Livin' in the Trailerhood

738 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Stigma in modern society

I have lived in the same trailer park my whole life. As a result, I have had to deal with people treating me differently after they find out where I live. Many people jump to the conclusion that I am poor. Although at times, money has been tight I would never classify myself as poor. My family has always been able to provide for me. Other people assume that my family must be living off of welfare. I can also say that my family has never received welfare. Despite the fact that some people match those stereotypes, everybody should not be lumped together with them. I have met multiple people who also live in trailer parks, and most of them do not fall into the stereotypical categories associated with them. People should not be judged based on where they live.
The most common stereotype associated with people who live in trailer parks is that everybody is poor. In 2009, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau stated, only 9.5 percent of the American population lived in mobile homes (Rector and Sheffield). As I said before I would never classify my family as poor. Sometimes my parents wouldn’t be able to afford the extra things we wanted, but they always provided the necessities. Not being able to afford the brand new toys and games that us kids wanted doesn’t mean that we were poor. It just means that we didn’t live above our income. Some people who live near me are older people who have to spend their money sparingly because they only get money once a month. Would they like to live in a house on some land? Of course they would. Is it a real possibility on their monthly income? Not likely. Their best option is to live in a mobile home because it is more affordable. Then there is John and his wife....

... middle of paper ...

... that is always there for each other. If a person needs help, everybody does their best to give whatever they can, whether that is money or just a helping hand. Also it is refreshing to show people that they can’t lump everybody into the same box of stereotypes. We need to look beyond stereotypes to the “real people”.

Works Cited

DeFino, Dean. “From Trailer Trash to Trailer Park Boys.” Post Script. 28.3 (2009): 47. General OneFile. Web. 24 Apr. 2014
“Michigan Department of Human Services, Partners Take on Welfare Myths Launch Statewide Welfare 101: Busting Myths About Welfare Campaign.” States News Service. 1 Apr. (2010): General OneFile. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Rector, Robert and Sheffield, Rachel. “Understanding Poverty in the United States: Surprising Facts About America's Poor.” The Heritage Foundation. The Heritage Foundation. 13 Sept. 2011. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.

Show More
Related

  • Poverty And Eviction In Evicted By Matthew Desmond

    816 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the most prominent concerns of Evicted is the issue of inescapable financial instability as it relates to eviction. In the very first few pages of the book, Desmond reveals that the majority of poor renting families in America spend over 50% of their income on housing, with an even more astonishing one in four spending over 70% of their income on it (4). When families are spending the majority of their already meager income on housing alone, it is no surprise that they have little money left for savings or self-betterment programs such as a college education. Compounded with this is the fact that some welfare systems are constructed in a way that discourages long-term financial responsibility. For example, Supplemental Security Income, a program that provides monthly stipends for low-income elderly or disabled individuals, is revoked if individuals have too much money in their bank account (217). For

    Read More

  • Causes of Homelessness in San Antonio

    898 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...nt of $764 and a staggering 43% cannot afford to purchase an average priced home ($140,422). With that being said, over 8,000 families are on waiting lists for subsidized and affordable housing. Many things can prevent someone from housing such as poor credit histories, unresolved debts, and criminal backgrounds. Without affordable child care or dependable transportation, families have a greater challenge of moving towards autonomy.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Book ' Of The Unknown Americans '

    1069 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...alize that not everyone is the same and that there are good people in this world.

    Read More

  • Appalachian Stereotypes

    1395 Words  | 3 Pages

    This conversation actually took place during my first semester of college. However, being quite accustomed to the questions that I am frequently asked about the place I call home, this conversation somehow made me more upset than usual. This conversation made me realize just how blind society can be towards other groups in society. Different stereotypes are placed on groups for various reasons-race, sex, occupations, and geographical locations-just to name a few. The last of these four different classifications is the one that distinguishes me from most of society. Growing up in Appalachia has made me a minority (different from the rest of society), and also plagued me with many stereotypes. Everyone in society has heard the stereotypes. However, I would like to focus on the how's and why's of them. How they came to be. Why society does perceive...

    Read More

  • A Day at The Beacon in Houston

    1152 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...on the homeless community. I previously held preconceived notions that the homeless consisted of people who were either unable to connect and form relationships with others or didn’t desire to do so. Yet, I observed most everyone greeting one another and reminiscing with those who have been absent from the community for a while, as well as, expressing concern for those missing. I recognized that the homeless may live in a non-traditional way, but they have established their own communities and are successful in forming and maintaining cohesive relationships.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Anna Quindlen's 'Homeless'

    843 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the article “Homeless” Anna Quindlen states that people without homes are being discriminated and stereotyped as the homeless. She uses personal knowledge and examples to build her argument. Anna Quindlen states that people in America think that they know that a shelter is best for them, but emotional and physical issues can make the homeless not want to go to these shelters. I always used to think that they should be in a shelter, too, but like most Americans I never really thought about what is preventing them from going. I agree with Anna Quindlen’s points that people with homes do not know what’s best for the people without one and that they are not the homeless if they had a home before, but

    Read More

  • Growin Up In the Hood

    993 Words  | 2 Pages

    Is it a coincidence that highly urbanized areas are full of crime and always statistically higher than small towns and rural areas? A child that is being brought up in a metropolitan area that is full of violent crimes is flooded in a sense and has nothing to do but to breath in some of the negative influences that go on around him. Therefore, I believe that the most influential scene in a child’s life is the neighborhood that he grows up in. Parents cannot constantly watch over their children, ask about whom they are hanging out with, constantly check where they are, and find out what they are getting themselves into? (Statistics p348)

    Read More

  • Poverty And Social Class In Loewen And Hooks

    779 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hooks says, “It is better to be poor than to allow another person to assert power over you in ways that are dehumanizing and cruel” (435). Weather poor or rich everyone deserves and opportunity to be successful in life and shouldn’t be stereotyped. Everyone deserves the chance to be successful in life and have the same equal opportunities. Poverty is everywhere in this world some worse than others. Living in poverty once in life it can actually be a learning experience. To see and experience the struggle gives them not only a better understanding but appreciate what they have.

    Read More

  • Poverty In The Bathtub: Theme Of Life In The Bathtub

    1027 Words  | 3 Pages

    Poverty, a state of being extremely poor, is a recurring theme throughout the movie Beasts of the Southern Wild; furthermore, giving the audience the insight of the ongoing issue that those living in the remote Delta community, The Bathtub, face quite often. The movie portrays poverty as a way of life, and those that live in The Bathtub have adapted to the circumstances of the community while failing to improve their living conditions. When the citizens of The Bathtub have limited resources, living an impoverished lifestyle is not a choice; therefore, it is an adaptation to survive and those living in The Bathtub have limited resources for opportunities for a better life, education, and health care.

    Read More

  • Capitalism And Homelessism

    949 Words  | 2 Pages

    In order to be radical about poverty, we need to understand the difference between wealth and income. Income is a transfer of money by working or by gifts. On the other hand, wealth is more of a total of accumulated assets that has been stored for a period of time (Conley, pg. 253). Wealth is not distributed equally among the public. (NCH, 2016, http://nationalhomeless.org/about-homelessness/). Declining wages has also caused a lot of stress and increase people’s inability to pay for their housing or other needs. If there are affordable housing, it’s usually in an unsafe and polluted environment or it’s extremely overcrowded that people have a higher chance of being homeless or inadequate housing arrangements than getting their applications accepted (Why Are People Homeless Research, 2016, NCH). Also, privatizing housing will increase the accumulation of wealth of the power elite or those that own property and lands by their pricing in rents. Most people go through depression because of loss of home, jobs, or a sense of self. Often times, the lack education about health and they don’t receive adequate support for medical care if they are homelessness. Poverty is also treated as a criminal offence and if people were to ask for public assistance, they have to prove their eligibility. If they have a criminal record, they are

    Read More

  • Why Do People Living In Poverty?

    963 Words  | 2 Pages

    People living in poverty can be thought of as a “them” who can be easily ignored and forgotten; when, in reality, poverty can affect anyone.  When people are living in poverty, sometimes it is not their fault.  Often, unfortunate events that are out of someone’s control can set them up for failure.  For example, the poverty rate for disabled adults from the age of 18-64 is 28.5%, while disabled 18-64 year olds only make up 7.7% of America’s population (Proctor, Semega, and Kollar 16). Therefore, poverty disproportionately affects disabled adults. The stories of those living in poverty are incredibly diverse, as Sasha Abramsky points out in The American Way of Poverty:

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Socialism In Yakima

    1072 Words  | 3 Pages

    John Steinbeck, famous author of The Grapes of Wrath, once said, “Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.” This quote, while fairly amusing, brings up a vital subject--class mobility. Can people in poverty still be rags to riches stories? The book Class Matters reports that class mobility has most likely decrease and that it takes five generations for a family class status to change. In Yakima this poses a very grim problem because 34% of Yakima residents line under the poverty line. And of those 55.9% are single mothers, just like Angela Whitiker (Citydata). That is why Angela Whitiker’s story is so central to not only the world but to

    Read More

  • Native American Culture Essay

    1765 Words  | 4 Pages

    The population of Native Americans living in poverty is double compared to the U.S overall population rate living in poverty. Williams wrote, “Unemployment is extremely high (90%on some Canadian reserves during winter months), and income levels are extremely low.” Federal housing program often allow Native Americans to be able to afford housing at low cost, but are not considered to be the best living conditions. Reservations are often located in rural areas where it is hard to obtain employment due to location and where access to resources is limited. In the article mentioned above Williams wrote, “Run down trailers and shacks are not uncommon.”(P.386) This kind of housing can be almost unlivable and sometimes even dangerous. It’s even common to see living situation without basic utilities of electricity or water in remote areas (Williams,

    Read More

  • Disunification

    531 Words  | 2 Pages

    In recent years the new house Negro is the middle-class black family and the field Negro is the lower-class Black family. The middle-class black family has done everything in his power to flee the stereotypes of the lower-class black. In "Faking the Funk: The Middle Class Black folks of Prince George`s County," by Nathan McCall, some middle-class blacks from an area called Prince George's county petitioned for a different zip code, because their current one too closely related them with Landover, a lower-class black community (275). The middle-class black family has fallen victim to classism whether he is willing to acknowledge it or not. The mentality of the middle-class black resembles "the white racist stereotype of Blacks" (Steele 266). For example the middle-class black sees the lower-class black as a lazy irresponsible person with no work ethic. The more negative images the middle-class black relates to the lower-class black the more the middle-class black tries to disembody himself from that image.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Serving Others

    1183 Words  | 3 Pages

    When we sacrifice our time to help someone in need, whether it is a great or small need, we become a part of their life and can help alleviate heavy burdens. We feel good for looking outside ourselves and contributin...

    Read More

More about Livin' in the Trailerhood

Open Document