Before taking rights of poor people, spend time with them.

A Minnesota advocate for the poor writes, “Before taking rights away from poor people, spend some time with them… their stories make a broader point:

While many poor folks do their best maintain a connection to mainstream society, many members of mainstream society do their best to not connect with the poor.

They do their best to not visit where poor people live.  They demand drug testing of poor folks before they can receive government assistance.  They assume that poor folks don’t care about their community because they don’t own the housing they live in.

People who think and act this way do not understand what it’s like to be poor.

That’s okay, you can’t understand everything.

But if you don’t understand something, don’t make decisions that poor people say will hurt them.

So Minnesotans, before voting on how connected we are willing to be with poor communities, please visit some poor communities.  Please talk with some poor folks.  Sit down with them.  Get to know them.  Ask for their advice.

 

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Tags: Anti-poverty strategies, Dialog, Listening