Black Woman's Economic Woes
Description
A middle-class African American social worker discusses economic challenges and a lack of support for low-income individuals, highlighting rising costs and limited choices in her community.
Key Themes
- •Economic Disparity
- •Rising Costs
- •Lack of Social Support
- •Monopolies
Emotional Tone
Concerned → Resigned → Frustrated
Key Quote
""Even when it's great for others, it's not necessarily great for me or my family or my friends.""
Tags
Transcript
Economic disparities
As an African-American woman, I'm used to the what the economy personally means, even when it's great for others, it's not necessarily great for me or my family or my friends. But we do the best that we can.
Declining social support
I'm not optimistic. I feel that many of the safe havens that we have for people who have low income and there to kind of catch people and to help people are just going away. As a social worker, I work in the community. I know what that means, to detach myself from that. And then personally, I still am affected by that.
Rising cost of living
Me and my husband, we are, I guess you would say middle class and we do pretty well. But groceries are rising. What I brought last week compared to what I brought this week, I'm seeing a definitely increase in what we pay. I'm seeing an increase in gas, I'm seeing an increase in materials, and the things we need to keep our home, up and running. Our electric company just stated that they're trying to raise rates 13%, and that is just outrageous.
Lack of options
And we don't have, in my area, anyone else to go to. It's just one electric company, so it's not even like there's competition where you can say, I'll try something else. So, for us, we are just going to do the best that we can, but I'm not optimistic and I see that through the lens of being a Black woman.