Poverty and Racism in the Age of Neoliberalism: The New Face of an Old Struggle

by Connor Harney

Eric Hobsbawm once wrote that, “The destruction of the past, or rather the social mechanism that link one’s contemporary experience to that of earlier generations, is one of the most characteristic and eerie phenomena of the late twentieth century.”[1]  These phenomena have only become magnified as the triumph of neoliberalism, and its correspondent postmodern philosophy have converged to create a society that no longer has any relevant connection to the past but rather reproduces itself with little to no notion of continuity or direction.  Rather, society is in a constant process of collective forgetting, due in part to news media.  In such a world, events appear as though from nowhere.  This piece was originally written in the wake of the Freddie Gray tragedy and its subsequent fallout and condescension on social media at the violent nature of the Baltimore protests. As events have unfolded, this article is just as relevant, and allows recent events to be put into a historical context.  Back in May, many of the more enflamed reactions have come from the white community, who for the most part are isolated from the realities of urban poverty, and thus, have no groundings in their own life to understand the constant pressures faced by people of color.  The past decades have seen a rise in neoliberal policies that have in short order shred the social safety net.  No social program is safe from the politics of austerity championed by both the Democrats and Republicans.  Public schools, welfare, and social security are all on the chopping block.  It is this movement, coupled with the already existing conditions of poverty, brought further emiseration to those residing in working class neighborhoods nationwide. 

On a recent trip to Washington D.C, I could feel revolution in the air. The discrepancies in income were visible even blocks apart. High-end grocery stores were less than a quarter of a mile from public housing, which created the appearance of a war zone. Barbed wire menacingly lined the walls of the façade surrounding these buildings. I was surprised at the lack of police presence at first sight. Instead, every building was watched by at least three private security guards. When police appeared, they appeared in full combat attire: flak jacket, helmet, and what seemed to be a semi-automatic rifle. It was obvious to me at the moment, that the only way to sustain such disparities in income was through this show of force. Only through the militarization of the police and the supplementation by private security can the tensions created by such a reality be eased. It is no surprise killings of young black men by white police officers has resonated such response public outcry across the nation. The riot is merely the means by which those living under these conditions have tried to make their voices heard. The protest is simply giving voice to the voiceless. 

To say that these movements have sprung up sporadically out of nothing ignores the historical currents in the last fifty years. With the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, some believed the work had been done, hence the idea of a post-racial America. Yet, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. explained in a speech in 1967, “The gains in the first era of struggle were obtained from the power structure at bargain rates. It didn’t cost anything to integrate lunch counters.”  Further, “It didn’t cost the nation a penny to guarantee the right to vote. Now we are in a period where it will cost the nation billions of dollars to get rid of poverty—to get rid of slums, to make quality integrated education a reality. That is where we are now.”[2]  King made this prescription nearly sixty years ago, but for the most part it has been unheeded.  Instead, we are in much the same place we were in 1967. This desire to gain economic and social rights along with the legal rights the black community had gained through legal channels gave birth to the black power movement of late 1960s and 1970s. It was this frustration in the lack of progress through non-violence that gave rise to black-nationalist groups like the Black Panthers and their paramilitary the Black Liberation Army. These groups were brutally repressed by the Federal Government throughout that period and rendered irrelevant as a force for mass mobilization by the early 1980s. While conditions have only deteriorated in many respects for the black community in more recent decades, for the most part organized movements have been few and far between. Instead, there have been infrequent uprisings against the continued oppression of poverty. The 1992 riots, for example were in response to the beating of Rodney King by the LAPD.  This vicious act of violence was broadcast for the entire world to see, and brought condemnation from human rights groups. 

In American society, poverty and race often go hand, and people of color are often disproportionately affected by fluctuations. The recession of 2008 has served to heighten existing disparities in wealth and brought upon a spirit of questioning of the very institutions that many in American society hold so dear. Occupy Wall Street brought forward a new dialogue that questioned the very tenets of capitalism. Suddenly, the rhetoric of the 1% and 99% became part of the everyday vernacular of many Americans. While the movement itself has petered out, its legacy still remains.  Today, low-income service workers are organizing across the country for a living wage. With all of these issues, there is one elephant continuously in the room, and that is the authority of capital and the capitalist system. To question any income equality is to question the very legitimacy of the system itself, and this awakening of consciousness has certainly shown no signs of slowing. Those who feel the failings of this system the most are the ones living in urban centers across the nation—as  they are slowly pushed out by the processes of gentrification and outsourcing, as well as cuts to social programs meant to curb the worst abuses of poverty. 

Black and Hispanic communities who represent generally between 20% and 40% respectively of those living in poverty nationwide are disproportionately affected by this turn of events. This stands in stark contrast to the white communities, which represent 10% or less of those living at the poverty level. In the District of Columbia mentioned above, this difference is even more astounding.  The black community represents 36% of those living in poverty and the white community represents only 5%.[3]  The real level of these discrepancies is probably much higher, as these statistics are calculated using the U.S. Census Bureau’s definition of poverty, which is woefully inaccurate.  For instance, the poverty threshold given for a family of five in 2014 was 28,695 dollars.[4] Given these convergences of forces, it is almost as if American society has written off the plight of these communities in favor of the continued progress for the rest. It seems that American society has decided that black and brown lives do not matter. Is it surprising, then, that a new level of consciousness has arisen, in the wake of violence against young black men and women by police in urban areas? The protests that have emerged in response and that will likely continue to do so, represent the woeful cry of the unheard, who feel they have been reduced to the level of sub-humans. 

One of the most frequent criticisms of these riots has been the destruction of property. This phenomenon can be explained and justified on multiple levels. First, businesses represent part of the apparatus of oppression. They represent the process of gentrification and are viewed by members of those communities as the invading armies of an occupational force. These businesses are symbolic of the urban diaspora of black communities from their homes. The traditional inhabitants are being replaced by urban white professionals, who bring with them skyrocketing property values that are for the most part untenable for those living on one or two minimum-wage jobs. There is also the understandable disillusionment with the system that has failed these communities. These protests have let out the pent up rage and cynicism of the black community like a social safety valve. Instead of rushing to judge the victims, it is our duty to question the very system that has relegated the vulnerable community to poverty and misery despite the promises of the 1960s, a system that has not only allowed the failing of the compact that was made all of those decades ago, but has choked, shot in the back, and severed the spine of the very will of the people. For those not convinced of the role of violence in protest, I will leave you with words of Malcolm X, who pointed out the hypocrisy of those who denounce protest simply because it does not comply with their own non-violent model for social change:  

If violence is wrong in America, violence is wrong abroad. If it is wrong to be violent defending black women and black children and black babies and black men, then it is wrong for America to draft us, and make us violent abroad in defense of her. And if it is right for America to draft us, and teach us how to be violent in defense of her, then it is right for you and me to do whatever is necessary to defend our own people right here in this country.[5]

We as a people should all stand in solidarity with the oppressed people of this nation, from Ferguson to Baltimore, and decry the violence of the state.  

Blogger Bio:

Connor Harney, 24, is a second year graduate student in the History Department at Appalachian State University. His specialization is in Latin American History, in particular, the Cuban Revolution. After he finishes his Master’s at ASU, he hopes to attend UNC Chapel Hill and complete a dissertation on the role of ideological pragmatism and its relation to the continuation of the Cuban Revolution. When not engaged in coursework, he enjoys all things fitness related, binge watching Netflix, and reading social and economic theory. 

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[1] Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Extremes: A History of the World, 1914-1991, New York, NY: Vintage Books, 1994, pg. 3.

[2]Martin Luther King Jr., “Hungry Club Speech,” May 10^th, 1967, http://www.thekingcenter.org/archive/document/hungry-club-speech (accessed September 25, 2015), pg 3.

[3]The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, “Poverty Rate by Race/Ethnicity,” State Health Facts, http://kff.org/other/state-indicator/poverty-rate-by-raceethnicity/ (accessed September 25, 2015).

[4] United States Census Bureau, “Poverty Thresholds,” Poverty, https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/data/threshld/index.html (accessed September 30, 2015).

[5] Malcom X, “Message to the Grassroots,” October 1963,  http://genius.com/Malcolm-x-message-to-the-grassroots-annotated/ (accessed September 25, 2015).