Panel examines American poverty

Newly crested University professor John Edwards has set his sights high and is ready to build an army of students to combat poverty nationwide.

“We’re not here for the purpose of filling your heads with statistics and numbers,” he told students in a standing-room-only auditorium at the UNC School of Government on Tuesday. “We’re going to ask you to join in on this cause.”

The former U.S. senator and vice presidential candidate — who recently accepted a part-time, two-year faculty position to lead the new UNC Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity — said that the center’s base is Chapel Hill but that its work will tackle poverty problems throughout the nation.

“This is a chance for UNC to be the focus of a national effort to end poverty,” Edwards said during an interview Tuesday.

Poverty in the United States is both vast and complex, making it a difficult enemy to defeat, he said.

The number of U.S. citizens living below official poverty thresholds numbered 35.9 million in 2003, according to statistics compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Edwards focused on the issue of poverty during his 2004 presidential race, making it the crux of his “Two Americas” campaign speech. Many political analysts believe he’ll run again in 2008, though Edwards hasn’t laid out definite plans.

The poverty center sponsored its first event Tuesday, a discussion panel centering on important facets of the cycle of poverty.

“Poverty is not a problem,” said Pulitzer Prize-winning author and poverty scholar David Shipler. “It is a cluster of problems that interact with each other and magnify each other.”

A key component of the poverty struggle in the United States is the growing asset gap, panelists said.

“You can argue that the single biggest component is the asset gap,” Edwards told the audience. “It’s enormously important because it affects the security of people. … They (must) have something to fall back on.”

Unlike income, which is used by the U.S. government to measure poverty, assets — such as a house, a car, or a savings account — provide a family with the means to advance in modern society, panelists said.

“The absence of assets saps from people a sense of power,” Shipler said.

While the average white household claims $80,000 in assets, the average black household claims $6,000 and the average Hispanic household $8,000, panelists said.

Shipler compared income to a still photograph — the dollar amount tells the story of a moment in time.

Assets, he said, are like a moving picture. They provide a good credit base that can allow a person to qualify for loans and acquire enough funds to afford an education, a larger home or a business.

“Income gives freedom to make short-term choices,” said panelist Martin Eakes, founder and chief executive officer of Self-Help, a Durham-based community development lender. “Assets give the freedom to make long-term choices.”

During the past 25 years, Self-Help has provided more than $3.8 billion to about 40,000 minority and low-income families, whose loan requests often are rejected by lending firms.

The testimony of panelist Loretta Smallwood-Johnson bolstered the theories of the other panelists.

A few months ago, Edwards met Smallwood-Johnson and decided her story could provide hope for other Americans fighting poverty.

Smallwood-Johnson brought home $212 a week to her five children for 14 years but eventually rose above adversity, she said. Through the resources provided to her by various community development programs, she was able to build enough credit to start her own business.

Her Aurora-based restaurant, Loretta’s Pizzeria, employs eight people and is flourishing, she said.

“There’s still struggles, there’s still challenges, but I will never go back,” Smallwood-Johnson said. “This is a woman on the move.”

Edwards added that poverty affects all Americans, regardless of race, class or location.

“The strength in democracy is in a strong, thriving middle class,” he said. “This is not just about the poor and the people who are suffering.”

Emphasizing the need to empower and mobilize young adults in this cause, Edwards said, “I want your generation to make poverty the cause of your generation.”

 

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.

A few months ago, Edwards met Smallwood-Johnson and decided her story could provide hope for other Americans fighting poverty.

Smallwood-Johnson brought home $212 a week to her five children for 14 years but eventually rose above adversity, she said. Through the resources provided to her by various community development programs, she was able to build enough credit to start her own business.

Her Aurora-based restaurant, Loretta’s Pizzeria, employs eight people and is flourishing, she said.

“There’s still struggles, there’s still challenges, but I will never go back,” Smallwood-Johnson said. “This is a woman on the move.”

Edwards added that poverty affects all Americans, regardless of race, class or location.

“The strength in democracy is in a strong, thriving middle class,” he said. “This is not just about the poor and the people who are suffering.”

Emphasizing the need to empower and mobilize young adults in this cause, Edwards said, “I want your generation to make poverty the cause of your generation.”

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.