From Investing in What Works for America's Communities
Edelman starts with the observation that although we have made substantial progress in combating poverty, concentrated urban poverty grew substantially after 1960, but especially between 1970 and 1990, and it is heavily African American. Two of the stalwarts of the 1960s response to poverty—Robert Kennedy and George Romney—both recognized that choice as to where to live, both in the sense of city neighborhoods being good places to live and suburban neighborhoods being welcoming, is key to poverty alleviation, but strategies since then have been almost entirely neighborhood-bound. We need instead to truly connect neighborhoods to their surrounding regions, especially with respect to jobs. Our response to poverty must be integrated (housing, education, early childhood education, connection to jobs) and must also overcome institutional racism and the behavior patterns endemic to concentrated poverty.
Author: Peter Edelman, Georgetown University Law Center
Date of Publication: August, 2012
Last Updated: August, 2012