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Race and Poverty in America

03/06/01

I rent a car, battle the LA freeway system and arrive in Irvine for an interview. I cruise around Orange County and then up the coast to Long Beach. In Long Beach I head north up Lakewood Blvd. and then West into Compton. I have always wanted to spend some time in South Central Los Angeles and today is the day. I cruise around South Central LA, check out the various sites and intersections where the Rodney King riots took place and then parked the Jeep in Watts and walked around. I visit the Watts Towers of Simon Rodia (very interesting I thought) and explore some of the neighborhood on foot. As a white guy in a suit in the middle of Watts I got quite a few second glances, but everyone I talk to is very friendly. After exploring Inglewood and other neighborhoods I cruise up Vermont Avenue where I park my rented wheels and walk around the University of Southern California. Nice place to study! After seeing the campus and reading about USC's history, I walk around Exposition Park and then check out the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. After cruising all over the area and towards downtown LA (I have to make sure I hit the 33rd district mind you) I cruise back West all the way up to Wilshire Blvd. and take that lovely road to the Ocean, before turning the steering wheel north up the coast. I return to Studio City and then venture into Pasadena for the evening. By the end of the day, I am quite content to never see another car in Southern California--not too likely!

Reflection:

I do love this project of mine, no matter how ridiculous it may seem! Any project that makes a young man walk around Watts with as much enthusiasm as Beverly Hills is a worthwhile endeavor. It is frustrating sometimes, with all the districts in L.A. but I am vigilant. If I had taken my Latin classes in college as seriously as I take visiting these districts, I probably wouldn't have gotten a D my fourth semester of Latin! Oh well, Carpe Diem!

Must there always be a Compton for every Bel Air? I often contemplate this question. America is largely divided by class, and often by race. This fact has troubled me often upon my journeys. Racial and class divisions are apparent in Southern California and just about every other major metropolitan area. Yet, it is important to note that the vast majority of Americans live neither in the ghetto, nor in a gated estate. The average American lives in relatively safe and prosperous communities. But still, why such glaring differences? Family breakdown, drug and alcohol addiction, mental illness, poor schools and lack of economic opportunity are all causes of poverty in America. Historical legacies of racism and displacement certainly play a role as well. Hard work, a good education, strong families, a roaring economy and the American spirit of enterprise are all causes of prosperity. But, back luck and good luck certainly play parts in the equation as well. A kid can't help where or to whom he or she is born and that makes a damn lot of difference. A kid born in Watts has a tougher time than one born in Brentwood, no doubt about it. Overall though, California is incredibly prosperous. A rising tide raises all boats. May America never forget her boats on the verge of sinking.

Throughout the day while driving, I listened to Spanish radio stations. The Spanish influence on Southern California is very great. In America in general. I believe the 2000 census will be the first time Hispanics pass African Americans as the largest minority group in America. There were parts of my journey where I felt like I was in a Latin country. The Spanish culture is good for America: Latinos are hard-working, family oriented, religious and patriotic. With these values, like so many immigrants before them, Latinos are destined to prosper in America--and America will prosper as well.

Issues of race and poverty and very difficult to discuss in our politically correct culture, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be discussed. All parts of America should be safe for all are citizens--that isn't racism, that is patriotism. Southern California opens one's eyes to a very important fact about race in America: it is not just about black and white, it is about Latinos, Asians and many others as well. People tend to think about race in terms of black and white, but a few driving trips throughout L.A. enlightens one to the fact that racial tensions, and the great contributions that the melting pot brings to America, is much deeper than black and white.

It is important to me that I visit all the diverse parts of America. Walking around the Watts Towers and surrounding neighborhood I couldn't help but think of all the people who have never visited that historic neighborhood out of fear. Sad, our urban areas hold many treasures and many good people. No place on the map should be neglected due to fear. And so, I venture on!

Congressional Districts:

Congressional Districts: California # 46, 33,35,37,27, (305 Left to Visit)

03/08/02

After recording my entry I left the roach motel (the place smelled pretty bad considering the toilet didn't work) and hit the highway. I set the cruise control on Hoya 1 near 100 mph and stayed in the passing lane. Hoya 1 is definitely an alpha male of the highway and he doesn't like it when road construction or other cars get in the way. We cruised through Arkansas then turned south at Forrest City. In Marianna I stopped at the Judy Wudy Fish Wagon for some fine catfish sandwiches. There, I engaged the proprietors in conversation about fishing, politics, Clinton and Bush. It was an interesting conversation where I learned first hand some of the views of rural southern blacks. Everyone I talked to said they loved Clinton but despised Bush. One guy said Bush was a "thief" and another that Bush senior was responsible for crack cocaine. I just asked questions, gave them a copy of my article and enjoyed the catfish. From there I drove along some very rugged roads near the river, really seeing the rural south. I continued along the Delta seeing a number of impoverished areas, mostly black. They may love Clinton down here, but "the greatest economic expansion in history" which he was so fond of talking about didn't seem to have benefited these people too much. I crossed the Mississippi and drove down the Delta on the Mississippi side before cutting across country roads to Oxford. There I walked around the lovely Ole Miss campus, feeling a bit sad that everyone (especially those Ole Miss ladies) was gone for Spring Break. A campus without students is a bit like a circus without clowns, not much fun. I was going to sleep underneath the magnolia trees but was told by a lawn attendant to move on. Fatigued I get a $30 dollar motel room where I record this entry.

Reflection:

While driving through Arkansas along a rural road I stopped by a cotton field. I picked up a piece of cotton, held it up and cursed that crop by saying, "Damn you cotton." One cannot really see America and escape race and the aftermaths of slavery. The evil legacy of that sin will always be with us. Yet, politics is a strange business. Those rural southern blacks I talked to loved Clinton. The Republicans should have spent more time learning from Clinton and less time hating him. Clinton knew how to talk to average people--Americans like that. Republicans have a problem with blacks, no doubt about it. But blacks should have a problem with Democrats more than they do. Blind allegiance to a party doesn't benefit a group. Furthermore, to really improve black America you need to improve education, and the teachers' unions hold on the Democratic party and public education prevents real change from happening. Politics is complicated, and an ugly business at that. Yet, it is fascinating and a most necessary evil.

Two days in a row I ate at food joints where I was the only white person there. Add food and where we eat to music, worship, and where we live to show the segregation of American society.

As for me, I am very tired. My bills are paid for March (I arranged this before leaving) but my funds and credit are limited so I am really pushing myself. My eyes were bloodshot all day from the lack of sleep and the thousands of miles over the last week are catching up with me. Yet, I am hungry for more. This is my passion and I plan on following it. I love my journey, yet sometimes I wish I had a wife, family and home. This has been an enormous task, one I dearly love because of the challenge. I have dropped everything for it and put myself into major debt to do it. I never regret my decision, but I would like to settle down one day. But first, the life of the political cowboy continues…..

Congressional Districts:

Congressional Districts: Ark # 1, Miss # 1 (201 Left to Visit)

Reflection:

Congressional Districts:

03/09/02

I wake up and explore some more of Oxford, stopping at the public library to check some emails. From there I drive to Tupelo, where this Hound Dog heads north along the Natchez Trace Parkway. If one ever wants to see the beauty of the rural south, I suggest they take that lovely route full of fields, pines and rolling hills. I stop a couple places along the way for brief hikes before heading west in Tennessee along Highway 64. I drive through rural southern Tennessee before venturing briefly into Georgia. I roam around downtown Chattanooga, buying a used book on Andrew Jackson before checking into a joint along the road. I wanted to march on to Knoxville but found myself rather tired from the 4 hours of sleep I received last night at that noisy, dump of a motel. I don't like staying at motels, but when I have no place to stay and am completely exhausted I often do. I don't care so much about having a bed, I have slept on couches and floors numerous times, as much as I do having a place to write. I like having a table so I can record my journal entries.

Reflection:

In Mississippi I saw a truck with both a confederate and an American flag. Contradiction? Not necessarily. Seeing the Stars and Bars next to the Stars and Stripes might appear strange, but I have seen enough to explain this phenomena. Americans are a big people with numerous allegiances. We can be both southern, and American. Both African-American and American. Both Native American and American. The memorials to Jefferson Davis and Martin Luther King in Alabama, the statues to Indians and cowboys in Oklahoma and the confederate and American flags in Mississippi all demonstrate that Americans have not one but numerous identities. While these identities create conflict at times, they need not be contradictory. A proud people can have various allegiances.

Throughout my drives in the rural south I saw numerous black farmers. That is something one almost never finds in the Midwest. Indeed, you would be hard pressed to find many black farmers in Minnesota, Iowa or Wisconsin. Many white people tend to think that all blacks live in inner cities--not true. Just like numerous differences exist between urban and rural whites, so too do many differences exist between urban and rural blacks. Walking around a small black town in the Delta is a much different experience than walking around Compton or south Chicago.

Congressional Districts:

Congressional Districts: TN # 3, GA # 9 (199 Left to Visit)

03/19/02

A very rainy day greets my stay in Dallas. I get a haircut, wash some dirty underwear and then head out. I visit SMU, walking around that very nice campus and then touring North Dallas and the Park Cities despite the downpour. I was somewhat awed by the spectacular wealth found in the Northern suburbs, some of the homes rivaled Beverly Hills in size and majesty. Later that evening Burke and I went downtown, grabbed a drink on the West End where I fought off a drunk married woman and then saw where Kennedy was assassinated. After cruising around town for over an hour we called it a night.

Reflection:

The Delta versus Dallas. How can there be such absolutely incredible differences in wealth? This is a difficult question, but not unanswerable. In the Delta, agriculture is the industry. In Dallas, banking, law, computers and technology, defense and aerospace and telecommunication firms employ people. Knowledge based economic bases obviously have higher paying jobs than farm-industry jobs. When you see the great differences in wealth (and America certainly has this) one has to ask why? First, people who are wealthy did not steal their wealth from poor people. Rather, they created it through new ideas, innovation and hard work. People on the Left often try to exploit economic differences with an us against them mentality. This is wrong. Yet, race does play a major factor in poverty in America. Everywhere I go, I find that the poorest neighborhoods are usually black. Something happened to black Americans that didn't happen to other groups--that was slavery. The aftermaths of that evil institution remain with us to this day. Bringing the opportunities, innovations and spirit of enterprise found in North Dallas to the Deltas of America is no easy task, but it can be done. A rising tide raises all boats….in Dallas and in the Delta.

Congressional Districts:

Congressional Districts: TX # 26, 30 (176 Left to Visit)