Confronting poverty, race and passivity
by Amanda Petersen
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Amanda Petersen
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“I had to hide in the bathroom last night when the cops took my Dad,” cried Joaquin, a wide-eyed 4-year-old boy who hardly ever spoke. We were finger-painting pictures for Earth Day.
Americus, another 4-year-old, said that he had heard gunshots outside his house the previous week.
Students at the House of Children Academy daycare need the time and healthy attention of adults. Assigned to work at the Academy by my scholarship program, I struggled with doubts about whether I could make any sort of impact on the children’s lives. Returning each day to the House of Children became increasingly difficult, confronting me with the unfairness and hopelessness each child faced.
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At the House of Children, the 4-year olds are learning
about how the sun makes things grow.
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My time spent at non-profits in Rome has made tragically clear to me that poverty affects blacks disproportionately more than whites. Of the 30 children enrolled in my class at the House of Children, 28 are black, one is Hispanic, and one is mixed race.
This government-funded daycare is in the middle of one of Northwest Georgia Housing Authority’s public housing complexes and across the street from Elm Street Elementary, a Title I school where 92% of the children attending are in the free/reduced lunch program.
As a Bonner Scholar at Berry College I am required to work ten hours per week at one non-profit organization each semester. The challenge is not finding the time, but rather the feeling of hopelessness. I give time and energy to some of the most vulnerable populations in my community, yet I felt like I cannot create lasting change.
Can I make a difference?
I moved to Rome, Ga to receive a quality education at a private college and to ride on a varsity equestrian team. While moving to Rome meant opportunities for my education, career development and self-growth, the children I worked with at the House of Children Academy knew few opportunities simply due to their race and zip code. I encouraged them to learn, and I tried to make their days engaging, but when they left for home I felt helpless and powerless.
I also interact with the Rome community as a cashier at a local coffee shop, Swift & Finch. Of the many people I have encountered at the shop, only two have been black.
Census data show that 47% of residents in Rome are white and roughly 27% are black. The numbers are not particularly striking, but where people live tells a different story. Adjacent to the House of Children is a neighborhood with the lowest average income levels in Rome — $11,000 per year.
In the area around the House of Children, that census data states that nearly a third live under the poverty line. This neighborhood is less than two miles from the Darlington School, where tuition ranges from $19,000 to $44,000 a year. Natural and man-made barriers separate the two communities; heavily forested land and residential buildings block Darlington residents and attendees from even seeing those who live in government-funded housing.
Who is to blame?
The lives of the members of the different racial groups seem to rarely intermingle geographically, socially, or even economically. There are major gaps – invisible people and areas of the city that struggle to live on $11,000 a year. Often such invisible communities are blamed for their poverty, yet there are many societal flaws and factors that contribute to the ever-constant cycle.
One community or one neighborhood cannot bring poverty upon itself nor end the cycle alone. Instead of ignoring sections of the community, it is the role of Rome’s residents collectively to care for others and to educate themselves on the present issues of race relations, wealth inequality and poverty.
If the House of Children had more volunteers, then the underpaid staff could offer more attention and support to children like Joaquin and Americus, who encounter the harsh realities of poverty each and every day. A host of non-profit organizations, including the William S. Davies Homeless Shelter, The Boys & Girls Club of America, and Action Ministries Rome, serve the neighborhoods of South Rome and help people scrape by, but with a more consistent network of volunteers their outreach could expand.
As the residents of Rome start to see, explore and attend to issues that affect other groups beyond their individual experiences then a unified community will emerge and positive change becomes a possibility — something that is long overdue.