why are people of color poor

why are people of color poor?
behavioral vs. structural explanations
compiled by Professor Amory Starr

what we are trying to explain: more white people are poor than people of color, but a higher ("disproportionate") percentage of people of color are poor than of whites

sources: Holly Sklar, Chaos or Community 1995, Stephanie Coontz, The Way we Never Were 1992, Maxine Baca Zinn 1989

culture of poverty claims research responds

people are poor because of their culture/values:

culture determines values

values determine economic success

so groups on the bottom must have cultural weaknesses

people of color face discrimination

lower pay for the same work

job ceilings

"structural unemployment": good-paying jobs they worked in 1940s-1960s no longer exist (deindustrialization)

Latinos don’t do well in school because the culture doesn’t value education

African Americans value education highly, but kids are still tracked into special ed.

schools in lower income communities spend far less $ per student

urban schools are segregated and unequal [Kozol, Savage Inequalities 1992]

African Americans don’t have a strong "work ethic"

when jobs were available, African Americans worked. the problem is that there aren’t jobs.

1979-1984: ½ of Black workers in manufacturing jobs lost their jobs

1930: 8% of Black women were unemployed, 1983: 56%

(it can’t be culture, because culture doesn’t change that quickly!)

and would rather live off welfare

statistically, there is no such thing as "intergenerational welfare" culture

most welfare users are short-term

people in poverty one year are not the same as those the next

vast majority of welfare users want jobs

but few jobs provide healthcare for children, which means it’s better for a woman with children to be on welfare

African Americans don’t have strong family values, don’t value the nuclear family

African American families have stayed together through very difficult times (slavery, migration, domestic service)

people of color often have stronger extended family traditions than whites, tend not to institutionalize elders

Latinos have very strong family values, mostly two-parent households, but this doesn’t save them from poverty.

single parent households cause poverty

2/3 of poor Black children in single-parent households were poor before their parents split up

most poverty increase is among two-parent families

two working parents don’t get families out of poverty!

"direction of causation" is the problem: actually poverty tends to cause family breakup for people of color. (it’s true that among middle class whites, divorce often results in poverty for the mother and children, but for people who are already poor, those difficulties often lead to divorce)

Jews & Asian Americans have better values, so they do better than African Americans and Latinos in the economy

invisible Jewish & Asian poverty

immigration was a choice for some, but not for all groups

status of immigrants was very different: they came with skills and/or capital to start small businesses

people of color have low aspirations & motivation, which is why they don’t get out of poverty

psychological tests cannot confirm any difference between aspirations/motivation of poor people, people of color, whites, and middle or upper income people as groups

people with extra high aspirations/motivation have no better chance of getting out of poverty than others

welfare causes bad values by encouraging births out of wedlock

so we should expect out of wedlock births to decrease if welfare is cut. welfare has been cut. this has no effect on birthrate.

female-headed households don’t provide the right values for raising children

divorced/separated/never married Black fathers have more contact with children than white ones, but Black fathers have fewer resources to help with childraising

African American men are irresponsible

it’s hard to support a family when there are no jobs

it would take 3 Black male wage earners to lift a family to US median income, 4 to earn enough tot be middle class

anyway, maybe some women don’t want to depend on a man, would like to work. need to pay attention to job opportunities (and barriers) for women and mothers as well as fathers

African American women don’t take good care of children.

African American mothers have been forced to work by American economy which does not provide a living family wage.

as domestic servants, African American mothers had to take care of white children and leave their own at home

people don’t have the right values in terms of their own finances: they aren’t thrifty and don’t save money so they can’t move up (no "delayed gratification", planning for future)

banks redline communities of color and refuse to lend money for small businesses and homes inside the red line

middle income Blacks have higher rates of rejection for home loans than low income whites

people of color do drugs

70-80% of drug consumption is outside of "ghettos"

Black high school students have had highest rates of reduction of drug use. whites have reduced use, but not by as much.

education can save you from poverty

fastest increase in poverty for any group is among young white families with children, families with marriage intact. part of this comes from the fact that poverty rates are increasing for families headed by young families with college degrees

why don’t we study the "values" of the very rich, of corporate executives who profit from sweatshops, environmental pollution, and injured workers?

culture of poverty claims	research responds
people are poor because of their culture/values: culture determines values values determine economic success so groups on the bottom must have cultural weaknesses	people of color face discrimination lower pay for the same work job ceilings "structural unemployment": good-paying jobs they worked in 1940s-1960s no longer exist (deindustrialization)
Latinos don’t do well in school because the culture doesn’t value education	African Americans value education highly, but kids are still tracked into special ed. schools in lower income communities spend far less $ per student urban schools are segregated and unequal [Kozol, Savage Inequalities 1992]
African Americans don’t have a strong "work ethic"	when jobs were available, African Americans worked. the problem is that there aren’t jobs. 1979-1984: ½ of Black workers in manufacturing jobs lost their jobs 1930: 8% of Black women were unemployed, 1983: 56% (it can’t be culture, because culture doesn’t change that quickly!)
and would rather live off welfare	statistically, there is no such thing as "intergenerational welfare" culture most welfare users are short-term people in poverty one year are not the same as those the next vast majority of welfare users want jobs but few jobs provide healthcare for children, which means it’s better for a woman with children to be on welfare
African Americans don’t have strong family values, don’t value the nuclear family	African American families have stayed together through very difficult times (slavery, migration, domestic service) people of color often have stronger extended family traditions than whites, tend not to institutionalize elders Latinos have very strong family values, mostly two-parent households, but this doesn’t save them from poverty.
single parent households cause poverty	2/3 of poor Black children in single-parent households were poor before their parents split up most poverty increase is among two-parent families two working parents don’t get families out of poverty! "direction of causation" is the problem: actually poverty tends to cause family breakup for people of color. (it’s true that among middle class whites, divorce often results in poverty for the mother and children, but for people who are already poor, those difficulties often lead to divorce)
Jews & Asian Americans have better values, so they do better than African Americans and Latinos in the economy	invisible Jewish & Asian poverty immigration was a choice for some, but not for all groups status of immigrants was very different: they came with skills and/or capital to start small businesses
people of color have low aspirations & motivation, which is why they don’t get out of poverty	psychological tests cannot confirm any difference between aspirations/motivation of poor people, people of color, whites, and middle or upper income people as groups people with extra high aspirations/motivation have no better chance of getting out of poverty than others
welfare causes bad values by encouraging births out of wedlock	so we should expect out of wedlock births to decrease if welfare is cut. welfare has been cut. this has no effect on birthrate.
female-headed households don’t provide the right values for raising children	divorced/separated/never married Black fathers have more contact with children than white ones, but Black fathers have fewer resources to help with childraising
African American men are irresponsible	it’s hard to support a family when there are no jobs it would take 3 Black male wage earners to lift a family to US median income, 4 to earn enough tot be middle class anyway, maybe some women don’t want to depend on a man, would like to work. need to pay attention to job opportunities (and barriers) for women and mothers as well as fathers
African American women don’t take good care of children.	African American mothers have been forced to work by American economy which does not provide a living family wage. as domestic servants, African American mothers had to take care of white children and leave their own at home
people don’t have the right values in terms of their own finances: they aren’t thrifty and don’t save money so they can’t move up (no "delayed gratification", planning for future)	banks redline communities of color and refuse to lend money for small businesses and homes inside the red line middle income Blacks have higher rates of rejection for home loans than low income whites
people of color do drugs	70-80% of drug consumption is outside of "ghettos" Black high school students have had highest rates of reduction of drug use. whites have reduced use, but not by as much.
education can save you from poverty	fastest increase in poverty for any group is among young white families with children, families with marriage intact. part of this comes from the fact that poverty rates are increasing for families headed by young families with college degrees