Today one of my really lovely twitter followers tweeted about seeing certain types of books on offer at a dollar store.
MsM: Found myself in the book aisle of a $1.00 store today. All they had were Bibles & inspirational books = poor folks don’t like info. or lit.
To which I replied with: I’d be more inclined to think the buyers feel that the poor only deserve those selections considering content and dom(inant) culture.
This tiny exchange has pricked a bubble of venom I’ve probably been sitting on for quite sometime. I may say things in this post that cause folks to take umbrage. In some ways that can be a very good thing however I’d like to lay out some personal facts very quickly to head off any spurious arguments or accusations. First: I, personally, have shopped in American style Dollar stores within the last year. As a matter of fact, I’ve shopped in those types of stores my entire life because I have never made a wage or been part of a household that made a wage over the US federal poverty line. Second: While I hold a degree in a relevant field and am currently pursuing a career in publishing I am neither attacking nor defending ‘the industry’. Third, please don’t assume I’m trolling anybody or any organization deliberately as I am more than aware dollar stores are pretty much a necessity for many families in today’s hellacious economic climate. I’m also aware that any fool can print a book these days (vanity presses) and if they can swindle an even bigger fool, get a distribution deal. I feel that the types of books MsM noticed and that I, myself, have seen on the shelves of various dollar stores reflect a certain type of attitude towards poverty and a stereotype that needs to be constantly challenged; that of the ‘deserving’ poor.
There are so many issues surrounding the state poverty in America that desperately need to be addressed. Especially now that more and more of us are feeling that nip at the end of the month, the swamp hot breath of debt on the back of our necks as we juggle credit cards to pay off ridiculously toxic student loans or mortgages or cars. This however is the issue that speaks to me the loudest. I honestly feel that it isn’t a matter of poor folks being interested in finer literature or books featuring primarily facts and information, it is firmly a matter of availability. That lack of availability is directly tied to assumptions about what it means to be poor.
Let me take a moment to clarify some of these common assumptions. If you’re poor in America you are: stupid or lacking education, lazy, lacking in morals, self-discipline, confidence or a commitment to just work that much harder to get ahead. It’s almost always considered a personal failure on the part of an individual rather than a symptom of bigger issues and that, in my eyes, is where the lie of the ‘deserving’ poor is born.
Historically there has always been a class of people that no matter how hard they worked, how often they went to church or how honestly they lived, cannot seem to rise above being impoverished and these are the people those bibles and inspirational books are aimed at. Since everybody knows that being poor is such a miserable state of existence surely the deserving need some sort or comfort and IF someone not so upright purchases such a book surely it can only improve them.
I’m fully willing to entertain the idea that I’m reading too much into such a simple thing. Maybe my own experiences are tainting an innocent practice and I’m bitterly talking out of my ass. What do you think?
I saw the ways that attitudes toward me changed when my disability reached the point where I could no longer work. While I was able to work, I was intelligent, ambitious, and so forth. The moment I needed a cane, I was stupid, lazy and without a reason to exist.
ReplyDeleteI went from Middle Class to poverty almost over night, but not without a long fight not to end up there.
I feel, Cuss, that this is one of the true themes underlying part of the Occupy movement. The majority of the 99% posts that I have seen over the last month hinge on one critical event starting the downward slide. Sometimes it's small, like an unexpected bill and sometimes it is an individual's health but all it takes is one slip, then BAM! Debt central and the slow grind of poverty is your lot.
ReplyDeleteFor those of us that were born into poverty out-right, it is even more discouraging.