The Misconceptions Of Being Poor And Oscar Lewis: The Culture Of Poverty

The idea that people of poor communities conform to a living standard and behavior is a concept described by Oscar Lewis as the culture of poverty. It is the belief that poor people consists of their own beliefs and values and behaviors. And more than 45 years later after the term, the culture of poverty paradigm remains the same: there is a consistent and observable culture that is shared by people in poverty. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as the culture of poverty. differences in behaviors and values among those that are poor are just as significant as those between wealthy and poor. The culture of poverty is a construct of smaller stereotypes which seem to have implanted themselves into the collective conscience of mainstream thought as undeniable fact. However, as we will see, nothing could be further from the truth. Based on 6 most common myths of what defines poor from wealthy, I will provide evidence to the contrary.

The Misconceptions of Being Poor

Myth 1: People are poor because they are lazy and refuse to work.

The truth is that poor people do not have a weak work ethic or lower motivations than that of wealthier people. 60% of children from low income families have at least one parent working full time and year round. Another 83% have at least one parent

are white. According to the census numbers of 2013, 18.9 million whites are counted among the poor. Collectively, that is 8 million more than African American and just above 5 million more than those considered Latino. What we deal with on a daily basis is the one sided coverage of poverty by a one sided media regime. This biased reporting has inadvertently contributed to the misconception that most poor people are African Americans and that most African Americans are poor. It is known as disproportionate impairment. The truth is that more than 70% or African Americans are not