Simmering beneath the surface

In light of the recently revealed video footage of Republican Candidate Mitt Romney, I’d like to take the time to write my response to the implications of his opinions of the American public. I do not want to fall into the trap of slamming him as a person, although I am not a supporter, but rather take the opportunity to reflect on American society.

While it is easy and understandable for people to be utterly dumbfounded and angered at Mr. Romney, I caution against simply seeking revenge. His words are not solely a reflection on his own perspective and person, but that of what lies simmering beneath the surface in our society. While I believe we are all accountable for our actions and words, I also feel that our society fosters an incredible ignorance about recognizing the institutionalized and internalized discriminatory practices that lie at the heart of discrimination and prejudice.

I have heard arguments that affirmative action is a joke and that there are so many opportunities for people of color that we’ve turned into a society of reverse-racism. I see people writing about how black and Latinos are just asking for handouts and they refuse to work hard. I also continue to see staggering statistics about poverty, discrimination, and prejudice throughout the U.S. that indicate discrepancies amongst different racial and ethnic groups. Just because we have eliminated Jim Crow era policies does not mean we have taken all the necessary steps to change the societal views that made those policies possible in the first place. I know writing as a Chicana will make some people immediately dismiss my views. Been there done that. I hope, however, that my words will still resonate with some.

I see a fallacy in the logic behind using stereotypical images that we have recently been bombarded with to make policy decisions. We have a country supposedly filled with welfare queens and parasitic Latino immigrants that need to taught a lesson and removed from society. Apparently this will solve most of our problems. Policymakers seem to be echoing images from the Moynihan report from 1965. We still think that there are cultural inequities amongst poor and non-white households that make them inherently susceptible to “bad behavior” and staying in poverty. What we’re doing is mixing up causality with correlation, to use some statistical jargon. Just because more blacks and Latinos are living in poverty than whites does not mean that their identity caused their poverty. We need to dig deeper than just demographic data. There are many people in the U.S. who genuinely believe in Mr. Romney’s platform and who identify with his perspectives on “the rest of us”.

Peter Edelman recently came out with a piece in the New York Times that hits the nail on the head. He argues that there are four reasons why poverty continues to be a problem in the U.S.

“An astonishing number of people work at low-wage jobs. Plus, many more households are headed now by a single parent, making it difficult for them to earn a living income from the jobs that are typically available. The near disappearance of cash assistance for low-income mothers and children — i.e., welfare — in much of the country plays a contributing role, too. And persistent issues of race and gender mean higher poverty among minorities and families headed by single mothers.”

Obviously the issue of poverty is much more complex, but these four reasons are clear and articulate. People are not poor because they choose to be or because they are lazy. People are poor, generally, because they are born that way. While there are opportunities for growth in the U.S., there are equally as many, if not more, barriers. By promoting more accurate, clear, and powerful research I believe people’s knowledge of what poverty means will improve. I also believe that by better understanding poverty, we can begin to break down the discriminatory beliefs and practices that are common across the nation. Continuing to foster hate will only widen the fissures throughout our society.

Before we start blaming Romney for being the worst racist out there, I think we need to see why his words are understood and felt by many. If we do not take the time to see and comprehend other people’s perspectives, a practice I believe Mr. Romney suffers from, we will not be able to bridge the social and cultural rifts that are growing throughout our society.