WILL THE 2012 POLITICAL CAMPAIGN EXPAND THE CLASS WARFARE RHETORIC, USING POOR KIDS AS JANITORS AND THEREFORE DUMB DOWN THE VALUE OF EDUCATION!!
Hello Bloggers/Readers, I hope all of you are continuing to communicate and engaging in meaningful discussions about what’s happening in this country!! I just returned from NYC and was listening to Newt Gingrich elaborating about poor kids with no work ethic and no working parents to teach them work habits…thus unable to “report to work on Mondays”. He then suggested the poor young kids could become janitors or assistant janitors at the schools to sweep floors and mop toilets to teach them how to work and the ability to make some money. Newt is obviously implying that the poor young kids, from the projects, are of elementary or high school age, even if it violates child labor laws!!
It’s funny to me how people who have never experienced being poor or who haven’t lived in poor housing or projects… Or had to depend on parents that were not well educated …or who never had a decent jobs themselves, can present themselves as an expert in the lives of poor people. How they think, how they parent and how they raise their kids. Yes, some poor parents don’t make the right parental decisions, but I submit to you, there are a lot of rich parents who fall into this same description. It makes me recall of a period in my life when I was growing up in a poor black ghetto area of Chicago and during discussions with some white friends about how tough it was, they would say to me ” I know how you feel”. I would laugh because they really couldn’t know how It felt for me or any black person, until they had actually walked a mile, a foot or an inch in in our shoes. Shoes that my mom would put pieces of card board inside …so that the holes in the bottom soles would be covered to protect my feet. We couldn’t afford to buy me new shoes and had hand me downs. I think Newt should go to some of the projects in poor neighborhoods and see how many parents are leaving early in the morning to drive, catch buses, ride subways, all going to WORK!! There are a lot of poor kids who never see where their parents work!! My Dad was a laborer, my Mom was a janitor. I never went with them to their jobs and they didn’t make much money. We were still poor.
Yes, Newt’s comment made me mad. I know some poor kids have paper routes, some work in stores packing and unpacking boxes and some work in barber shops sweeping hair off floors. I think it is very disingenuous to lump all poor kids or all poor parents who lack a job, as parents who are unable to teach their kids work habits. I think this kind of statement borders on a supercilious attitudes of being better than the less fortunate or racial superiority. From Gingrich’s background and where he raised, it can be said that the poor kids he is referring to are primarily poor black and Hispanic kids, although we all know there are poor white kids that would fit under his umbrella. He never discussed rich white kids who also don’t have proper work habits or work ethics, who can sit in front of their TV’s and play video games or text on their 4s phones. Their parents have enough money to put them in the good schools, get them good jobs and put money in their pockets. The rich kids’ parents also had parents who had money and so on and so forth!! The other poor kids don’t have that advantage to provide them a better life.
Yes, in any group or groups of people you will have the haves and the have not’s; that is what class warfare is all about. It is wrong to group all poor people in these terms. That is why today we have the 99% versus the 1%.
Finally, what is “his” value of the importance of education. How much education do you need to sweep floors or mop toilets? Would your employer need to see your high school diploma or a college degree to give you that job?? Maybe Newt’s opinion is that some poor kids are better suited for the position of assistant janitors in the child labor force and can develop the work habits and ethics to eventually become the LEAD janitors in their adult life!!
He is now trying to clarify the intent of his statements was to help poor kids; in order ” to get America working again, you have to teach some Americans how to work.” What about the jobs bills that Congress won’t pass?? Why isn’t he challenging the rich politicians in Congress to do something about getting America back to work and out of our massive unemployment, instead of constantly playing the political gamesmanship.
In the beginning of this blog post, I used the term “dumb down of education”. During Gingrich’s comments he made no reference of helping poor kids get the proper education to get jobs other than being a janitor. He even suggested that the poor kids could mop toilets and sweep floors during school hours to make money and gain work experience. How about supporting methods to help these poor kids become doctors, lawyers, teachers or even engineers? Let’s see if Gingrich and Trump will add these job trades to their so called attempts to help poor young kids.
Well bloggers/reader what do you think?? I’m sure we were not all born rich, but, did you have any work habits, work ethics or realize that if you did have a job you would have to report for work on MONDAYS? !! Gingrich…opened his mouth and inserted his FOOT!! Keep blogging and communicating!!
