Close the Gap: An Educator Guide

STORY: "Not Those People"


Julia Dinsmore, a writer, mother, and activist, knows first hand about life below the poverty line in the U.S. Julia describes the struggle to overcome "systemic barriers" and break out of the vicious cycle of poverty and welfare. Despite her circumstances, Julia refuses to be a passive victim in a system that penalizes initiative. Early in her life, she found her voice as a poet and a storyteller, and realized that one person can make a difference. Julia's poem, "I am not those people," was once read on the Senate floor and epitomizes the struggle of the human spirit against despair and economic injustices.

Key Terms
Class Classism
Economic Justice Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) Minimum Wage
Poverty Tax Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
Welfare White Privilege
Victim Survival Skills
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Before Viewing

What is class? What are the indicators that help determine an individual's class (e.g., clothing, housing, income)? What do you think are the main causes of poverty in the Twin Cities?
What does "below the poverty line" mean? How would you define poverty?
From where do your ideas about poverty come? What are the sources of your information?

After Viewing

  1. What motivated Julia Dinsmore to challenge her situation and become an activist? How did learning about storytelling traditions from different cultures help Julia?
  2. How did she challenge her church and what did she achieve as a result?
  3. What systemic barriers does she refer to when she talks about a system that "penalizes initiative and reinforces victim's behavior"?
  4. Who are the people Julia describes in her poem, My name is "Not Those People".
  5. What does Julia mean when she speaks of a "community's self-sufficiency"?
  6. What is white privilege? In what way do you think Julia is privileged?
  7. What was the role of the church in establishing the Legislative Committee to End Poverty by 2020? Do you know of any other faith-based organizations that are trying to address poverty, homelessness, and other societal issues in their communities?
  8. What are the goals of the Legislative Committee to End Poverty by 2020? What recommendations would you make to the committee members?
Suggested Activities

Measuring Poverty

This activity is aimed at providing a better understanding of poverty and its causes. The students will be engaged in examining the realities of poor families by creating a budget for a family just above the poverty line. By developing a budget for a working family of five, the students will be able to challenge possible assumptions about poor people and minimum wage earners, and critically examine the implications of the way poverty is officially measured by the government.

  1. Read the following statement, or have students go to the U.S. Census's Bureau website: http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/povdef.html#4

    The U.S. Census Bureau website provides an example of how the poverty line is officially measured. According to the example, a family of 5 (mother, father, two children and aunt) with an annual income of $25,000 are not in poverty, or not below the poverty line. The official poverty threshold for such a family is $24,662, which means this family has an income surplus of $338.

  2. Explain that students will create a monthly budget for this family in small groups. The family includes two adults, two children and an aunt who lives with the family. They will have to consider such monthly expenses as rent, food, healthcare, clothes, transportation, etc.

  3. Allow time for research beforehand (e.g., a homework project), so that students have an idea of how much to budget for rent, groceries, etc. Alternatively, have the students do online research, or bring newspaper articles and other publications where this information can be found. Students can also interview their parents and relatives on the relevant costs of living.

    An additional resource for this activity is the interactive online calculator at the Service Employee's International Union (SEIU ): http://www.seiu.org/issues/good_jobs/notebook.cfm

    Students can enter their monthly expenses, such as rent, food, etc. to calculate if they could make it on the minimum wage. They can then "Get the Facts" about minimum wage and other statistics at http://www.seiu.org/issues/good_jobs/minwage_factsheet.cfm

    Debriefing Questions

    What did you learn in this activity? Did this activity change your perspective on people living in poverty? How? Do you know people facing similar challenges? What can you do to help?

Imagine a Country

This activity introduces social and economic rights found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It employs rights-related statistics to promote critical reflection on strengths, weaknesses, and contradictions in U.S. society. This multidisciplinary approach encourages participants to draw on the arts, social studies, math, and language arts to express their understanding of and feelings about what they encounter.

The activity might move in many different directions, depending on participant interest and strengths. It is essential, however, that participants develop a basic understanding of social and economic rights and the international documents in which these rights are articulated.
  1. Distribute Handout 1, Imagine a Country, to participants and ask different participants to read each of the discrete statements. Note: Do not indicate that each statement is about the United States.

  2. After the reading, allow a brief time for free flowing participant reactions prior to focusing their attention on some of the tasks and questions below.

    Discussion Questions
    • Are you surprised, disturbed, proud, pleased, or _______________ (select your adjective) by any of these statistics in particular?
    • Do you have questions about any of the data presented in the essay?
    • Do you think this statistical evidence is biased and misrepresents your country? Which statistics in particular are you concerned about?
    • How do you explain the apparent contradictions (e.g., richest nation but also high percentage of poverty that exists in the United States)?

  3. Introduce the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/b1udhr.htm
    See Glossary definition for more details. Have the students match the conditions described in Julia's poem, or the Imagine a Country essay to articles in the UDHR.

    Discussion Questions
    • For which social and economic rights does the U.S. appear to be doing well? For which social and economic rights is there a substantial need for improvement?
    • What is the responsibility of the government to ensure that everyone achieves these human rights as fully as possible? Are there some conditions, such as inadequate nutrition of children, which the government should address? Are there other conditions, such as homelessness of adults, which it should not address? What actions should the government take?
    • Are there some areas in which the USA is doing as well as expected and others in which we should expect better results? Do you think the U.S. can do better? What makes you think the way you do?
    • Who besides government should assume responsibilities for addressing human rights problems? What can businesses and community organizations do? What can individuals do? What can you personally do?
Handouts
Going Further

  1. Human Rights Framework

    Continue the discussion about the human rights framework. Introduce the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/b2esc.htm
    Match the conditions described in Julia's poem or the Imagine a County essay to articles in the ICESCR. Identify social and economic rights found in the ICESCR but not mentioned in the essay or the poem.

  2. Localizing statistics

    Bring these national statistics home by trying to match the statistics provided in Handout 1, Imagine A Country, with local statistics for hunger, homelessness, etc. Useful sites for local statistics:

  3. Media Literacy

    Look for news stories (TV, magazines, and newspapers) that are about these social and economic rights. Create a bulletin board to post these stories. Keep adding to this bulletin board during the course of your study of social and economic rights.

  4. Language and Art

    Indicate your understanding of and feelings about what you have learned in one of the following ways:
    • Create a poem, drawing, or song.
    • Write a letter to a local newspaper .
    • Educate your community with posters and drawings.