Poverty in Urban America: Its Causes and Cures
by David Hilfiker
Introduction ¦ Chapter I ¦ Chapter II ¦ Chapter III ¦ Chapter IV ¦ Display All Chapters
Chapter IV: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, Page 8
Justice
There is far more, of course, that needs to be done to bring real justice to the poor. Even if we lift people economically out of poverty, much of the damage that has already been done by poverty and oppression remains. Schools will still have to be radically improved, neighborhoods must be rebuilt, social services must be provided to the current victims of inner-city poverty (especially the children) to overcome some of the emotional damage that has been done, adult education must be expanded and so on.
Justice demands that the conditions in the inner city be changed. The current response is mostly to add police (which does need to be done), increase prison sentences (which does not need to be done), and throw up our hands, saying, "There's nothing more we can do."
The poverty of the inner city is a stain upon democracy in the United States. Yet there is nothing—except our failure to will it—that stands in the way of alleviating it.
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