I would like to give a speech rebutting claims by one of the Republican candidates for President, Newt Gingrich, that he made in a recent appearance regarding the way that poor children are raised. Specifically, he told an audience in Iowa that children who grow up in poor neighborhoods have “no habits of working” and aren’t used to receiving pay for effort “unless it’s illegal.” Going further, he said that “really poor children in really poor neighborhoods have no habits of working and have nobody around them who worksso they literally have no habit of showing up on Monday. They have no habit of staying all day. They have no habit of ‘I do this and you give me cash,’ unless it’s illegal” (Huisenga).
While one can certainly argue that parents in poor homes have less time and fewer resources to devote to helping their children, it is ludicrous to suggest that children in poor neighborhoods have no exposure to any sort of legal work ethic. Indeed, those children often have parents who are working more than one job at a time just to make ends meet. If anything, these children have much more exposure to that work ethic than their more affluent peers, who often arrive in middle school or high school with no real concept of the value of money. Instead, they just expect meals to appear on the table and clothes to appear in their closets; later on, they expect to be given cars and spending money. They just figure that money will keep showing up, month after month.
There’s something to be said for shielding your kids from the things you have to do to make your household thrive. Children shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not they will be able to eat, or whether they will have clothes to wear. However, there’s nothing wrong with letting children know that the reason their parents work is to provide those basic items – and those extras, such as vacations or trips to an amusement park. Children who grow up with no awareness of the value of their parents’ work often struggle when it comes time to support their own homes and design their own budgets.
Rhetoric like Gingrich’s, though, is irresponsible. While there are people in poor neighborhoods who turn to crime, there are people in rich neighborhoods who do the same thing. While there are people in poor neighborhoods who steal and deal drugs, there are people in rich neighborhoods who commit fraud and deal drugs. Crime is not exclusive to the poor. Additionally, ideas like his demonize the poor and seek to use stereotypes to make the rest of us view the poor as a separate species. Children from poor neighborhoods need exposure to the ways of the working world. While their overworked parents may not have time to sit down and explain the budgeting process to them, they can take the time to explain where each dollar goes, when the children are at an appropriate age.
Many children in poor neighborhoods want out of that lifestyle. They’ve seen their parents spend 40 hours as a janitor and 25 more hours working in a security lot, with no time or money for fun, and they just want a different way out. That is where Newt Gingrich should be focusing his efforts, trying to find ways for everyone to have access to the same opportunities for prosperity. If he spent more time doing that and less time bashing the working poor, I might think about voting for him. As for now – not a chance.
Works Cited
Huisenga, Sarah. “Newt Gingrich: Poor Kids Don’t Work “Unless It’s Illegal.” CBS News
1 December 2011. Web. Retrieved 5 December 2011 from
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57335118-503544/newt-gingrich-
poor-kids-dont-work-unless-its-illegal/
