POVERTY IS A CONDITION, NOT A CHOICE
By Chioma Adaku
When the alarming notices were given to the city and state officials about the level four occurrence of
Katrina, it was still business as usual; however, Mother nature does not discriminate and continued
through the gulf by all means necessary. So when “poverty” was being ignored and unexposed, this
occurrence had no racial, economic, or cultural barriers for destruction. According the U.S. Census
Bureau, one in nine Americans live in poverty and 64% of those living on the social and financial margin
hold full-time jobs. The official poverty rate in 2004 was 12.7 percent, up from 12.5 percent 2003;in
2004, 37.0 million people were in poverty, up 1.1 million from 2003; poverty rates remained unchanged
for Blacks (24.7 percent) and Hispanics (21.9 percent), rose for non-Hispanic Whites (8.6 percent in
2004, up from 8.2 percent in 2003) and decreased for Asians (9.8 percent in 2004, down from 11.8
percent in 2003); the poverty rate in 2004 (12.7 percent) was 9.7 percentage points lower than in 1959,
the first year for which poverty estimates are available. From the most recent trough in 2000 both the
number and rate have risen for four consecutive years, from 31.6 million and 11.3 percent in 2000, to 37.0
million and 12.7 percent in 2004 respectively. By definition, poverty describes a wide range of
circumstances associated with the need, hardship and a shortage of basic resources to stay alive.
As a former Welfare recipient, domestic violence and homeless survivor, and woman of color, I know all
to well that poverty is a condition and not a choice. I succeeded in the American dream and gained a
Masters of Business Administration with honors, served as first Vice President of NAACP and received
Who’s Who in America. But when North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA) hit, poverty became a
condition, not a choice. The messages that come through loud and clear about Welfare and those living in
poverty are “lazy, black, and begging folks.” And for hype presented, the picture is getting worse, not
better-- even in situations where blacks are not the majority of the population, so we can not be the
majority of those receiving public aide. The epistemology of poverty is the lack of knowledge transferred.
While the latest overall numbers of the Katrina catastrophe present a large number of people of color who
were affected, there were also those of wealthier neighborhoods – but when one side of the story is told,
an important aspect of poverty is not exposed. The urgent need to end poverty, and the costs of inaction,
have never been more shocking. One third of all human deaths – some 18 million people a year or 50, 000
daily – are due to poverty-related causes. The death toll since the end of the Cold War in 1990 is 270
million people, the majority women and children, roughly the population of the United States. How many
more will die, as the world turns away from aid for poverty eradication in order to finance its “war on
terror”?
Equally telling are the changes in the distribution of wealth in this country. Wealth is defined as a family's
assets minus its debts, with assets including such items as houses, cars, stocks and bonds. Assets are said
to be the key to a family's future, while income represents how a family is coping now. The wealth of the
poorest 20 per cent of couples with children under 18 went down by 51.4 per cent between 1984 and
1999, whereas that of the wealthiest 20 per cent of couples increased by 42.7 per cent. The wealth gap in
this country is staggering.
Let's not kid ourselves – there will be no progress without doing a reality check that racism and classism
are alive and well. No matter how you crunch the numbers, there are far too many families affected by
poverty who are hard working citizens that try to make ends meet –it is proof by the recent Katrina
tragedy that folks transitioned into to poverty as a condition, not by a choice. Governments can now help
level the playing field by continuing to give a hand up instead of handing out stipulations, sanctions, and
restrictions that perpetuate a cycle of oppression.
Chioma Adaku serves as the National Coordinator for National Welfare Engine.