Charity
"suggests that one group of people has skills and resources while another group has needs. In the context of charity ... people who need resources are expected to articulate why they need them and to be grateful when they get them." (St. Onge, 2013).
Justice
"Says that the system is broken" (St. Onge, 2013).
If something is broken, you fix it and you demand that it needs to be changed. David Wagner (from USM!) argues in his book What's Love Got to Do With it?, that United States displays a level of hubris when it comes to considering itself one of the most generous countries in the world.
Despite being so “charitable”, the United States actually provides its citizens with some of the smallest public benefits in the industrialized world, has a large poverty rate for a Western country and has some of the biggest inequality gaps, and one of the largest prison populations in the world (Wagner, 2001).
Philanthropy, charity and even nonprofit organizations, Wagner argues, contribute to a growing political apathy in our culture, continued social injustice for basic human needs, and only seeks to support America’s capitalistic society. Charity becomes more about presenting a good public image than about caring for people’s basic needs.
Citizens focused on charity work, come to conclude that social problems can be solved not through public officials implementing social policies that benefit the society at large, but by simply donating food to a pantry or soup kitchen or donating money. This encourages people to ignore social policies by thinking that they have already made their donation or done their charity, so why care about dirty politics? This leaves social services to be ignored and in the last 40 years to be severely cut and reduced (Wagner, 2001).
Despite being so “charitable”, the United States actually provides its citizens with some of the smallest public benefits in the industrialized world, has a large poverty rate for a Western country and has some of the biggest inequality gaps, and one of the largest prison populations in the world (Wagner, 2001).
Philanthropy, charity and even nonprofit organizations, Wagner argues, contribute to a growing political apathy in our culture, continued social injustice for basic human needs, and only seeks to support America’s capitalistic society. Charity becomes more about presenting a good public image than about caring for people’s basic needs.
Citizens focused on charity work, come to conclude that social problems can be solved not through public officials implementing social policies that benefit the society at large, but by simply donating food to a pantry or soup kitchen or donating money. This encourages people to ignore social policies by thinking that they have already made their donation or done their charity, so why care about dirty politics? This leaves social services to be ignored and in the last 40 years to be severely cut and reduced (Wagner, 2001).
People choose to provide charity over fighting for justice.
Reading about Appalachian poverty, poverty on reservations, and poverty found in the immigrant population all remind me that the system is broken. Carlton-Laney, Burwell, and White, mention that as social workers working with these marginalized populations in rural communities we will have to focus on the fact that what we have learned in other "traditional" community practices may not work in rural communities. Many in rural communities hold the tradition of self efficacy and "horizontal giving" - the giving and giving back between friends or family members that live in a community, among individuals that know and trust each other (Carlton-Laney et. al, 2013).
The authors suggest using local resources to may access readily available, whether that is through local churches and developing community coaches, or those that can work with citizens in the community to learn together how to effectively bring long lasting change to their community.
Whether we are working in urban communities or rural populations, we need to decide if we as social workers are providing merely charity or justice. "When people are committed and passionate and willing to work hard for their communities, positive change and growth can result" (Carlton-Laney et al, 2013).
References
St. Onge, P. (2013). Cultural competency: Organizations and diverse populations. In Weil, M., Reisch, M., & Ohmer, M. L. (Eds.). (2013). The handbook of community practice (2nd ed., pp. 425-444). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Wagner, D. (2000). What's love got to do with it?: a critical look at American charity. New York: New Press.
Hey Sam, great post!!
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of a book I read called Dred Scott and the Problem of Constitutional Evil about a slave who was denied the right to sue his slave owner because he wasn't considered a citizen. In the book the author, Mark Graber says that because we are all satisfied with constitutional peace (charity or any word used to cover up the injustice and unfairness of this country) over constitutional justice things will never change.
I really enjoyed the way you talk about the societal views on charity and justice. As human beings, we seem to take the easiest route that can give us the fastest, most concrete results. When we give food to a food pantry, the results are almost instant. Working towards social justice is a lot less defined, is overwhelming and almost appears to be useless if you feel that you are doing so on your own. I think society needs to shift our thinking from the temporary results of charity, to enhance the long-term changes that could be made if everyone put more effort into social justice work.
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