I am tired of being lumped in with the perpetual welfare recipients. I am tired of the attitude that people have of the "poor people" in Arlington. Yes, there are people who do not and will not ever contribute to society. Some of them even live in Arlington, but most people who fall bellow the poverty line are like Julie and I. We are young students who are in school or who just finished school who are trying to start our lives. We have to start it from scratch and that means we might need a little help. Most of us will go on to pay back society for what we take when we are young many times over. We won't live below the poverty line forever.
I am so tired of conservative and libertarians of our city who only judge all of us to be the same and unworthy of a place in society. No public transit for the "poor". No help from the city to help "poor" kids participate in recreation programs. Why do I need to pay for the "poor" to do anything. If they were meant to be part of society they wouldn't be "poor". Their attitude is racist, bigoted and prejudiced. Those are serious accusations, but they drip of the truth. Judging all "poor" people as being the same, in such a negative way, is the definition of bigotry. It smacks of classism and European conservatism. It denies people the dignity of being individuals.
It's funny how when I tell people that I am a soldier and that my family takes advantage of the grants and programs offered by the government for "poor" people how they show compassion and say, "of course we are willing to pay to help a soldier's family, it's just all the other's who don't deserve it that we won't pay for." Once I am no longer a faceless member of the ranks of the "poor" it is ok. Once I am a person with an understandable circumstance they are willing to pay. Why then do we assume that everyone who needs these services is any less deserving than I? Why are the 30,000 students at UTA ignored when talking about the "poor" who would benefit from mass transit, or public spaces or public programs? Why are the young people of the city overlooked and ignored?
The results are obvious if you look at them. Young people are leaving Arlington. Academics call it "white flight", but all it really is is the discouragement that young people, just starting out in life, feel about a city that doesn't care for them. They leave, and their parents leave. Once enough start to leave, the city has a reputation.
There are other factors of course, but as a person who wants to see the city succeed and as a young person trying to start out his life, this is the one that affects me the most. I wish these people would leave their houses and go talk to the people that live in their city with them. Find out what their situations are and realize that most of these people, if encouraged to stay, will eventually become solid contributors to our community. The huge majority of "poor" people don't stay poor.
Well, there it is. More war stories later...
4 comments:
Nicely said, Josh. Having been poor myself, and still working to overcome the "poor" mindset, I couldn't agree with you more. Life would be ever so much easier for at least two of my kids if there were dependable mass transit in Arlington. Being poor does not equal being stupid or lazy or a whole host of other pejoratives. [Although I am pretty sure sure there are people from the first ward we lived in who still think of me as "poor Sister C".] Some of the folks in Arlington who don't want mass transit, think it would mean an influx of crime and [oh dear] more poor people. I lived for 15 years along the 303-Arkansas Lane corridor, which might as well be renamed "gang alley". I see all sorts of stuff on the city buses, but I don't recall seeing anybody lugging a stolen flatscreen up the steps of the bus to make their getaway.
It's OK with the powerful to tear down homes and destroy old neighborhoods in order to build a football stadium. It's not-fine to enable people to get to work reliably, so they can build the tax base and support the schools and buy homes and stabilize neighborhoods.
When I got married my grandfather gave me a $100 dollar bill and told me that there was a difference between being broke and being poor. He said being poor was a state of mind. Being broke was just not having money. He said that I should always keep that $100 in my wallet so that I would never be broke. I could keep myself from ever being poor.
One of the reasons that I work so hard now is so that my child will never have to live through what I did growing up. I am so grateful that hard work and determination, coupled with the amazing blessings of the Lord can over come almost any obstacles. I have worked hard to become more than my past. I agree with what you have to say and how you have said it.
I don't understand the fear of public transportation in Arlington. I had really hoped the bill that would move the mass transit decision to counties instead of cities would pass. Obviously there isn't going to be a huge influx of business bringing workers here, but the option to get to work elsewhere would be nice. I'd be willing to bet Arlington supports some carpool or other alternative transportation initiative. Your grandfather sounds pretty sharp.
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