Tavis Smiley Says that Poverty is the New Slavery
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, KultureKritic.com
A new report released this week shows that poverty is the worst that it’s been since 1965. The typically embattled Tavis Smiley spoke to the issue this week on CBS, stating that we should all be concerned about the problem, and not just in a fleeting sense. According to Smiley, poverty is the new slavery, and with the data being what it is, it’s hard to say that he’s wrong.
“America has, of course, made great strides for freedom in regard to all of its citizens. But now America has regressed, and poverty is the new slavery,” Smiley said.
“The blinders are once again firmly affixed, and the necessary checks and balances have disappeared, making way for policies that coddle the wealthy, while the persistent poor, the working poor and the ‘new poor’ are ignored and rendered invisible.”
Smiley points to recent disparities between the amount of wealth controlled by the richest vs. the rest as an example of where our country has gone wrong on the issue.
“The fact that one percent of the nation’s richest individuals control 42 percent of the nation’s wealth is, to me, a stunning revelation in the wake of a recession,” says Smiley. “The 400 richest people in America, according to Forbes, have more than one trillion dollars’ of wealth. They each average $3.5 billion of net worth.”
Tavis, who has received criticism for pushing the issue of poverty during the reign of the Obama Administration, makes the accurate point that extreme wealth disparities can undermine the stability of an entire democracy.
“Poverty threatens our democracy, a democracy with a deficit dilemma that the poor are not responsible for, yet they pay the price,” he said.
What is most interesting to me about the continuous criticism that Tavis Smiley and Cornel West have endured for their remarks on poverty is that while people have certainly worked hard to discredit them, no one has been able to prove them wrong. At best, we’ve been able to push them to the side as irrelevant, claiming that their personal issue with President Obama completely invalidates what they are trying to say.
It’s time to elevate the dialogue with one simple rule: You can only shut down a critic by proving that they are wrong. You can’t just call them a “hater,” or claim that they are an Uncle Tom for mentioning that our nation has the worst poverty since Dr. Martin Luther King was alive. End the conversation with intelligent debate and not by simply shutting down their right to a free Democratic voice. We must remember that while Tavis and Cornel are not perfect, they were fighting for black Americans long before Barack Obama could even win a local election. They will still be fighting for black America when President Obama has retired to Martha’s Vineyard with all the other Harvard University alums.
What is also true is that in spite of the fact that the Obama Administration is choosing not to acknowledge Smiley and West on the issue of poverty, the reality is that they are on the same side of the table. President Obama has spoken on wealth inequality as a threat to the financial stability of our nation. Massive budget deficits could send the United States into a form of economic turmoil we’ve never seen. He understands clearly that you can’t have a stable society where the rich control such a vast majority of the nation’s resources.
One can only hope that everyone can come together to deal with the reality, which clearly shows that poverty and wealth inequality are huge problems in our nation. We can also hope (perhaps naively) that all egos can be checked at the door so that productive conversations can take place. While we can readily accuse Smiley and West of focusing too much on President Obama (at least initially), we can also accuse the Obama Administration of actively marginalizing every black person who actually spoke up and asked them to do something for black people. We are not here to work for the Obama Administration: they are here to work for us.
Egos exist on all sides of the table, not just on the side of Smiley and West. But perhaps we should realize that if we continue to focus on the petty aspects of this very important conversation, we are going to watch our nation and community continue to spiral into absolute economic chaos. This is something we simply cannot afford, the data tells us everything we need to know.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is a professor at Syracuse University and founder of the Your Black World Coalition. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.
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I agree with Mr. Smiley 100%
We have gone backwards as a people and nation.
Unfortunately this tragedy is is indeed on Obama’s clock.
Is Obama the cause of this crisis? Well that is left to be determined. However we cannot totally blame former President Bush.
It is Modern Day Slavery!
You may not be able to blame the economy crisis on President Bush along, just blame it on “Money, Power, and Wall Street”.
people should read more and stop listing to Travis Smiley and Cornal West, i respect their views, but they don’t know what caused the Worst economy crisis since the Depression.
Travis Smiley spoke on PBS, i guess he doesn’t take the time to read some of their article regarding the economy crisis.
Frontline Money,power, and Wall Street was produce by psb.org.
If Smiley had watch the vedio or read the article, he would know that it was De-regulations, Big Banks, and Wall Street Lobbyists that caused the problem.
President Obama installed Regulations his first year in office so the country wouldn’t experienced another crisis, thereby saving the Country from a Recession.
Fighting for black Americans, is not doing anything to help Black Americans, Smiley and West can fight until the turn blue, but if you never go out and speak to the black youth, then you can continue to fighting.
boyce, in your praise of the poverty pimps…you forgot to promote their book on poverty…the true motive!
AFRICAN-AMERICANS LOST THEIR FOCUS…DON’T BLAME THE PRESIDENT.
WE LOST OUR THIRST FOR GOD AND EDUCATION. WE CONSUME AND DON’T SAVE. WE BECAME LAZY AND DON’T WANT TO DO THE HARD WORK.
WE HAVE NO MORALS, BABIES HAVING BABIES AND TEENS IN JAIL. WE NEED TO LOOK IN THE MIRROR.
YOU ARE RIGHT ,BUT THAT IS ONLY ONE SIDE OF THE ISSUE ,WHAT ABOUT THE BLACKS THAT HAVE WENT TO COLLEGE AND GRADUATED STILL CAUGHT IN THIS CYCLE DUE TO RACE.WHAT ABOUT THOSE OF US WHO HAVE SAVED AND FIND OURSELVES LIVING OFF OF OUR SAVINGS(LIKE SO MANY WHITE PEOPLE),AND HOW ABOUT THOSE OF US WHO HAVE TAKEN JOB’S WAY BELOW WHAT WE ARE ACCUSTOMED TOO AND WE WORK OUR b**t’S OFF BUT STILL FIND OURSELVES
TRAPPED IN A POVERTY CYCLE DO TO UNEQUAL WEALTH DISTRIBUTION.THERE ARE A LOT OF US WHO DO HAVE MORALS AND VALUES AND DON’T HAVE BABIES BEFORE
WE CAN PROVIDE FOR THEM , BLACK TEENS ARE NO THE ONLY ONES GOING TO JAIL EITHER
OVER-STAND ONE REASON WHY SO MANY ALSO END UP IN JAIL IS BECAUSE THEY ARE THE MOST TARGETED .SO YES WE DO NEED TO LOOK IN THE MIRROR AND UNDERSTAND THAT WE ARE A DIVERSE GROUP JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER GROUP ,ALSO OVER-STAND THAT BLACKS ARE ALSO THE MOST HATED IN AMERICAN SOCIETY SO DO YOU THINK THAT MAY FACTOR IN JUST A LITTLE.JUST CURIOUS!!!!!
You’ve completely over simplified the problem no one has to look in the mirror. Those who are enlighten have to direct the blind to the light. Do you think this behavior is natural.. Your kids, your community, your people are being programmed to deny school, go to jail, and practice all sorts of self destructive behavior and who do you thinks funding all this programming? You got it the same guys that own all of Americans wealth. There’s a war going on and you are only paying attention to whats happening on the surfaces.. A master plan is being executed and if you don’t pay attention to it you will be one of the pawns it uses to advance its agenda.
I agree with Tavis also but the facts are, as a country we were already there when President Obama walked into the White House from day 1. Three and half years did not put us there. Until we as a race learn to stop purchasing the fancy cars, leave the credit cards alone, stop having 3-4 babies with no husbands or with a husband, educate ourselves, leave the drugs alone and learn to invest and save, until that day arrives, we will always be behind everyone else! I am not talking about those that lost jobs during the economy.
I agree with both Tavis and Boyce! Now a PLAN is needed. Who will host the first forum?
What would Mr. Smiley have the president do? How can we make policies only for black America? Blacks may me disproportionally poorer, but they are not the only poor. The President’s concern for poverty should be far reaching. On the other hand, community churches can do a lot more for their local community than anyone can. Poverty starts at a home, and then the community, and then as a nation. Applied financial literacy and education is the key to bridging the poverty gap.
“We must remember that while Tavis and Cornel are not perfect, they were fighting for black Americans long before Barack Obama could even win a local election. They will still be fighting for black America when President Obama has retired to Martha’s Vineyard with all the other Harvard alums.”
This is a croc of s**t. Tavis and Cornel just like Watkins now hasn’t done anything but talk about a problem that has been here since Slavery. You can talk about a problem until the cows come home and never do anything about it or even offer a solution you haven’t accomplished anything productive; infact it’s counterproductive. The fact that the poverty percentage is rising has nothing to do with this President and this administration and anyone who even insinuates it is a fool with another agenda. If these people genuinely cared about the poverty situation in the Black community they would be trying to come up with solutions rather than criticizing the President who really can’t do s**t about it even if he wanted to. They’re all educated, PHD’s and s**t; you’d think if anyone had the answers they would and be out there doing something about it rather than just talking about it. A bunch of d**n hypocrites who really need to shut the f**k up.
This is an old discussion and the president can’t fix this on his own; this is something that both repubs and dems need to really correct. We fail to correct illegal immigration, which causes many of the problems…paying into healthcare for ourselves and others who aren’t…paying for education for others whose parents aren’t citizens…jobs are being given to illegalls over union construction workers…the list goes on. So when you can fix this problem..then you can have a real discussion on economic disparity/growth..other wise..it’s a dead issue. Polical correctness on this issue is garbage. For twenty years, this issue by all presidents, have been swept under the rug…now we see the results!
TAVIS AND CORNELL WEST ARE BOTH RIGHT ,THAT’S WHY I DID NOT COME OUT AGAINST THEM ,WHEN THEY MADE THEIR REMARKS ABOUT THE OBAMA IDEAL.THEY ARE ENTITLED TO THEIR OWN OPINION RATHER WE LIKE IT OR NOT .ITS THE AMERICAN WAY!!!
Well I believe poverty is a mindset. If you choose to be poor and live in poverty that is your choice. My mother always worked but lived in the projects and I saw how women were having children happy getting their welfare checks and food stamps and displayed no real zeal for life and I said this is not for me, but it is easy to become a produce of your environment if you allow that mindset to overtake you. It will always be easier to blame someone else for your shortcomings in life and the hardest thing is to look at yourself and say I was created for GREATER than this. For those of you who have college degrees get with you classmates and open your own business I did with my faith and my savings no loans and things are going great.
bros need to got to school and stay there!!! everybody else is.
I agree with Tavis and Mr. West. I also agree that proverty is a mindset. We have to stop pointing the finger and take it upon ourselves to create our own jobs, etc. Regardless of your circumstances you can indeed rise above life circumstances or continue to wobble in the pool of pity. Life don’t owe you anything. Just the opinion of someone who was born and raised in public housing who made the decision to rise above her circumstances.
I have been saying that over and over in so many different words. Today I turned 53. How in the h**l am I to ever work hard all over again after doing so for the years I put in with the PA Dept. of transportation, and had my career taken from me in 2009 all becausae white vicious hater of a supervisor despised me and ADMITTED to setting me up for termination. How come I had no problems or issues for the years PRIOR to her becoming appointed but not annoited to supervise others? I think it is foolish for the EEOC to allow for a white vicious supervisor to condemn one who worked hard for years and for only for them to NOT investigate properly IF AT ALL because they stated they do not have the funds or time to investigate PROPERLY? So you are telling me it is much wiser to have a 53 year old to live on HUD, food stamps and a pension for only 16 years which dwindled down to only 13 years now with NO health insurance? When I was very much capable to pay my taxes, bills and roof over my head? Which is wiser – to rid of the entire EEOC and hyuman rights commission offices across this nation or to have vicious white people to destroy many jobs to place us back in to poverty when we were very well capable to handle our business all on our own? Talk about a country who really cares about thier people…HOW? Who is caring? Who is doing any d**n thing about this? NOBODY! and the EEOC still exist today! They are bunch of corrupt individuals, taking home decenet paychecks only to appease and comfort themselves. I was even told auditors went into the Harrisburg, PA offices and found OODLES of boxes fiilled with cases that were set in a corner for years never looked at. They always find justification for all thier wrong doing while the hard earnest working people sit suffering. Yes I get angry and state how I feel about America! I hope I live long enough to see the destruction that God Himself puts on this country for all their crooked wrong doing. i wll ait in my living room and Praise God for all the forthcoming news that FOX and CNN will report. I mean what else do I have t olose. I lost all I worked for. They may have taken me down to poverty but they will never take my faith in God away to sit back and watch His vengeance on all who abused me and the many others taken down by this crooked agency. I pray to God that one day soon they AND thier family members will be in the shoes I am now walking and even WORSE off. Praise God for His Power and all that sees while those who are out to destroy others sit behind closed walls THINKING no one else is watching them. May they starve, go homeless, and look for a Peace they will never have contact with. AMEN!
h**l No I will not VOTE FOR ANYBODYyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!
Ive read everything everyone has said, and im feeling alittle down. Yes im white..and i want to say “ive never seen color”.i was in fostet care until age 7,then was put in a home. Good home.we were never taught that anyone was differant. I was not raised with any kind of silver spoon in my mouth. My dad provided by a govermemt job..ordered parts for military vehicles.My family didnt teach me about what i would need to know to make it out in the world. They have pasted ..i got nothing. Thats ok.. I worked 3 jobs raising my two boys. About eight yrs ago i started having alot of medical problems.I was pegged Disable..i get Under 700.00 in disiblity and 200.00 on child support which is 19000 in the rears. Im 55 and ive got to say im in yur poverty.. A lot of us “whiye ” people are in this with you. I know everyones probably ready to give me an ear full but Im being truthful.I hope before the day i die i would love to see harmony with GODS “people” as Martin Luther King had wanted. Anyway I dont know who got “us” in this mess… But we need to work together and HELP one another out ..and FIGUE out “together” how to get oit of this mess.They hear one voice but a country together can move Heavan and Earth…we could try.
Ive read everything everyone has said, and im feeling alittle down. Yes im white..and i want to say “ive never seen color”.i was in fostet care until age 7,then was put in a home. Good home.we were never taught that anyone was differant. I was not raised with any kind of silver spoon in my mouth. My dad provided by a govermemt job..ordered parts for military vehicles.My family didnt teach me about what i would need to know to make it out in the world. They have pasted ..i got nothing. Thats ok.. I worked 3 jobs raising my two boys. About eight yrs ago i started having alot of medical problems.I was pegged Disable..i get Under 700.00 in disiblity and 200.00 on child support which is 19000 in the rears. Im 55 and ive got to say im in yur poverty.. A lot of us “white ” people are in this with you. I know everyones probably ready to give me an ear full but Im being truthful.I hope before the day i die i would love to see harmony with GODS “people” as Martin Luther King had wanted. Anyway I dont know who got “us” in this mess… But we need to work together and HELP one another out ..and FIGUE out “together” how to get oit of this mess.They hear one voice but a country together can move Heavan and Earth…we could try.
Making it plain, you can not take $$ from the wealthy and give it to the poor, It would be only a short while before they get it back again.
We in general do not know how to make $$ only how to spend it, every living cent we get our hands on, then look to someone else to help us out of the poverty.
I believe we had all better get a new grip, things are not nearly as bad as it’s going to get, the country as a whole is not doing well, when we recognize how great the debt is and how our budget is more than a Trillion dollars out of balance this year, the fact our President has spent 5 Trillion over budget in 3.5 years. we borrow .40 cent for every dollar we spend.
We had best learn to do for ourselves, recognize we can’t save everybody black or white,and that times are changing.
This country has been trying to be all things to all people, it has bankrupted us, open borders, to much safety net. to many taxes, to many regulations, poor government decisions. The EPA, The Fed, and others, DNC and GOP fighting for themselves and not the people.
Black people thinking the government is the cure for everything is a very large problem, we should not think they have our interest, they do not, not even the President, history has been made, he, President Obama is not great! We all want him to do well but…………history will show
For once I agree with Smiley, but there are other factors. True the Obama administration has neglected this issue, but then so has EVERY administration since the Johnson presidency. Daniel Moynihan’s “benign neglect” has been the order of the day since that time and it is catching up with the country and not in a good way.
The sad thing is that many Black people are trying to behave like slave owners.
Many of you speak on national terms of involvement.
It could be and I believe he is right.
In applying for positions at the very hospital I have been working at for 10+ years, I have watched them decide whether I get an “in person interview” or not.
They would ask me questions, via a phone interview and then decide whether I move on to the “in person interview”.
I knew I was qualified.
There are questions asked that allow them to decide.
They don’t want to see too many people anymore.
If I applied for a position which was not to my level, they will say one is overqualified and vice versa.
If one is willing to take an underpaying job, they don’t want to risk having to train and hire again but they can lay one off when they want.
So, yes, I do believe it is a new day slavery which pushes the qualified and underserved into any kind of sacrifice to make money if one is not creative or without means.
It is not just black people either!
We must help one another but help yourself individually and then you shall be able to help others better.
Peace!
With all we spew about the economy-the president this one and that ones philosophical view of our lack of everything especially our inability to join together for a specific goal or show some type of unity that will catapult us to a free state of consciousness; which enables us to
be self reliant.
Poverty has blanketed African Americans since the inception of America- what’s new? However the eighty Billion dollars that we spend ( African Americans) as a whole says a lot about the lack of community growth since 1965.
Boycott Christmas 2012
Is this about poverty or about racial inequality? The author jumps back and forth… Poverty is not just a “black thing.”
Also, why aren’t we asking WHY people are impoverished? Bush, Obama, or any other politician cannot make choices for us. Some truly do need help, some just need to make better decisions with the money they do have and with their lifestyles.
ELIZABETH . Shut your ignorant minuscule mouth up. You are either an arrogant white girl or an Uncle Tom black person. Talking about ” okay slavery is over; why don’t these blacks get themselves together? They don’t want to work, they are lazy, and criminal. I work everyday and I succeed in this country why can’t they do the same? We are all the same today.” You whites are sitting on a platform that “I” built with the blood and sweat of “my” black hands. Your America wad built by the slave. But this fact you want to conveniently blot out of your memory…..Correct? How dare you open your evil arrogant filthy mouth to speak? Six d**n ounces of intelligence but always got something negative to say about black people. Shut up.
Black people don’t have a chance at real success in this so called land of the free/America the land of liars. Until we get sick and tired of being sick and tired as a people (state to state) and start a revolution institutional racism and slavery will continue on. I am an african american 35 year old woman who has worked since I was 14 years old to overcome a family on drugs, having to raise my siblings and care for my drug addicted parents for many years to avoid the foster care system and managed to continue on through high school, attended some college and paid for my brother to graduate from college with a masters degree. I have a decent job making 45K-50K a year (pennies on the dollar if you are looking for the american dream) was a home owner before bad loans came about and drive a hemi. I have invested 10% of my salary each month and still can’t get ahead living from check to check whether I save my money or not I am 10K-20K away from poverty. My only childs college fund will probably not be enough
for college when the time comes in 10 years & my husband was recently laid off months ago and can’t find a job still and we haven’t saved enough to open our own business yet. Don’t tell me black peole are lazy and don’t want wealth!
The Obama Administration can’t change American history that is based on stealing land, killing people and destroying lives. Look at slavery, southern lynchings, the civil rights movement, NBC’s monkey coommercial, CNN talks about the president and all the other BS that goes on. I don’t care how much you know or how much money you have you still have to go through the slave
master to save or invest your money in banks. That is who is in control of the world right now and there is an underlying master plan to enslave black people all across america mentally and physically and they the slave masters will use anybody or anything that will aid them in this master plan including TV shows, rappers, actors and the world’s entertainment business that does this so well. And when most of us make it big or move into the million or billion $ income we are to good to look back and raise more millionares and give them the road plan to wealth for fear of not being accepted by the slave masters and most of us are so brainwashed that we don’t even recognize that none of the politicians give a d**n about “US” they aren’t going to fight for US. Change is not negotiated it is demanded. Sorry to sound violent but that is american history 101 and european history…kill or be killed. When you look at history and look at all the wars that were fought only the strong will survive and that is why these slave masters dont want us to even have an opportunity to excel in life because african americans rise to the top in everything we do in life whether it be sports, academics, crime or the entertainment industry. RECOGNIZE THE GAME IN 2012….THEY WANT TO KILL THE DREAM SO IT NEVER MANIFEST! Even the battlefield is not equally yoked in America! Black peope need to go back to creating our own industries and support our own lifestyles stop spending our money in industries that don’t cater or love “US” we keep
making america richer and keeping ourselves slaves to corporations and making everybody else in the world rich on our $$$$$. IT IS GOING TO TAKE A MIRACLE OR AN ACT OF GOD TO TURN THIS WORLD AROUND! TOTALLY FRUSTRATED WITH AMERICA the land of the so called FREE. WORds of a runaway slave in 2012!