I have this routine in the morning. I immediately put on the coffee, feed my wonderful new pal "Chico", the most handsome little dog you will ever meet who is all of 4 1/2 pounds of just plain sweetness, turn on the computer and sit down with my first cup of coffee and read Daily Kos before anything else.
I just read an interesting diary here which discusses the Republican in Iowa who blamed African Americans for what is happening regarding the Bail-out proposal.
I guess this is what finally prompted me to clarify (as I am sure anyone working with those in need of help can also, with frustration, try to explain to the uninformed "hacks" in the Republican Party.)
There is a reason folks why Barack Obama is seen as a man who really really knows first hand (from his community organizer work) exactly what is going on with those in need and the Republicans and their friends on Wall Street have not a clue.
They say that when you face a crises you can tend to blame those you are most angry at. Perhaps this is what the Republicans are doing. Blaming those they hate the most and the first word out of their mouths? Inner cities and black people are at fault.
I have some interesting news for Republicans. It may have been true many many many years ago that African Americans utilized more of a helping hand than whites, but today, that's just not true.
I will give you my own experience as an example. I am active in quite a bit of community work as a volunteer. (Yes, as not only a woman, but a community organizer I was insulted by Palin's disdain for what I and thousands of other do to help their communities and those in need.)
Just yesterday I had spent the day with a young lady in desperate need of help and it was very traumatic for her. I went with her to Social Services to help her apply for food stamps and temporary Welfare assistance until she could get on her feet. And contrary to the belief of the "wingers", she was not gaming the system.
This young lady had struggled all her life to get an education. She graduated from college and married her college sweetheart and they then set forward to make a good life for themselves. Since her husband had a great job, he wanted her not to work but instead stay home and give him children. She gave birth to a beautiful little girl. And guess what, her husband abandoned her because "he now wasn't able to deal with a child". This devastated her and even worse her child was born with a serious heart condition which will need attention for the rest of the child's life.
This girl needs help to get her feet on the ground, stabilize her emotions, make SAFE arrangements for her child and THEN find a job thatcan support them both. She lost her home because her husband quit his job and couldn't pay the mortgage or refuses to and therefore the judge was unable to order him to pay a large sum in child support. When we got to her she was barely eating, saving the food for her child instead. Anyone who works with those in need know it is vital to help someone stablize by ensuring their "basic needs" are met. The individual can not even attempt to try and find a job if they are worrying where their next meal is coming from, or about a sick child, or a roof over their heads. They need help to try and stablize their lvining situation and it is community activist volunteers who are the forefront of helping not only this young lady but millions of others.
I went with her to the Social Servies offices to see what help she could get.
What the Republicans fail to mention and is not communicated to the public at large is the fact that if you are able to receive temporary Welfare assistance in the form of food stamps, money, housing, you must also work with them on a "Welfare to work program" or you do NOT continue to receive help. But this is what she wanted. Help in re-entering the working field. In New York and I can bet this is true across the country, the budgets of Social Service offices have been slashed. They are working with minimal staff, the waits are hours long, and in many cases they bring in in-experienced staff in order to pay a lower wage. They are over-worked and under-staffed and burn out quickly. The welfare systems' budget is also strained by the overwhelming amount of money that goes to provide a home and care for children who are abused or abandoned and are nowin the foster care system. These children did not ask to be on welfare. They have been abused both physically and sexually, and/or abandoned, or orphaned. Does the Republican from Iowa blame them also?
The lines are extremely long, well-dressed people along with poorly dressed people. And what stands out as a stark reality? The majority of those seeking help are WHITE.
Yes folks, the big lie here is that it is Black people draining the Welfare systems. Not true. Look up any statistic and it will show that more whites are on some sore of Welfare assistance that Blacks.
Some 61 percent of welfare recipients are White, while 33 percent are Black, according to 1990 Census Bureau statistics, the latest figures available.
Link
The young lady I am advocating for in the system? She is WHITE. ALL recipients of Welfare dollars, as part of the agreement, MUST enroll in some type of training program to get a job. Welfare provides temporary assistance, provide dollars for child care while they are going to school and for their first year working until they can maintain full responsibility for complete financial independence. They provide also medical insurance while the individual is receiving help until the benefits from a job kick in. They provide assistance in job search and the individual must report on a regualr basis the number of job interviews they have had and provide proof of such.
Granted there a few "bad apples" who attempt to game the system, both black and white. Granted there are more single mothers in the black community and Obama gets that which is why he advocates for more responsibility on the part of black men which shows me he absolutely is in touch with the real struggles of real people. However, I have personally found in my work that Black women seem to have a sense of strength, born out of years of being looked as inferior and they tend to maintain a strong family bond within their community. Many find a lot of strength and help in their community churches whose members look out for the less fortunate in their congregation. You want to see community activists at work helping those in need, you only need to visit a church dominated by African American citizens.
This young lady I am helping get on her feet is one of millions. White Americans from all walks of life are now seeking help just to survive these terrible economic times. Many have lost there homes. Women who never had to work don't have a clue anymore where to look for a job. They have children to feed and clothe and no money. They need housing where their is a huge shortage and sometimes are put up in a room at a motel at great expense to the taxpayer because Federal dollars for subsidized housing has gone down the proverbial toilet.
This is not the American I grew up in. Where a sense of community looked out for the less fortunate ones. Those days are gone.
The Republican from Iowa is just one of many Republicans who say those in need are a "drain" on the economy, yet they and their cronies are the onese who created this mess. What is their response? Blame those they hate the most and that is Black people.
I as a white woman Iam offended. I myself received help from the Welfare systems when I was just 12 years old after my parents died in a car accident. Was I embarassed? Of course I was, but I was grateful and it made me want to work even harder to get a good education so I could stand on my own two feet. But the help was there when I needed it.
It is time those with the misconception that it is black people straining the services Welfare has to offer need to get informed and understand it is white people who are more likely to apply for help than black people.
I suggest the gentleman from Iowa inform himself before spouting stuff that is just not true. Am I angry? Yes I am. I am sick and tired of those talking points that "inner city" and black people are to blame for everything.
I have a neighbor named Stephanie who has become a valued and close friend. We get together every other day for coffee. She is older than me and living on disability after over 3 decades of working. She has a serious heart condition and was born with a debilitating arthritic condition. Yet she found time to graduate from a Seminary and is now an assistant pastor at a local Black church. Did I mention she is a black woman with so much heart and caring for others in her community that she was instrumental in her church's effort to establish a women's shelter in our community? She tells me that more and more white people are now attending her church because they like the fact that the church reaches out and helps those in their community. She asks me, "they just don't get it do they?". "We help more white people than our own black community". They just established a food bank which opened last week because so many, struggling to keep their homes can't even afford to feed their families with the increase in the cost of food.
What made me so proud to be part of the Obama campaign was an event we had in our community on Sunday. It was a "community Spirt" day with a parade and all kinds of food for sale set up by organizations raising funds for their charities so they could help those in need. Thousands attend this event given we are on the train line from NYC. There are tons of activities for kids, art exhibitions, and the list could go on.
Prominent among the people attending? A couple hundred Obama volunteers see all over the place, mingling with the people, registering people to vote, handing out flyers and stopping to talk with everyone. They were friendly, fun to talk to, and accomplished registering people to vote before our Thursday deadline. Not only that, they also had a food drive to help a couple local food banks. And they did an awsome job. This is on the ground outreach by the Obama campaign and it makes a huge impression. This week they are hosting an event in my community called "An evening with Pete Seeger" to raise funds to charter buses to go to Pennsylvania. They go every single Saturday and Sunday to canvass. The difference between the Obama volunteers and the Republicans was stark. Just a handful were sent to this event and they did not mingle, for to do that they would need to mingle with "horrors of horrors" black people and Hispanic people. Little did they realize that many of the white people attending this big event were the ones on welfare, not the black people.
Time for Republicans to get a little education and find out the facts regarding Welfare dollars and the fact it is not welfare dollars that created this immense financial crises, but greedy Wall Street and their Republican friends.