The number of people below the poverty line in the US is over 14%, which are approximately 43 million people of the whole population (Silverman, 2014, lecture 1). For a country as economically and militarily powerful as the US, it is a shame to have such a high rate of poverty. Professor Silverman proposed an oversimplified solution that can end the problem of poverty altogether, which is taking the Gross Domestic Product and distribute it evenly on the population. However, such measure is obviously impossible to do and irrational to attain, as many other issues will come out of this utopian idea. According to the lectures, the rates of poverty in the US are disproportional from one state to another, from one city to another, from one race
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10.5% are Asian. 23.5% are Hispanic or Any Race, and African Americans constitute about 27.2% of the poor people in the US (Silverman, 2014). As we can deduce, Both the Hispanic and African Americans represent over 50% of the poor people in the US. Such numbers and statistics raise eyebrows. Why are the Hispanics and African Americans poorer than the other races? Hispanics and Black Americans are often victims of discrimination and marginalization, which unable a myriad of them from finding good jobs. Social pressure makes a lot of them drop out of school, and unable them to look for good jobs. Sometimes, it feels that the state does not try hard enough to find solutions for the minorities. Moreover, In the research study, “The Causes of Enduring Poverty: An Expanded Spatial Analysis of the Structural Determinants of Poverty in the US,” by Anil Rupasingha and Stephan J. Goetz , the distribution of poverty in 1999 across the US shows a high concentration of poverty happens in Appalachia, the southern black-belt, the Mississippi Delta, Native American areas in the Southwest, colonies along the US-Mexico border region, and a cluster of upper Midwest counties. Also, poverty is not independently distributed over space (Rupasingha, Goetz, …show more content…
(2010). Structure and Agency in the Urban Space. In The Social Production of Urban Space. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Zukin, S. (1991). Landscapes of power: From Detroit to Disney World. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Silverman, C. (Director) (2014, September 9). Urban Poverty and Social Policy. class lecture. Lecture conducted from San Francisco State University , San Francisco.
Ending welfare as we know it [Motion picture on VHS]. (1997). United States: Connecticut Public Television.
Noah, T. (2012). The Great Divergence.Slate. Retrieved October 30, 2014, from Ilearn.
Income inequality. (n.d.). Retrieved October 30, 2014, from http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/inequality/index.htm
Rupasingha, A., & Goetz, S. (2003). The Causes of Enduring Poverty An Expanded Spatial Analysis of the Structural Determinants of Poverty in the US. (22),
10.5% are Asian. 23.5% are Hispanic or Any Race, and African Americans constitute about 27.2% of the poor people in the US (Silverman, 2014). As we can deduce, Both the Hispanic and African Americans represent over 50% of the poor people in the US. Such numbers and statistics raise eyebrows. Why are the Hispanics and African Americans poorer than the other races? Hispanics and Black Americans are often victims of discrimination and marginalization, which unable a myriad of them from finding good jobs. Social pressure makes a lot of them drop out of school, and unable them to look for good jobs. Sometimes, it feels that the state does not try hard enough to find solutions for the minorities. Moreover, In the research study, “The Causes of Enduring Poverty: An Expanded Spatial Analysis of the Structural Determinants of Poverty in the US,” by Anil Rupasingha and Stephan J. Goetz , the distribution of poverty in 1999 across the US shows a high concentration of poverty happens in Appalachia, the southern black-belt, the Mississippi Delta, Native American areas in the Southwest, colonies along the US-Mexico border region, and a cluster of upper Midwest counties. Also, poverty is not independently distributed over space (Rupasingha, Goetz, …show more content…
(2010). Structure and Agency in the Urban Space. In The Social Production of Urban Space. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Zukin, S. (1991). Landscapes of power: From Detroit to Disney World. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Silverman, C. (Director) (2014, September 9). Urban Poverty and Social Policy. class lecture. Lecture conducted from San Francisco State University , San Francisco.
Ending welfare as we know it [Motion picture on VHS]. (1997). United States: Connecticut Public Television.
Noah, T. (2012). The Great Divergence.Slate. Retrieved October 30, 2014, from Ilearn.
Income inequality. (n.d.). Retrieved October 30, 2014, from http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/inequality/index.htm
Rupasingha, A., & Goetz, S. (2003). The Causes of Enduring Poverty An Expanded Spatial Analysis of the Structural Determinants of Poverty in the US. (22),