opinion
Children of All Classes Hit By Bad Economy
years. If anything, it has
declined.”
This is not what Dr. King
urged. Throughout his life he
spoke out against injustice in all of
its forms and believed economic
injustice was one of our nation’s
and world’s greatest sins. He also
believed we could and must work
urgently
to
right
that
wrong. “Somehow the preacher
and honey, but God has command-
ed us to be concerned about the
slums down here and his children
who can’t eat three square meals a
day. It’s all right to talk about the
new Jerusalem, but one day God’s
preacher must talk about the new
New York, the new Atlanta, the
new Philadelphia, the new Los
Angeles, the new Memphis,
Tennessee. This is what we have
Hurricane Can’t stop MLk
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I am perplexed that those who
are affected by this economy,
and those who claim to
advocate for them, have not
been more effective in protest
is also available on mobile
phones at
theskannermobile.com
e.c
MOBILE
H
television because they had
urricane Irene hit
no means to travel to
the East Coast with
B ENNEtt
Washington.
Maybe
a vengeance, caus-
C ollEGE
they’d
watch
on
ing inconvenience, interrup-
television.
With
a
rise
in
tion, and postponements.
Julianne
the
number
of
people
who
Perhaps the most notable
Malveaux
are homeless, there might
postponement was that of
be no television to watch.
the Martin Luther King, Jr.
While Dr. King chose to
celebration, which was to
identify with the poor, the
take place on Aug. 28, 48
homeless, the unemployed,
years after Dr. King gave
his historic “I Have A Dream” speech. many of the African Americans involved in
Thus, activities that were to span the week public policy have chosen to ignore them.
Former Congressman and Ambassador
were, instead, concluded with an interfaith
prayer service that drew more than a thou- Andrew Young spoke at the Interfaith
Service and invoked Dr. King’s line that
sand people.
If one adheres to the scripture (Romans “out of a mountain of despair, a stone of
8:28) that “all things work together for hope.” Indeed, the memorial is being
good,” it is possible to ruminate about any described as “a stone of hope.” “You and I
greater meaning in the postponement of the must become stones of hope in this world of
King celebration. It is interesting that one despair,” said Ambassador Young. In the
definition of postpone is, “to put off some- face of an economic downturn and the mar-
ginalization of the poor,
stones of hope would
organize, mobilize, and
lobby for laws that pro-
mote economic fairness.
Instead, we have meekly
accepted the extension of
Bush tax cuts, meekly
accepted rising poverty
and high unemployment.
I am perplexed that those
who are affected by this
thing until a later time, to defer”. Similarly, economy, and those who claim to advocate
the definition of interruption is “to stop or for them, have not been more effective in
hinder by breaking in”. Hurricane Irene just protest.
Our failures may have the most impact on
busted in to stop, to hinder, to defer. And
while the beloved Rev. Joseph Lowery said, the next generation, as increased child
“With all the things Black folk have been poverty has a negative impact on a young
through, no little hurricane can come to stop person’s later life chances. If we claim to be
us,” the fact is that Irene did exactly that, if stones of hope for the next generation, then
it is incumbent on us to make greater invest-
only in the short run.
To postpone is to defer. Isn’t that exactly ments in children and their parents.
what has happened to Dr. King’s dream? In
so many ways it has been deferred, espe-
Read the rest of this story online at
cially for the poorest of Americans, those
www.theskanner.com
who would have watched the celebration on
Marian wright edelman is a
lifelong advocate for disadvan-
taged americans and is the
President of the Children’s
Defense Fund.
om
Children in suburbs and communities
that haven’t experienced significant
rates of child poverty in the past are
struggling too
to do.”
Dr. King delivered those words
in Memphis on April 3, 1968—the
night before he was assassinat-
ed. In the months leading up to his
death, he was mounting a Poor
People’s
Campaign
urging
America to hear and see and “deal
with the problems of the
poor.” Dr. King’s vision of a new
America has not yet come to pass,
indeed is vanishing for the 43.6
million poor Americans including
15.5 million poor children, but he
believed that as a people we would
get there.
But that depends on our leaders
and the demands citizens place on
them. Addressing increasing child
poverty and parental joblessness is
the
very
first
step
the
Administration and Congress
must take as they return to
Washington and get back to busi-
ness. And it must be the top prior-
ity of governors in every state—
too many of whom are eager to
give tax cuts to the non-needy and
impose budget cuts on the neediest
including our children.
bil
45.9 percent since 2001. The
number of Ohio counties with at
least 25 percent of children living
in poverty more than doubled
from 15 in 2008 to 31 in 2009.
Rural child poverty was the
most common in Ohio followed
by urban child poverty. But in
these tough times, children in sub-
urbs and communities that haven’t
experienced significant rates of
child poverty in the past are strug-
gling too, and help and solutions
are urgently needed from Ohio’s
state and congressional leaders.
Ohio is far from alone. The
Annie E. Casey Foundation’s
22nd annual national KIDS
COUNT Data Book shows a sig-
nificant decline in economic well-
being for low income children and
families across the country over
the last ten years. The official
child poverty rate, which they note
is actually “a conservative meas-
ure of economic hardship,”
must have a kind of fire shut up in
his bones, and whenever injustice
is around he must tell it . . .
Somehow the preacher must say
with Jesus, ‘The spirit of the Lord
is upon me, because he hath
anointed me, and he has anointed
me to deal with the problems of
the poor.’…It’s all right to talk
about long white robes over yon-
der, in all of its symbolism, but
ultimately people want some suits
and dresses and shoes to wear
down here. It’s all right to talk
about streets flowing with milk
mo
Marian Wright
Edelman
increased 18 percent between
2000 and 2009. And they say,
“Although the recession is techni-
cally over, it is clear that a large
portion of America’s families con-
tinue to confront daunting chal-
lenges . . . Unemployment remains
high, median household income is
down, and many families have
depleted their savings and other
assets. As they struggle to recov-
er, families face the reality that
intergenerational economic mobil-
ity in the United States has not
changed much over the past 40
er
C HIlD W atCH
nn
“I
have the audacity to
believe that peoples
everywhere can have
three meals a day for their bodies,
education and culture for their
minds, and dignity, equality and
freedom for their spirits.” This
passage from Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr.’s acceptance speech for
the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize is part
of the Inscription Wall of the new
memorial honoring Dr. King on
the National Mall. But as we
honor Dr. King’s legacy in our
nation’s capital, the audacious
belief that every family should be
able to afford simple necessities
like enough to eat is at risk in
Washington, D.C. and across the
country. The poor are getting
poorer.
The Children’s Defense Fund-
Ohio, through the support of the
Annie E. Casey Foundation, just
released the Ohio’s KIDS
COUNT: 2010 Data Book, an
annual report that provides snap-
shots of the well-being of Ohio’s
children. With unemployment in
Ohio reaching 10.6 percent last
year, we found thousands of Ohio
children and their families pushed
to the front lines of economic suf-
fering. The overall poverty rate
for Ohio’s children was 21.6 per-
cent in 2009, jumping 16.8 percent
in a single year and increasing
august 31, 2011 The Portland Skanner Page 5