This blog post is dedicated to my students. Over the last week, 15 students, my co-instructor, and I spent the week of Spring Break trekking across the city streets of New York in our quest for a deepened understanding of issues related to children and poverty. We visited agencies and organizations, while sleeping on the floor and sharing a total of two working showers (though to be honest I never quite figured out the stall where you had turn the water on full blast ice cold, and then add just a touch of hot water to avoid scalding heat--one of my students helped me with that one).
During the week, we also made time for a museum trip and Broadway show. The museum was the Tenement Museum in Manhattan's Lower East Side, where we learned of early immigrants and the severe adversities they faced. Initially, I had thought I had thoroughly readied myself for teaching this course; however, little prepared me for the disturbing depiction of swill milk, which I'll let the reader lookup. As a catchy teaser though, I will mention it was blue and thick, and that distributors would attempt to sell it by mixing in chalk and ammonia to help it appear more palatable, despite it leading to an increase in infant mortality for immigrant children. Needless to say, it was the first museum visit ever where I walked out feeling distinctly queasy.
For our Broadway show, we viewed, "Good People," featuring Oscar-winning actress Frances McDormand. This moving story depicted the struggles of a woman from Boston trying to escape the cycle of economic instability. Unfortunately, it is not a spoiler to note that she ends up essentially right back where she began. The cycle of poverty we learned is a tough one to break.
But perhaps one of the biggest questions that emerged repeatedly for our class was: what is the solution to ending America's struggle with poverty issues? We watched the documentary "Waiting for Superman" in class, painted the health clinic of a shelter in Manhattan, and worked with middle school students in an afterschool enrichment program in the Bronx. But no amount of educating ourselves or direct involvement felt as though it was enough.
Prior to embarking on our weeklong adventure, our students read an article on cognitive distancing from the poor (Lott, 2002). The article outlines various forms of institutional and interpersonal distancing (e.g., lower income patients may receive less information and positive talk). Arguably, one of the more surprising findings is the overall lack of interest in those with lives that are different from our own; social scientists also largely leave out poor individuals from their research. Words such as racial minority or inner city are used as code for low income, while terms such as white trash are used to indicate them as separate from us. Even politicians change their lexicon, shifting from using the term working families to middle class, Lott (2002) explains. While still thoroughly unjustifiable, this perhaps serves to explain at least in part society's fascination with the "tragedies" of Anna Nicole Smith or Lindsey Lohan, rather than the more obvious pressing issues such as children's sex slave trade.
Thus, it will be unsurprising that while agencies working on poverty-related issues lauded our class for what endearingly came to be called our "alternative" Spring Break, the reality is that unless "alternative" is referencing something analogous to "Girls Gone Wild" material, such stories and initiatives will continue to go unnoticed. But as one of our agency speakers so passionately noted, "never give up hope."
It is in this spirit that I thank my students for their tireless efforts at grappling with the often overwhelming and frustrating realities of poverty studies and policy change. Their drive, motivation, and sheer energy was truly inspirational to witness. I also thank my co-instructors for facilitating this incredibly journey that has only begun, and the New York agencies that allowed us into their doors to learn about urban initiatives for low-income children in the U.S.
Special thanks goes out to the following agencies: Good Shepherd Volunteers House, Covenant House, Cristo Rey School, Children's Health Fund, Children's Aid Society, Mercy Center, East New York Farms, MS 45, Thomas C. Giordano Middle School, Children's Defense Fund, New York Center for Children, BuildOn, Free Arts NYC, Jumpstart, and Fiver Children's Foundation. Also, thank you to the Notre Dame Alumni Club of New York.
Lott, B. (2002). Cognitive and behavioral distancing from the poor. American Psychologist, 57, 100-110.
