THE OTHER SIDE OF AMERICAN LIFE Poverty Amidst Prosperity

Review of Life in the 1950s/1960s We discussed prosperity during the 1950s and 1960s and how most Americans were better off than before. Do you believe this was true for all Americans? If yes, why? If no, what groups were not part of the “new prosperity”?

Key Vocabulary Ideas Poverty Line: figure the government sets to reflect the minimum income required to support a family Urban Renewal Programs: replace slums with high-rise buildings for poor residents in an effort to remove poverty Juvenile Delinquency: Antisocial and/or criminal behavior of young people Facts of the Times 20% of America lived in poverty during the 1950s Urban Renewal led to crowded housing with plenty of violence Government removed poor once they earned higher income, putting them back into poverty Juvenile delinquency up 45 percent between 1948 and 1953

African Americans Moved to cities for better economic opportunity in the past (think about everything we’ve discussed already in class) Racial discrimination in schools, housing, hiring, etc. kept African-Americans poor and stuck in the cities Generally averaged only 51% of what white workers earned and often did not receive other benefits

Hispanics Bracero Program brought over 5 million workers to the US to work on farms and ranches in the Southwest 350,000 stay in the US permanently but lived in extreme poverty Worked long hours, received very little pay, housed in small shacks Largely invisible in society until they organized for greater rights

Native Americans Poorest ethnic group in America; made up less than 1% of the population Termination Policy intended to bring Native Americans into the mainstream and ended their classification as a separate legal group Government attempted to have Native Americans move out of reservations and into cities with horrible results and life expectancy for Native Americans was far lower than other groups within cities

Appalachia Stretches from New York to Georgia Unemployment soared and economy moved away from coal (roughly 1.5 million people without work) Standard of living very low (example: fewer doctors per 1,000 people than anywhere in the US; schools worse than inner-city schools of the time) High rates of infant mortality and nutritional deficiency

Short Answer/Discussion Does this idea of “The Other Side of American Life” still exist today? If so, how? Do these examples disprove the idea of the American Dream?

U.S. Census Bureau Poverty Thresholds, 2011 Size of Family UnitPoverty Threshold One person (unrelated individual)$11,484 Under age 6511,702 Age 65 or older10,788 Two people14,657 Householder under age 6515,139 Householder age 65 or older13,609 Three people17,916 Four people23,021 Five people27,251 Six people30,847 Seven people35,085 Eight people39,064 Nine people or more46,572 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Weighted Average Poverty Thresholds, 2011, released in September 2012.