Most people have heard of the upper
class, middle class, working class, and lower class, but there is another
socioeconomic class of people that needs to be recognized more often in order
to deal with ongoing economic issues.
The underclass is the lowest group of people on the socioeconomic
scale. Most of the people in the
underclass live in poverty and are unemployed.
In Chapter 5 of American Apartheid, the authors discuss the many
factors that contribute to poverty. As
indicated in Table 5.2 of the book, “blacks have experienced systematically
greater concentrations of poverty than whites” with the average level of black
poverty concentration being 27% in 1970 compared to the level of whites in
poverty at 11% in 1970.
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One of the structural factors that
affects poverty is segregation. If, for example, there is a neighborhood that
has recently transitioned from white to black due to segregation and white
flight, the expected percentages of poverty can predict that there will be a
downfall in the upkeep and homes based on income levels. The authors give more details with this
example discussing how the homes and apartments are originally well maintained
with no abandoned housing or physical dilapidation, but if the new black
residents have lower incomes, black renters can afford less rent and are less
able to make investments in upkeep. Due
to a lack of upkeep with the homes and apartments, the buildings will begin to
show physical dilapidation. “Racial
segregation makes neighborhoods where blacks live particularly vulnerable to
this sort of disinvestment and decay. Poor blacks are more likely than the poor
of any other group to be trapped in neighborhoods caught in the grip of such
downward spirals, because segregation acts to concentrate poverty and all
things associated with it.”
Racial steering was another way that
property owners contributed to segregation and furthering poverty. This term refers to the concept that property
owners would steer white home and apartment seekers into white areas and black
home and apartment seekers into black areas.
If there were many whites left in neighborhoods with more blacks, they
often became part of the ever famous white flight and eventually left those
neighborhoods. When poor communities are
filled with people that are mostly poor, there is not enough economic flow to
bring better things to the community.
Overall, there are many ways in which the many factors of poverty
overlap and intertwine. From an
institutionalized way of poverty, to segregation, to racial steering, most, if
not all, cases are largely revolving around race and socioeconomic status.
It is clear the financial stressors play a key factor into why those who live in low income housing standards of living decrease over time. When low income minorities have that have been segregated into a resource community are put in concentrated places all at once that is literally the only thing you can expect. Everyone in their environment is suffering similar economic stressors so no one has the mobility to sustain comfortable living conditions even if the conditions are fine when the get there. It almost like a brand new car of course when you buy the car it runs great. The fact is that over time the car will get older and parts will break down, and if you don’t have the means for the up keep the once brand new car will turn into a lemon.
ReplyDeleteThey are constantly relocated unemployed minorities in concentrated places which starts to decrease the value of property, and systematically place negative stigma on their ethnic groups as a whole. I really am starting to feel that it’s actually done purposely to dehumanize minority.