Confronting poverty in the US

The Saint Paul Area Synod of the ELCA has had the commitment, for several years now, to ensuring “that no person within the St. Paul area will be forced to live in poverty.” It’s part of their three-fold vision (the other two foci have to do with inviting people to hear the story of Jesus, and equipping missional leaders). As part of that focus, early on in my time at Luther, I attended some workshops that were part of the “Aha! process”, originally created by a woman named Ruby Payne. I remember writing about them, back in 2003, and lauding the work.

That makes it all the more painful for me, now, to recognize that I really did not see the deep problems inherent in Ruby Payne's work. There's a very compelling research study that's been published in the Teachers' College Record (a nationally recognized journal of education research) that carefully analyzes Ruby Payne's work, and points out -- in devastating detail -- how it amounts to a deficit-based understanding of poverty which only plays into typical middle class assumptions.

Ouch.

It's painful to me that after all these years, and all of the work I continue to try to do, I'm still so easily taken in by such things. The good news is that at least there are researchers who bring a scholarly approach to bear on such programs, and can help the rest of us -- particularly those of us who are white, middle class, and sinfully oblivious -- wake up a bit. So please read the critique, and don't use the Ruby Payne "a framework for understanding poverty" program any longer. I'm sorry that I once urged people to do so.