Anusha Kothare
Ms. Williams
English 1A 9:00
22 December 2013
The stereotypes people have to go through in their lives are always heartbreaking. Whether it is the comical saying, “White people can’t dance” or the rather depressing “all Muslim men blow things up”, there is a stereotype for everything. Lazy, selfish, poor, uneducated, are just some of the adjectives that first come to the minds of people who think about the word poverty. I am going to be honest and say yes, I thought of those words as soon as I heard poverty. Seeing pop culture and hearing stories about has implemented the idea about how they live. But after reading the book, The Rich and the Rest of Us, by Tavis Smiley and Cornel West, and also reading stories and articles about the poor, I have made a grim realization. Society has made stereotypes on everything and it not only affects us emotionally but it brings us as a whole down humanity wise. Saying “there still is humanity left in the world” has become smaller and smaller.
Ms. Williams
English 1A 9:00
22 December 2013
The stereotypes people have to go through in their lives are always heartbreaking. Whether it is the comical saying, “White people can’t dance” or the rather depressing “all Muslim men blow things up”, there is a stereotype for everything. Lazy, selfish, poor, uneducated, are just some of the adjectives that first come to the minds of people who think about the word poverty. I am going to be honest and say yes, I thought of those words as soon as I heard poverty. Seeing pop culture and hearing stories about has implemented the idea about how they live. But after reading the book, The Rich and the Rest of Us, by Tavis Smiley and Cornel West, and also reading stories and articles about the poor, I have made a grim realization. Society has made stereotypes on everything and it not only affects us emotionally but it brings us as a whole down humanity wise. Saying “there still is humanity left in the world” has become smaller and smaller.
People living in the poverty class not
only deal with pitiful stereotypes but have to keep striving everyday to prove
those labels wrong. And because of that, the poverty level is now part of a new
class. The Social Exclusion class. They are being excluded from everyday things
just because they are not living up to the social status quo. For example, a
woman and her kids are barely making by to survive the holidays. The mother is
working 50 hours a week at a pain staking job and the children have also taken
up odd jobs to help around. Due to all her savings going into the children’s
education and nourishment, she does not have a roof to supply her kids over the
holidays. And since she is technically “homeless”, people will stereotype her
into someone who can’t keep a stable job and give shelter to her family. We are
quick to judge when we hear a summary of a person’s life. We give big
statements about helping the less fortunate but when it is time to react and
do, we get cold feet. Only because we think that they themselves have caused
that situation. That is where the stereotypes come in place. Even a previous
president is guilty of such a crime. “The story was as suspect as Reagan’s
compassion for the downtrodden. He used a blatant stereotype of a conniving, lazy
welfare cheat to justify cuts to programs that help poor men, women, and
especially children” (77). If we get rid of that hesitancy to help others and
unite, we will lose that exclusion class. If we can open up a bit to others and
lend not just a hand but also an ear to their story, we won’t be as bitter as
everyone stereotypically thinks about Americans.
We all hope from the bottom of our
hearts, that our future is going to be amazing even though it will be one hell
of a ride. Whether there will not be a poverty class in the near future is
highly unlikely we still hope for it to happen. However, the quote, “When
poverty ends, everybody wins – the economy of the nation as a whole, all
classes, races, creed, and neighborhoods” (148). That is a very big claim.
Regardless of how that happens, someone or another will not be happy about
poverty ending. It simply can not happen. We try so hard to cover up so much of
reality that we start loosing the main touch of life. I feel that there should
be a class system, which does not divide people by race, color or sex. It
should mostly be about financial status. I mean, in all honesty, no one is
going to want deal with you if can not keep yourself stable. There should be a
right amount of competition to get people where they need to be. Having a
communist type of nation doesn’t benefit anyone, where everyone is treated with
the same amount of value. If we keep striving for that mediocre spot around us,
we don’t win anything by that. We need to have some sort of level for us to
keep going on.
Coming up with a solution for such a
complex system about how poverty is made, that too made up of corrupt, selfish,
and powerful people is simply unheard of. It will take a lot of time, money,
experience and sweat just to make one of them have a little change in heart. I
am not saying it can not be done, it’s just that it is very unlikely of it
happening anytime soon. To break apart such a hard piece of rock is no easy
task. And the fact that it has been growing immensely over the years does not
help. If we were to slowly make one then two then three and etc. realize the
big effect they have on society, then we can make it big and slowly take apart
the system. My big point is that slow and steady always win’s the race. If we
take down any system slowly it will benefit everyone.
Writing through this essay has caused me
to have mixed emotions about the society classes in general. When I first
started this essay, I had it straight in my mind that there should be a balance
with everyone and that some stereotypes were true to some extent. But after
awhile I realized that we stereotype anything that moves. Be it a snail to the
fictitious character of Big Foot. We try so hard to make changes in things and
we keep striving for things that are so difficult to achieve. For example, a
high paying job or even the American Dream. We have even stereotyped the way
jobs are given to people and we see it as no problem. And since we have been stereotyping
for such a long period, we have forgotten the fact that we are really insulting
everything. The real solution isn’t just trying to change oneself but to change
everyone little by little. Getting rid of a little portion of a problem is
always better than nothing changing. Slowly getting rid of a problem is faster
and more effective than just one person changing. And who knows, maybe having a
small change can always lead to bigger changes and a better future for the next
generations.
Side
Note: Thanks for being my first English teacher at Chabot! I know my PIE sucks,
but…. at least I had fun learning about it! Hopefully this essay won’t tank
anymore than the others. J
