

In this article Massingale highlights the lack of concern for the marginalized in America by comparing Hurricane Katrina to a similar hurricane in Cuba where different precautions were taken and no one died. Katrina on the other hand, killed at least 1,706 people most of which were poor, black, elderly, or otherwise disadvantaged in society. Massingale explains three factors that contribute to our country’s “cultured” indifference to the poor. The first is the idea that poverty is the fault of the poor. Since America is regarded as the “land of opportunity” those who do not thrive here are viewed as careless and lazy. The second factor is the value we place on material objects—the more you have the more you are worth. The third factor is how

During these times, Harrington wrote “The Other America” which detailed just how ingrained poverty is in the society of America and how it is concealed throughout the country by the manner of dress, mannerisms, and character and how that inadvertently affects them drastically simply because they blend in with the rest of America that is not struggling economically. Harrington surmises that not only do those in poverty struggle economically but politically as well as their voice is not heard.

Cultural critic bell hooks is known throughout the academic community as an academic rebel, so it is only fitting that she would write about the sensitive subject of being poor. The term “poor” has become a dirty word which most people try to distance themselves from as much as possible. In fact, the second sentence in her essay “Seeing and Making Culture: Representing the Poor” paints a pretty clear picture about the word: “Most of us use words such as ‘underclass’ or ‘economically disenfranchised’ when we speak about being poor” (432). The purpose of this essay is to educate the reader about the reality of being impoverished and to break away from the negative stereotypes that they face. hooks accomplishes this through her use of pathos to give the reader a glimpse of what it was like for her to grow up poor; additionally, this glimpse creates ethos because she is sharing firsthand knowledge.

The United States was full of prosperity in the 1950s. The standard of living was higher that it had been in years, and many people were living in luxury. Although there were many who were enjoying the lives they lived, there were also many Americans who were trapped living well below the standard of living. Michael Harrington shed light on this situation when he published The Other America in 1962. In his expose’, Harrington exposed how 40 to 50 million American citizens were living in poverty, and that to most Americans these people were invisible. He expressed how the lifestyle of people living in poverty was so different from those who were not that it created a “culture” of poverty. Harrington believed

The final chapter of Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich, “Evaluation”, states about low income families being almost invisible to the mid to high income families. This observation is valid because walking around places, Walmart, Kmart, etc., a person cannot distinguish what class the person is in. Poorer families are also rarely portrayed on television or other forms of entertainment, unless the show is about people getting arrested, since most people only find higher class, comfortable people interesting.

The series Untold America: Divided Chicago delves into the issues surrounding urban poverty in Chicago. It showcases various community members from public school students, to school district administrators, and other community organizers. Overall, it offers a credible and realistic analysis of some of the problems in Chicago and also provides insight on the ongoing work to alleviate and solve them.

The American citizens who suffers from poverty did not have the choice to be or not to be in their situation so they suffered greatly since they were not given equal opportunity's as the rest of America. People might have thought that these people on the streets are just lazy people who never gave a damn in their lives and did not want to work for their necessities. But Michal Harrington knew the real reason why this so called "Other America" was the way they were, " But the real explanation of why the poor are where they are is that they made the mistake of being born to the wrong parents, in the wrong section of the country, in the wrong industry, or in the wrong racial or ethnic group ... [so] most of them would never even had had a chance to get out of the other America" (The Other

In the 21st century, the American media has portrayed the wealth inequality in the United States in a very black and white way. Poverty has become an ongoing problem and has accelerated the appalling wealth divide. In 2010, the poverty rate in the U.S. reached fifteen percent which was the highest it had reached in almost two decades. Obligations to providing equality and adequate living conditions have been removed; there is no more “moral code or ethical principle” that can be used to contradict this growing American atrocity. On one side of the spectrum there is the upper class, the esteemed one percent of the social hierarchy in our country; however, on the other side there is the desolate and extreme poor that are constantly being used

The journey towards the attainment of the Bachelor of the social work degree has been an enlightening and educational experience, as the individual is exposed to the realities of many social and political issues in the society. As a student, I ventured into the degree, with minimal insight as to how the degree can influence and shape the way I perceive the social world, and the way I relate these matters to myself. However, throughout my endeavour, which encompasses years of theoretical studies, and two intensive placements at two drastically different organisations, I believe I have accumulated the bare minimal knowledge to possess a solid foundation about the unfairness and inequality that people in disadvantaged conditions face. Social workers are predominantly found in welfare organisations which Howe (as cited in Limber, 2015) suggested largely influences the practice, direction and values of the social worker, and impacts on their ability to act autonomously (Lymbery, 2015). During my placements, there was a dominant theme that frequently stood out and enticed my attention. This was the accepted practice of focusing on the individual’s problem, as opposed to the social problems that existed and the lack of acknowledgement about the social restrictions of the human agency that limited self-determination. The realization that organisations were managed this way was important in ensuring that I made a proactive effort to understand and untangle the reasons behind such