Poverty here.

[fedupwithbush]

Okay, I've read this forum for years and I'm totally confused. Why do so many not understand poverty? I lived it for all of my first 18 years. I was poor after that too but I had control of it. By that I mean I made the decisions that affected my ability to make money after that. I will say I made those decisions based on how I lived before that too. Screwed myself royally for awhile, if I must say.

I am now very happily married. We have 2 children, own a home(barely), and have went through bankruptsy and many hurdles to get to where we are.

My mom wrote a letter to the editor in our local paper years ago about my younger years. At the time I was embarrassed, I worked there. But now I understand. The letter was about when we went on welfare after she finally divorced my stepfather. We actually thought we were better off!

I read a thread here recently that went through what the poor go through daily. It was SO close to the mark of what I have lived and fear will happen again.

Do most people know what it's like to eat beans almost daily?

Do most people know what it's like to fear the winter and where you are going to live tomorrow?

Do most people dread visitors to their home? I was so embarrassed by my living conditions when I was growing up that most of my friends thought I lived elsewhere. They also didn't know my brothers(by a different marriage and different last name,were my brothers).Don't hate me. My brothers were constantly in trouble with the law and were terrible students. I was never in trouble with the law and was a straight A student.

I am writing this thread today mostly because I'm sick of racism. Yeah, that's right. The march today brought out a huge recentment I've always had. Why do people of a different color think they are really that different than me? I would probably be called "trailer trash" except I never lived in a trailer. Poor is poor and illiterate is illiterate. I'm not even one of the illiterate ones. I was a straight A student. It didn't matter to most. I was still poor and had no connections.

As a sidenote one of my most rascist bosses laughed his ass off because when I responded to a question about the color of peoples skin I said "I don't care if they are purple."

I understand people judge you by how you look.

But what if you look poor, talk with an accent(redneck comes to mind), drive a $300 dollar clunker, or list a really bad local address?

I heard one of the rap guys talk about this the other day. He actually talked about poor being poor. Doesn't matter the color. We all have similar stories.

Why can't we, the poor and formerly poor get together and have ONE message. NOT based on color, but based on how you grew up and how you deal with it on a daily basis, and what you know could REALLY help you dig yourself out of that hole!

The way you look, whether it's black, illiterate, poor, ill-dressed, sexually different. What does that really matter? It's the fact that you are different.

What I would wish for if I only had one wish about my country(not my personal life) would be that everyone would have to vote and everyone would have to study the records of who they vote for!

Ignorance is the worst problem we have in my very humble opinion. Not understanding the significance of who makes the decision on the things around you makes you powerless. But if you and others like you decide who that is, change can happen. Until then, you and I have no power and no reason to gripe. If I and you sit back and say we have no way to make a change, we are responsible for what happens to us.

I am responsible now in my life. I vote, I volunteer, I work, I say what I think. I make a difference in my small way. I'm tired of people using the way they grew up, the color of their skin, the complexity of their lives or the level of their education to excuse theirselves.

We all make choices. Choose. Or in a rough way to say it "Shit or get off the pot".

[oldlady]

1. well said

My wish would be for a system where the poor could vote for one of their own. If only in my lifetime there would be someone on the ballot who wasn't living in a country different than most of us.

[roguevalley]

2. I dreaded winter because my dad was laid off every year. I know

what you say and agree. Well said.

[NMDemDist2]

3. kicked and nominated, you tell my story (sans kids)

I have no college education, but can hold my own in any strata of society. I am almost completely self taught, so that doesn't equal high pay.

My choices were my choices, in my youth they were mostly bad.

It took years of recovery to begin to see the way my upbringing taught me to limit my choices in life.

It is a tangled web that makes up poverty and ignorance. But with a little help most everybody can make a life worth living. I say "most everybody" because there are evil people in the world IMO, too twisted or broken to be set straight. But they are the minority.

Evil people with poor parents are a drain on society, evil people with rich parents become President.

Scary huh?

[fedupwithbush]

9. So true.

My husband and I both detested Bush before he became "president select". I made a prediction that he would have us in a war within a year. Not far wrong. I love DU. I come here several times a day to read. I rarely post. I haven't donated yet, I should have ages ago.
I've received so much from this site. I'm a cheapskate at heart now.

But back to poor.

I'm not proud of the fact I blew off a full scholarship to a private college. I was "in love". When you grow up poor, without a stable family, and no idea of what tomorrow brings, people who profess to love you matter more than a job. I was told "I didn't have to have a college education to achieve what I wanted." I believed him. When you have no background to go to, you believe people you love.This was not my husband.

I have only begun to talk about my life and how I grew up since I met my husband. He grew up poor in a different way than me. They were proud. I was not. They didn't hide. I did.

He is Cherokee Indian. His father is full blood. His mother was not. We've dealt with that together. Try living in Oklahoma in some areas. I know personally the stories of the American Indian there. I lived there before I met my husband. Rascism isn't just black as I said. I'd change the meaning to "You are different or you don't have money." Same thing as rascism in a lot of this country. If all of your community is white, there will be a group that are outcast.

I'm so surprised by some of the similar stories here. When I was poor, I tended to think I and my family were the only ones that way. It was a matter of pride to keep our situation private. I didn't eat lunch at school because free lunches that my mom signed us up for had a different color of card. I paid for the bread and milk I bought and threw away the food stamps she gave me. This was after we went on welfare and thought we had it so much better. We did have it better. We ate daily, different food! We didn't move as much and we had electricity every day. No air conditioning, no phone, no car, but better.

My mom was my worst enemy for years(my feelings, not hers). Not because I thought she was a bad person but because I didn't think she fought. I now know better. She was and is someone who fought. She voted, she worked the system(4 kids and divorced and no college degree means you fight to feed yourself), and she did what she had to do to take care of us and herself.

She had a disability from the time I was 8 or 9 to now. She is mentally ill. She takes medication every day to stay normal. I could write a book about that part of my life. That's the amazing part. In a different time and place, we wouldn't have survived as well as we did. Even though my mom was totally disabled by her medical condition at times, she managed to keep us together and we didn't starve. That's a lot. Most couldn't have done it. She did. I didn't realize the enormity of what I lived through or how hard it was for her until I had children of my own. I didn't have my first child until 36. I swore I'd never have children until I met my husband and had been with him for 5 years. It takes a while to change. I've changed dramatically. My life before adulthood was dismal. But I now see how much worse it could have been and wasn't. The one person who made that possible was my mom. Even though she was sick, she kept on fighting. I'm alive, she's alive, my brothers are alive. I'm lucky.

Sorry to go off. I don't usually post. I'm so involved in the downfall of the Bush Administration that it is affecting my daily life. I want the 90's back. Sounds simple, but it's not. I fear for my children's future and want the great things I visualized for them after what I went through. I would have NEVER had them in the circumstances of today. They deserve a chance. I and my husband can give them that. But if the U.S. is totally trashed by Bush, they have an even harder life than I had. And that's saying a lot. They don't deserve a huge deficit, stricter laws, narrow thinking or higher interest rates. Life in their daily circle is hard enough.

Thank you for letting me rant. I wanted to vent tonight and DU was it. It's anonymous and better than a diary. I know people are reading and some actually have similar stories. That makes it better. Because I really didn't think a lot of the time as a child that anyone was like me. I know different now. And that's the best feeling of all.

[NMDemDist2]

21. similar? OMG!

my Mom is Manic Depressive

enuf said except ....

:pals: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:

[fedupwithbush]

28. Mine too.

She takes 5 meds a day to stay normal.

As a side she quit smoking at age 60. They put her on Wellbutrin. A side effect was she quit smoking. I remember an ashtray in every room of our home and a cigarette smoking in almost every ashtray. She's 66, soon to be 67 now. She usually calls, but that year she wrote a letter to me. In the 3rd or 4th paragraph she said she had quit smoking several months before. I read a paragraph or two further and finally it sunk in what I'd read before. I got on the phone immediately. I was totally flabbergasted by the quit smoking paragraph. I'm still amazed and hope that I can quit sometime sooner than that. Yes, I smoke, like my mom. I'm just hoping I can quit before she did. But I won't be a 5 pack a day smoker like she was. It wasn't unusual during my childhood for every ashtray in 5 rooms to have a lit cigarette in it. She lit them and forgot them. And lit another.

Isn't it wierd or strange all the stuff you remember when you were growing up?

[WiseButAngrySara]

24. I can see why you were a Straight A student! Please continue to post!

You express yourself so well, that I read your post in almost a trance! Your mom must be proud of you, as you should be of her. She did a very good job of raising you. Let's protect the world and your children and all others from the BFEE.

[fleabert]

33. hello sister...

my mom is MD too... there weren't any books out there for us, were there?

:hug: I understand. My mother is my hero.

[bostonbabs]

4. great post......n/t

[Lilyhoney]

5. Thank you for sharing.

You really do speak for so many.

:grouphug:

[Kailassa]

6. Beans were yesterday, today it's bananas. ;-)

It doesn't help that there are some people who post on these boards ridiculing people for working in professions that don't pay well and casting sweeping insults at groups of people. A recent thread mentioning air-stewards springs to mind.

I have handicapped children to look after, nobody to help care for one, and physical injuries, so I can't work. My husband left and I live on a carer's pension that barely covers my mortgage. And that's only the start, there is no way I'm going to tell the rest of my problems here. I don't complain, I don't even think of myself as poor and I find ways to contribute to the community.

But, despite the fact that I'm cheerfully fulfilling my responsabilities and getting on with life as best I can, I get crap from people for not owning a car, for being a single parent and even for the fact that I have children with handicaps.

The world was not always like this, but increasingly people are not judged on what sort of people they are or what they do for others, but only on what they own. The fingers successful people have all too often stomped on their way up the ladder are dismissed, because the finger-owners must have deserved it or they would have been stompers themselves.

[wellstone dem]

7. An eloquent post. Thank you. nt

[Sarah Ibarruri]

8. It's quite easy to be white.

The problem with the argument that all poor people should stand together and fight poverty together, is that there is very real racism in this country.

Statistics show that not only are black people far worse off economically than whites (per capita), but poor whites are about as racist as non-poor whites. The chances that poor whites will stick with poor blacks to fight against poverty is about as likely as the chance that rich whites will mingle with the handful of rich blacks.

I myself am white, Jewish, and Hispanic. I’ve been through economic ups and downs in my life, but none of them so dramatic that I’ve had to search through dumpsters, and I’ve encountered a bit of anti-semitism in the U.S., but not so much that I’ve been shut out of jobs or given dirty looks. I’ve got light skin. That’s a free ticket in America.

Not being dark-skinned, I had never encountered racism based on skin color, nor did I know what it was like or felt like, or if it even existed. That is, until someone in my family adopted 3 dark-skinned children.

Like me, this member of my family that adopted the dark-skinned children had never known racism based on skin color. It was quite a surprise to her, when she began to experience it, as if she, herself were dark-skinned.

It’s not that the racist comments and actions she encounters are blatant. Most of the time, they are almost not noticeable to others. For example, standing at a shop with her children, to return an item, she was ignored by the 2 white sales people, who chose to help others (whites) who arrived after her. When she protested, she was given a dirty look. Or, for example, at the beach, a middle-aged white couple stared her down angrily and looked at her kids with disdain. Or, for example, at a park, when a white child began to play with one of her dark-skinned kids, the mother scooted up to her child, grabbed her by the arm, pulled and said, “Honey, it’s late and we’ve got to get home.” (The little girl cried at having her play interrupted).

There is racism in the U.S. It’s not a myth. It’s not a chance to whine. It’s not an opportunist tactic. It’s not a card. It’s a very real thing that we whites don’t go through, but we dish out.

These days I wonder how this racist country will treat these 3 rather new members of my family as they grow up. I’m sure they will continue to encounter those non-blatant, somewhat hidden racist reactions. Eventually maybe they will be shut out of opportunities.

These days I also wonder how I would deal with suddenly becoming a black person. I don’t know that I would be as understanding towards whites and the white world as black people are towards us. I probably would be raising hell, filing lawsuits by the score, carrying a huge chip on my shoulder, and looking for every opportunity to tell a white person to stick their racism up their @##.

But I’m not black, so my life is pretty easy. However, now that I’ve got black kids in my family, I will allow no racist comments or actions to take place in front of me. Not if I can help it.

[Kaylee]

11. I took the original post the same way.....

It took me five readings to grasp the fact that she was talking about excuses to vote. I kept getting hung up on her resentment that poor blacks feel they are different than poor whites.

My resentment is that, no matter what my income is or how far I've gone in life, I will still be judged. That I've must have been admitted to college due to affirmative action, got my job through quotas, that I am bringing down the property values, that I am not as intelligent, cultured, competent, etc. etc. etc.

As I was growing up, my mom drilled in my head that I needed to be twice as good in what ever I did, just to be seen as equal... You know what makes me sick...understanding that this is true.

So, I agree that there is no excuse not to vote, especially after all my ancestors went through to get that right... But please understand why blacks don't view themselves as kin to poor whites...Because poor whites definitely don't view themselves as kin to any black man, rich or poor.

[ultraist]

12. The same type of things happen to us

Our son is Black and we are white. I could reel off a long list of racist experiences he's had, both when he's been with us and out on his own. And he's only 14!

I do think that there is a commonality that poor whites and people of color could relate on, but many poor whites I've encountered are racist rednecks. Frankly, I'm tired of their attitude of superiority over my son.

It's not Blacks that refuse to unite with poor whites, it's the racist whites. Study after study has shown that Blacks are far more willing to integrate than whites are.

[fedupwithbush]

14. Hi Sarah

I love your post. But have you ever considered the person next to you?

I've been in similar situations. My husband is dark, my son is dark. We've had people not wait on us. We've had people look at us and not respond promptly.

But I had the same situation when I was younger, poor, ill-dressed and obviously not part of the normal crowd.

I still have it today. I have a compunction and a reason not to look well groomed(ie not in the latest fashions, hair cut, and I still speak with a terrible drawl and words not fashionable).

I'm not trying to minimize your experiences. Just illustrate the experiences of people next to you. We all compartmentalize our experience. I know that. Most think they are they only ones who feel that way. That's why they and I get upset. Not so. We all are different. But we all get a picture from everyday life ie. the news, the internet, our job, just walking down the street, of what is "normal". We're wrong I think, but we still have a vision of what is normal and that makes me and others think "We are not normal". I know different now. I'm not normal. I'm not different. I'm just me. No one has walked in my shoes. No one has made my decisions but me. I'm like you but different. I'm not perfect. I gripe about people around me to my husband. I hate cell phones. I don't like sexy clothes on small children(I could write several threads on that one). I hate to see people charge meals on credit cards(bankruptsy phobia there), I cringe when I hear people speak slang to someone not in their group, tattoes and pierces belong on people independently wealthy, and the list goes on.

I'm a moderate by choice. As I've said to friends and foes through the years, life is grey, not black and white.

Everyone has a story. There are two sides to every story. No story is the end and no story is wrote in stone. And last there are different interpretations of every story. You wrote of discrimation because of skin color. I feel for you. But does that make your story worse than one of a family that didn't have the money or clothes needed to make a good impression?

I can trade you stories I'm sure of me and my family being discrimanated against in housing, jobs, clubs, cliques, friends, etc. What makes the definition of color worse? Is being black in Alabama worse than being Cherokee in Oklahoma? Is being poor in Kansas worse than being poor in California? I don't think so. Perception may be that being poor in California, considered a cool state is worse than being poor in Kansas. But not if you are that person.

Perception is everything.

I happen to think not ever having a chance of having a tan(I'm a redhead) was terrible. How many cool girls do you know that didn't have a tan? I know that is being really facetious but "in the moment counts". And too many people always think they are the most put-upon. There's ALWAY someone worse off than you. I have no doubt of that now. It took 20+ years to get there, but that's where it's at.

There are always people worse off than you, no matter your color, education, salary, or any hobby or sport you play. You can't say you have it the worst in any situation. Just isn't true. Especially here in the United States of America.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

19. Hi Fedup

Don't take this as a personal attack on you, as it isn't. I am very grateful that you choose to open up your feelings in an area like DU, where we can freely share opinions, views and facts.

I agree with you that there are always going to be some people that are worse off than others. No argument there. That has little or nothing to do, however, with the fact that racism is a reality in the U.S., that whites in the U.S. are quite racist, and that blacks are much, much worse off than whites because of their background and the continuing racism on the part of whites.

Again, that doesn't mean there are no poor whites. It also doesn't mean there are no rich blacks. It simply means that if you look at all statistics in every sphere of American life, you will find that blacks are far worse off than whites in all those spheres. There is only one reason for this, and it's not that black people are genetically evil, bad, lazy, horrible, less brilliant, or what have you. The one and only reason for this is current discrimination, the history of incredible savagery against blacks (which only ended relatively recently), and the refusal on the part of whites to institute a legitimate method of bringing blacks up to the level of whites, thereby compensating for all the mistreatment, refusal to allow them economic growth, and the respect they (even now) continue to be refused.

USA Today published a very interesting article replete with statistics regarding the effects of Affirmative Action. Fact is, Affirmative Action was very successful till the conservatives began to hack at it.

Whites are afraid of Affirmative Action because they feel that it's necessary to maintain the white edge over blacks. If nothing else, a poor white will always have that white advantage. Rich whites also like having the white advantage. It's a nice security blanket.

As I mentioned, my views on dark skinned people changed dramatically when a family member adopted 3 dark-skinned kids. I now believe that it is vital that the true history of First Nation people (native Americans), and of black Americans, be taught beginning at the elementary school level and taught all the way up to high school and beyond, rather than ignored as it is now. To not do so, would be like Germany ignoring the years of the Third Reich in their history classes.

[WiseButAngrySara]

31. Why is it that you refer to 'Whites' vs. 'Blacks' (which I think lies at

the very roots of racism based on skin color)until you mention your own family and they are refered to as "dark skinned people." Skin color is due to melanin, a wonderful protective pigment, which is also found in high concentrations in the choroid of every human eye. Does this mean that we all have "Black" eyeballs?

This stupid polarization of the "color" words to describe human beings contributes to racism. White is equated with purity, goodness, holiness, and God, and Black is automatically equated with its opposites. The mind works this way, especially the ignorant mind. There is only good in black skin color for "dark skinned people" because it protects them from damaging radiation. It is good sense in an evolutionary way.

As a scientist, I believe in God, and because of my belief in God, I believe in intelligent design of the universe. I don't believe that intelligent design should be taught as a science...The wonders of the universe are evident in the discoveries of science, and truth is to be revered more than religious dogma. Skin pigmentation is by intelligent design. Perhaps we should begin to refer to "Blacks" and "dark skinned people" as melanin privileged and to "Whites" as melanin deprived!

Posted by a melanin deprived person, who has never personally experienced the traumas of poverty or the experience of being melanin privileged.

[PowerToThePeople]

37. Yes, equal opportunity is a farce in this nation. n/t

[fight4my3sons]

10. I love your post. Very honest and powerful. n/t

[ultraist]

13. I don't think insinuating that Blacks are responsible for racism is honest

Why can't we, the poor and formerly poor get together and have ONE message. NOT based on color, but based on how you grew up and how you deal with it on a daily basis, and what you know could REALLY help you dig yourself out of that hole!


WTF does that mean?

Is it Blacks that push for segregation? Is it the Black community that perpetuates racism?

Even Farrakhan said today, in his speech that all people of color and poor whites should unite.

[fedupwithbush]

16. Wow, I already said that.

Poor is poor. Discriminated against is discriminated against.

Don't say because you are a different color makes you different.

In the end we all loose when we all claim our story and life and experience is worse than someone else.

No one can claim they had it worse than someone else. Not a true statement. There's always a story that's worse.

Leave color out of it. Humanity doesn't see color. I'm sorry if you don't agree. But I still stand by a very old saying. "Walk a mile in my shoes."

[ultraist]

17. Leave color out of it?

Are you saying racism doesn't exist?

[fedupwithbush]

25. No, I'm not.

I'm saying every color, every economic ladder, every educational ladder, every language has barriers.

I felt discriminated against because of who my mom was, where we lived, how much she made, where we were from, how we talked, what illness she had, ad nauseum.

Cheap clothes or the wrong clothes can and do lose you job opportunities.

Tattoes and piercings can and do lose you opportunities.

Where you live and list on your employment application does loose you job opportunities. Ours was Park Place at one point(great!) and 4th street(not). The employer has to know the area obviously.

The way you talk DOES matter. Bush and Co. hate France. I'm against illegal immigration(moderate here again). BUT my response is if, and I would LOVE to go live in another country, I would d*mn well learn the language before I went to live there.

As a side note I was a circulation manager for a small weekly in Kansas. Had 40 carriers, 10 were from Mexico. I don't know how many were illegal. I'd guess at least 50%. How would you like to hire a 10 year old in the circumstances I did? He/she had to explain in Spanish to their parent what I was saying. And sign a contract. I'm honest(I think). But I cringed every time I went into that situation. I DON'T want my child interpreting for me. I could have been the local X rated magazine. I really don't think it would have mattered. A child was telling their parent what I said. How would you feel about that?

A side note: I love Lou Dobbs. I am all for legal immigration. Totally against illegal immigration. I understand their reasons. But while I am fortunate and was born here, we can only support so many extra people per year. We have to have a balance. I hate H1B's too. We have the people here to fill those positions.

Those here at DU that support amnesty and open immigration aren't looking at the big picture in my very humble opinion. There are only so many positions open and the more needy people we have, the less jobs will pay.

Bush pissed me off when he and his administration said Americans won't take some jobs. I remember construction jobs as being great jobs. Maids, waitresses, housekeepers, etc. are entry level jobs or jobs people want who don't want to work full time. I worked all three. McD jobs are for high school students. No one I grew up with didn't work in a cafe or fast food joint at some time. That's a first job point. If you have people working there for a real, everyday, life salary, that is a BAD thing. I'm not talking about specialty restuarants or places who hire chefs.

End of this rant.

[Mojorabbit]

36. I take issue with this

"BUT my response is if, and I would LOVE to go live in another country, I would d*mn well learn the language before I went to live there."

My mother is portuguese. She barely knew a few words of English when she married my father who was in the air force. I had to translate for her halting english and heavy accent as a child. I saw her treated like shit because of it. For that reason she never taught her children the language.

She now speaks excellent English with a moderate accent. I lived in Japan for three years when my first husband was stationed there. I learned enough Japanese to get around but no where enough to be fluent.
I don't know how my mom did it. It is an enormous accomplishment.
She had five children and took in other people's wash to help augment my father's pay. She is my hero.

It has been shown that the first generation of immigrants barely learn the language, the second are mostly bilingual, the third speak English.

Discrimination comes in many forms.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

20. "Humanity doesn't see color"

Yeah, ok. Let's pretend that racism doesn't exist. That is a naive perception.

After all the humiliation put forth by racism, you can't just up and say "well, now we're even".

[fedupwithbush]

26. Yeah, I can.

Say you are white, I'm black. You diss me.

Say you are black but middle, I'm white but poor. You diss me.

Say you are white and rich, I'm white but middle. You diss me.

Say you are Puerto Rican, I'm white, but you diss me.

Say you are Mexican, I'm American Indian, you diss me.

Say you are a cheer leader, I'm a dweeb, you diss me.

Say you are a football player, I'm a nerd, you diss me.

Diss is a word I hate, but it says it all.

You are better than me.

No one should be able to say that.

So what you do better in an area than I.

When I die and you die, we both die. Oh yeah, who has the most mourners?

And who had the bigger funeral?

And who has the bigger stone?

My G**, Where Does It END!!!!!!!!!!!

[shugah]

30. incredibly naive

or flamebait. i can't decide...

[TahitiNut]

22. "Don't say because you are a different color makes you different." ???

Well, you skipped a few steps. Let's see what they are.

We are each the sum of everything we've ever thought. Our thoughts are often driven by or borrowed from others ... even before we knew we were making the choice of what to think (if we ever do). The topography of our lives is shaped by our interactions with others. Sometimes, that can help us become very agile. Sometimes, it can cause lots of sprained ankles.

We are each unique. Different. There's no possible way I've seen the same world as Annette Funicello, even though we went to the same elementary school. That's because the the world of Annette Funicello is populated with people who intereact with her very differently from the people in my world ... even when they're the same people.

We all see different worlds - different realities. Color, height, gender, physical beauty, timber of voice, size of nose ... all of these create for us a different "world."

It's not that we're no different. We are. It's becasue we all live in our own unique world that interacts with us in an absolutely unique way. What's important is that differences are good. Viva la difference!

[I Have A Dream]

15. I so relate to your post. Many of the things that you said also...

apply to me.

I feel so fortunate because I'm one of the lucky ones. I have been able to climb out of poverty and am now very comfortable monetarily. Besides luck, I also worked hard. However, I realize that many, many people in my situation also worked just as hard, if not harder, and have not been able to claw their way to that place where they don't have to worry about where their next meal is going to come from or whether they're going to lose their home next week.

I realize that many of the decisions that I've made in my life are based upon my childhood. I've chosen not to have children in part because I want to be certain that I can always help my existing family if there ever is a need.

One thing that I do have to say is that my siblings and I have each stated that we would not have changed anything about our childhood. We were extremely lucky to have a wonderful mother who loved us unconditionally and was a wonderful example. We feel that we're stronger because of what we went through in our childhood. There were times when we didn't have electricity, didn't have a phone, had to live with relatives, and things like this. However, we always had SOMETHING to eat. We only later realized that when my mother said that she wasn't hungry, it was because there wasn't enough food.

One thing that really p*sses me off is when someone who has been poor at one point in their life manages to get out of poverty and now puts poor people down. They say that they managed to "succeed" so other people can too if they'd only work harder. This is true of some people, but there are many, many people who are doing the very best that they can with what they have, and they've just not had luck on their side. I will never forget my roots and will never think that I'm better than my downtrodden fellow citizens who try to eke out a living every day just to keep their heads above water. Having money does not make a person better than someone who doesn't. I know firsthand.

Thank you so much for your wonderful post! I'm glad that you're here!

[fedupwithbush]

18. Thank you.

[nashbridges]

23. food

I had to (willingly) share food while I was a broke ass excuse for a student in college.

The rich kids never thanked me. The poor kids with me always did. I went months not eating anything I couldn't find for free at bars during happy hour. They got me through.

[I Have A Dream]

27. Yeah, I remember eating ramen noodles and macaroni & cheese...

for what seemed like months at a time when I was in college. At least I still had food, but it was such a treat to get something else.

I hope that your situation has changed since then, nashbridges.

[tamtam]

29. I grew up poor too but I'm also black

And you know what. I got more slack because of the color of my skin. I grew up in rural Missouri and quite a few of the people in my neighborhood were poor and racist. It didn't matter how much money we did or did not have we were black and therefore looked down upon. Racism is alive and well in this country. You can ask anyone in my family as we had a family member lynched in 1995 because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. You see, for black people it doesn't matter how much money you have there is this little thing called white privilege. I'm really not trying to be rude I'm just stating what I know.

I get what you saying in your post. I yearn for the day that poor people of all colors can come together and fight poverty.You have to understand that as long as people value the color of their skin (more than they do their fellow man) we have no hope. There is also something called realistic conflict theory, basically this is when prejudice and racism is fueled by competition for opportunities and precious commodities such as jobs, food, basic survival. As you know when you are poor you are always thinking about survival; you worry about the next meal, food, clothing. I'm sure competition for survival fuels quite a bit of the racism when it comes to poor whites and poor blacks. I'm not making excuses just saying.

The bottom line is when your poor and black your poor and black. When your poor and white well you may be poor but at least your not black. This is the attitude I encountered growing up and I don't think that attitude has changed.

[WiseButAngrySara]

32. Interesting and thought provoking thread. K and R! n/t

[sandnsea]

34. Sweetie, imagine poor x 10

I can only imagine that's what it's like to be poor AND a minority. I know it isn't easy to make it, for anybody. I certainly know how those with connections can totally fuck up your world, I live it every day. But to be put in that position simply because of skin color? You can't hide that like you can your address or your family name. It is different.

[bobbieinok]

35. years ago I read that at one point in the populist movement (late 19th-

early 20th centuries) poor whites and poor blacks in the south began to work together......immediately the power structure (white, rich, male) worked to destroy it with racism so that the 2 groups that had so much in common were turned against each other

also George Wallace apparently started out in politics as a pure populist but, as he said, he was 'out niggered' by his opponent......he vowed never to lose on that basis again and became one of the most outspoken racist politicians of the south

[Deja Q]

38. I hear you

I often eat the same things everyday

Every day I'm terrified of losing my job and I know it's going to happen, and despite showing interest they take away duties and then say to show interest in things. (and if that's not a sign, what is? :cry: )

Ignorance is the second worst problem. Feeding ignorance with untruths is. That's why I listen to all politicians, look at their records, and vote for who is the most ethical. And sometimes, that's not easy to do.