I had the good fortune to attend a few comedy shows in the past year. In a time of intense division, stress and anxiety, going to a comedy show is a great way to escape. There was one thing, though, that I noticed during each of the shows. One was a political comedian, another was a well known Filipino comedian and the last comedian was a white guy with a primarily Black audience. They all brought up one joke that wasn’t necessarily funny. They brought up that they’d never seen so many poor/homeless white people until they came to Denver.
They were noticing something that I’ve lived with for quite a long time and I think that there is some insight into the issue of poverty, policy and what I’ve learned and observed as a Black woman experiencing white poverty in a primarily white city. This insight I think will also show you why I think Americans are completely unserious about tackling poverty, because of how I see people reacting to the white poverty in my town.
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Show Notes
Before I get into this conversation, it’s important to point out that there is a lot of money in the city of Denver and the state of Colorado. We have a pretty robust echo system of services available to people in the event that they need help and support when times are tough. Let’s be clear, these are imperfect services. I would love to see the city eliminate a large part of our police budget and allocate that money towards services. Around 2000 I started noticing that I was seeing more poor white people. Not necessarily the people who come to the state to hang out and live a counter culture lifestyle. This was something different. With each passing year it has gotten worse.
Welcome to Michelle is Money Hungry, I’m your host Michelle Jackson and I focus on holding financial conversations that lean into social equity, policy and access with a splash of pop culture. My goal is to lead these conversations with empathy and help both my listeners and myself learn more about money along the way. I’m gearing up for my next season of content focused on the unexpected financial turning point in American women’s lives. I’m still looking for brand partners to bring this project to life, if you’re interested in partnering with me feel free to reach out via my email: michelleismoneyhungry@gmail.com or you can DM if you follow me on Twitter. If you would like to be a guest, pay attention to my social feeds for more information.
Soon, encampments were cropping up, things were trashed (for Denver) and the city has the distinctly dystopian vibes that most US cities seem to have nowadays. With extreme wealth and poverty awkwardly coexisting next to each other with flashpoints of friction that would come up from time to time. Because I’ve lived close to the financial edge before I am very aware of how easy it is to slip into the type of poverty that is very difficult to get out of.
What’s interesting about what’s happening in Denver is how I notice people reacting to the people that they’re seeing struggling outside in the world.
- Statistically, Black women have the highest rate of poverty in Denver based on population. However, because white citizens make up a significant percentage of homeless residents, what you see on a daily basis are homeless white people.
- In a city that is solidly progressive as Denver, we have some unique programs such as the STARS program that is deployed when folks are having a mental health crisis (it’s deployed a lot) or the Safe Outdoor Spaces program which provides much needed stability for participants by providing tents in secured private parking lots. I have a lot to say about this program. They’re doing good work but it snows in Denver and it bothers me that we have people in tents like refugees. I’m still not sure how to reconcile how this makes me feel. There’s even a Universal Basic Income program that is currently being tested in I think it’s 2 or 3rd year.
- But, when I tell you that as a Black woman watching white people struggle and the shocking response to it by community members tells me everything about why the US is not serious about helping folks in need when they’re down.
- Here are just a few of the reactions that I’ve observed in person or online about poverty in Denver.
- Suburban Denverites and folks who don’t live near the city are visiting for the first time since COVID and are shocked to see visible poverty. I’ve literally heard people say “those people live in filth” Well, Jan, there’s no trash services available to you when you live on the streets.
- Why don’t they get a job?
- OMG, I saw a homeless person doing drugs close to the 16th Street Mall. I often wonder how this is different from the pot or shrooms that they enjoyed before going out to party?
- What I’m often left with in observing these interactions is that seeing white poverty on a daily basis for other white people is deeply triggering in a way that Black and Brown poverty doesn’t seem to be. It feels personal because people are seeing that the face of poverty….isn’t just Black and Brown.
- There is a genuine disdain and disgust for impoverished persons in the United States. As long as we believe that people can pull themselves up by their metaphorical bootstraps, poverty will always land solely on the person vs. a mix of the system, policy, the person and luck.
- On a more personal note it’s very unnerving to wonder if I’m going to be in an interaction with an unhoused white person who assumes that I may be doing better than them and not like that possibility because I’m Black. Will I be attacked, more often than not I’m asked for money and so far people are pretty chill about it. But, there was also the one morning I was taking the light rail and I had to cuss a guy out who kept following me and rapping (it was weird) but it was so weird that I have no idea if he even knew what he was doing. I try to interact with everyone the same way, but there is always a level of situational awareness that I have in those moments.
- I personally do not believe that mayors have the resources to deal with the poverty problem in our towns. I’m now of the belief that we need national anti-poverty mandates similar to other countries such as Finland which focused on a straightforward policy: Housing first. Not tents. Housing.
- This year I recorded a podcast episode called “Experiencing American Poverty During Travels.”I shared how traumatic I found my most recent trip to L.A. a city that I’ve visited several times before. It’s not just Denver dealing with this. While I’m glad that Denverites aren’t used to what we’re seeing, I’m afraid that there will be a point where we will throw up our hands and give up.
- But, what I’m left with is that if white people (white Liberals) are this uncomfortable with white poverty what does this mean for the rest of us from a policy perspective? If the answer to the question is always “As long as it’s not me” then people are in for a rude awakening-it’s going to be incredibly difficult to design significant and impactful policy that matters with the piecemeal approach we’ve been using.
By the way, I don’t feel bad for what I have. I’ve worked very hard throughout my life. There is a weird discomfort that might be cloaked in classism and my own financial tropes that I’ve grown up with. Such as, all white people have money or that white people have access to what I don’t.
if a system that has been designed to benefit white people has failed them, what does it mean for the rest of us?
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[…] Experiencing White Homelessness as a Black Person in a White Town [Michelle is Money Hungry] – “They were noticing something that I’ve lived with for quite a long time and I think that there is some insight into the issue of poverty, policy and what I’ve learned and observed as a Black woman experiencing white poverty in a primarily white city. This insight I think will also show you why I think Americans are completely unserious about tackling poverty, because of how I see people reacting to the white poverty in my town.” […]