Why are people poor?

"Why are people poor?" I remember being asked this question ten years ago while at a training for a program I was a volunteering with. Back then, just out of college, Ihad little to no first hand knowledge or experiences with poverty in America and felt completely ill equipped to answer the question. The only poverty Iknew was what I saw visiting India, where it seemed poverty was blamed mostlyon systemic failure and karma. In America, it seemed like poverty was mostlyblamed on the individual and their individual choices and behavior. In India,your caste had the power of determining your place in society, in American itseemed your race had similar effects.

Sincefirst being asked that question ten years ago my own individual belief system about race andpoverty has evolved. My work, my education and the relationships I have formedacross race and class has helped me to understand the complexity of theunderlying causes and effects of poverty. Yet, at the same time I am surprisedat how little the general American population's belief system has evolved overa much longer period of time.

In America thegeneral belief system about race and poverty continues to be built upon thefoundation that poor people are poor simply because of their choices andbehavior. A 2007 Pew Research Center poll reported that an overwhelmingpercentage of Americans believe that people who are poor do not succeed becauseof their own shortcomings, only 19% emphasized the roll of discrimination orother structural and economic forces that go beyond the control of any oneindividual.

Which I guess I can understand since few themes are as powerful in the Americanpsyche as that of individual responsibility. We treasure notions of individualaccomplishment, meritocracy and equal opportunity, believing that these valuestranslate directly into the daily experience of all Americans. This overly individualistic approach to race andpoverty fits nicely within our overall individualistic approach to many lifeissues. In our imperfect world with its many inequities, however, these valuesinevitably often lead to different outcomes for different individuals.

I think the conversation ismuch more complicated and needs to include issues like racism, segregation,housing, education, transportation and economic forces to name just a few. Eachof these areas, I would argue, has also played a significant role in creatingand sustaining poverty in America.

A recent report from theAspen Institute asked two questions of its' audience:

I would argue it is becausewe have in our country a belief system that justifies inequity in America.

"We have a storyline thatallows us to justify the inequality that exists in our country. We tell eachother stories about the culture of poverty and the lack of personal andcollective responsibility in racially marginalized communites. We talk aboutsegregation from opportunity in terms of choice, of people just wanting to livewith their own. We become armchair sociologists, uninterested and unconcernedwith the facts and even less aware of institutional arrangements and the workthey do in creating and perpetuating poverty in America."

And the most troubling fact for me is the reality that we will never be able to solve the problem of poverty if we areunable to define the problem accurately. We have to find ways to open updialogue that will allow us to better understand the complexity andinterconnectedness surrounding issues of poverty.