Understanding Inner City Poverty Analysis

Throughout the beginning of our Human Relations class, we were introduced to many readings that required deep thought and consideration regarding their thesis and their supporting main ideas. The two readings that I found the most interesting were, Nickel-and-Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich and Understanding Inner City Poverty: Resistance and Self-Destruction Under U.S. Apartheid, by Phillipe Bourgeois. These two readings were very similar and revealed the belief in the American Dream and how economics, politics, and schooling cause these people to doubt the American dream leading to the question, is escaping poverty nearly impossible for them? In the society that we live in today, the communities who struggle with …show more content…
Politics are very structural and it is tough for people living in these low conditions to have a positive outlook on the government. The government seems to cause this separation between the middle class and the lower class in regards to the funding in order to develop cities or certain parts of one city. If you look at the reading, Understanding Inner City Poverty by Bourgeois, you see the setting where poverty is taking place. It is a primarily Puerto Rican neighborhood of East Harlem, New York. Drugs are very prevalent, jobs are scarce, and people are left poverty stricken because of the lack of government funding. These areas used to major manufacturing areas but once the economy changed, political actions led to the funding of the expanding and prospering areas, leaving the weak and declining areas struggle to survive in the changing society. This example can be compared to one in the reading, Nickel-and-Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich. The areas in which the author and her coworkers live in seem to be significantly divided. You can tell many people living in poverty live in these same areas. Some of her coworkers are living out of their vehicles because they cannot afford a place to live. Due to politics within the government, they want to focus on the areas that are prospering like the tourist areas in the Key West. Instead of …show more content…
The schools are not adequate to meet the needs of these people. Poverty stricken areas are difficult in the sense that not many people want to come and move to these areas, much less become a teacher. The pay is significantly low and it makes it difficult for the students to stay positive when they do not have teachers that actually care about their well-being. Bourgeois in Understanding Inner City Poverty interviews Caesar and he shares little experiences with school. The reasoning behind this is because he shared that he had dropped out and started working. He felt that working would be more useful in granting him greater success in the future. As a result, the got into the drug business. Because the government overlooks funding schools in areas such as Caesar lived, they keep these people from escaping poverty because they are not providing individuals the tools they need to succeed. A similar situation can be seen in the reading by Ehrenreich. Many of the people that she works with seem to have gone through very little education in their lives. Maybe that is due to the area that they are from and the schools that they attending, leaving them with an educational experience that puts them behind in society. As a result, many of these people cannot escape poverty because they are left with the minimum wage jobs that require little schooling. What is their other option to succeed higher up the

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