The disparities in American culture

ARTICLE THAT RAN ON THE EXAMINER

 

There’s a saying that I’ve heard echoed in my family that goes something like this: “Someone’s got to be rich and someone’s got to be poor”.  I didn’t really understand it then since at the time, I thought that I didn’t fit either extreme.  My family wasn’t wealthy but we were by no means poor.  We always had a roof over our heads and somehow, we always managed to have just enough to get by.

            I had just crossed the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, coming from downtown Philadelphia into New Jersey when just to my left; I spied what initially appeared to be the tops of tents.  Someone had mentioned to me in passing that there was a tent city where people actually lived year round.  I didn’t believe it until I saw it for myself.

            To think that people live in conditions like this in one of the wealthiest nations in the world is not only a shame; it is a direct insult to humanity.  Have we become so engrossed in our own personal gain that we have forgotten that there are people far worse off than we can ever imagine being ourselves?  Have we become so numb to the plight of our fellow man that we forget that somewhere out there, someone is going without the barest of necessities?

            I don’t begrudge wealthy people their wealth; but the simple reality of the matter is that we are living in a time where the wealthy do indeed get wealthier and the poorer get poorer.  Transition Park is a place located in Camden, NJ were people actually live because they simply have no place else to go.  It is a place initially established as temporary residence until permanent housing can be found for the people that have to live there.

            There are those who will go about their daily business thinking that the poor of this country have a roof over their head even if it is in a run-down tenement somewhere, and those that don’t are simply mentally ill or have a substance abuse problem.  This may be part of the problem.

            But when you get to the heart of the matter, the gap between the haves and have nots is simply too great to ignore.  As I look at these pictures, I can’t help but think that somewhere, there’s someone that is upset that they will have to forgo one of the three vacations that they are allowed to take this year.  That is a reality for some of the citizens of this country.  I look at these pictures and I realize that this is just as much a reality for citizens of this country, and I can’t help but think of another saying that I grew up with.  That saying is: “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

J.L. Whitehead