European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 2, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Clarence Page a Hill White House Poliey makers argued among themselves Over How to treat the poor Oprah Winfrey s network television production of Alex Book there Are no children Here gave America a taste of what the lives of today a poor Are really like. For me the Best part came at the end. Under the closing credits a camera puts us in the faces up close and personal of real life children from St. Malachy a a Catholic school that serves the Henry Horner Homes Public housing development on Chicago a West Side. In that High walled Canyon of government High rises Kotlowitz a real life Story of the daily struggles of the two Rivers Brothers 9-year-old Pharoah and 11-year-old Lafayette takes place. Winfrey has been criticized notably by Harvard sociologist Orlando Patterson in a new Fork times opinion piece for sugar coating their Mother Lajos. Winfrey portrays her As a determined hero with immaculate clothes and perfect nails who Wilt go through hell for her children. Kotlowitz describes a More complicated individual a woman who brought at least some of her troubles on herself a and her family. She brings eight children into the world then carelessly neglects them in a Way that invites gangs and other Street elements to provide the love and attention she fails to give. Why the discrepancy Patterson blames Quot Winfrey a desire to perpetuate the Black establishments Dogma of i blame the Hollywood mentality for rendering a compellingly Subtle ambiguous and complicated reality into a prime time soap a larger than life hero of a single mom nobly offering a Clear Ision of Hope to other single moms a and a slap in the face to whatever Deadbeat daddies May have abandoned them. If that message did no to come through clearly a enough in the scene that shows the Leader of a gang Lajoci a second son has joined dressing Down her Good for nothing mate for failing to provide the love the gang now provides in the Book it was the Mother who received this Tongue lashing it comes through even More pointedly and poignantly in the real life kids at the films end. It. One by one the real life children pictures of Earnest innocence in their school uniforms recount shootings that have claimed family friends or neighbors. A a a of their eyes inured to the violence around them Light up when they Are asked what they want to be when they grow up. Some spoke right away of being doctors or firefighters. Others had no answer As if the future itself was for them too Remote a possibility. It was when the children were asked what they wished for that one Little girl broke Down in tears. She wished her father would come Home she said. So did others. There Are no fathers Here. That in itself May be the worst kind of poverty. It is a poverty of spirit that comes from feeling abandoned at the very time in life when you most need someone to care. The obvious villains in Winfrey a movie Are the Street gangs who lure children into a life of bang bang dead end self destruction. But preceding the gang in influencing Young lives the film offers us the Deadbeat dad hapless unskilled and too Busy feeling sorry for himself to take on the family responsibilities he leaves instead for the Mother of his children to handle alone. Too bad the film stops there. Like most to depictions of welfare life its vision is a Little too simple. The Deadbeat dad Isnit the Only Deadbeat in the lives of americans poor. What about the Banks and insure Nee companies that redlined business out of Black neighbourhoods in the first place what about the businesses that fled to the suburbs following the Middle class. Abc Oprah Winfrey producer of the television documentary there Are no children Here. A what about the politicians who milk the ghetto for votes then disappear until the next election everybody knows about Deadbeat dads. But what about our Deadbeat society symbolized in Oprah a movie by commuter trains that rumble daily past the Homer Homes carrying carloads of indifferent commuters poor people Are obliged to help themselves but its hard to support a family when you Haven to got a Job and it is hard to find jobs when economic trends have divested themselves of your life and the place where you live. Small wonder so Many unemployed poor have simply Given up looking. It has become just a bit too easy for some of the comfortable and the complacent to put air the blame for today a poverty on the poor just to excuse themselves from taking any responsibility. Poverty bom of indifference is a problem that by no Means is limited to the ghetto. Black problems these Days Are Only a barometer of what is in store for White society. White abandonment and unwed pregnancy rates Are rising according to recent census data while Fertility among poor Black women has been on a decline. Black America s problems today will be White americans problems tomorrow unless All americans Wake up. Tie Chicago Tribune 2, Andy Rooney this is the 2,000th column i be written since i started in 1979 and while 1 can understand if you done to care you can appreciate the fact that it s sort of a Milestone for me and better than a kidney Stone which in be also had. The columns run about 700 words. That number times 2,000 is one million four Hundred thousand words. It makes my fingers ache to think of it. Some things come to mind a two columns brought thousands of angry letters. First was one i wrote about it. Col. Oliver North. That did no to Surprise me but reaction to the other column did. 1 was driving across a Long narrow Bridge leaving new York City when i saw a Small bewildered dog ahead of me. The poor Puppy did no to know which Way to run with cars coming in both directions and i knew he was going to be hit. I stopped holding up the traffic behind me and opened the passenger Side door. The cute Little dog hopped in sat Down and looked out the Windshield in front of him just As if head always sat there. He was ready to go anywhere with me. When we got a few blocks the other Side of the Bridge and i Felt he was Safe again i made him get out Boyl did 1 get angry letters. They accused me of being mean to dogs. A in be made half a dozen factual errors. Its surprisingly hard to avoid them. You re sure of something. You be known it Alt your life. You put it Down and find its wrong. You can be Loose with facts in conversation because As soon As you be said something its gone. No one checks up on you. Put it in print and people can read it reread it Cut it out show it to their friends and Check the facts in the Library to prove you re a fool. A recently i wrote a column about North Carolina and used a Little town called Chesapeake As an example of a North Carolina town. Chesapeake As Many readers pointed out is across the Border in Virginia. There a nothing for a columnist to do but crawl under the bed and wait for the storm to subside when he makes a mistake like that. A a Good column takes about an hour and a half to write and rewrite. A mediocre column takes three or four hours and when i write a really bad column it can take All Day. A its difficult to write for everyone but you try not to Cut anyone out. Age is one of the big dividing lines in our society and i try not to write like the old Guy i am but sometimes i know in a out of it. For example do not know or care anything at All about Michael Jackson. In be seen flashes of a video on news shows where he grabs his Crotch while he a singing and dancing but other than that i done to know much about him. I avoid him As a topic. A when you write a lot Jojou repeat yourself from time to time. Sometimes ill finish a column and realize its like something i did eight years ago i say to myself a maybe i ought to qui maybe in be said everything i have to that would be a sad Day for me because i like to write. I enjoy the process. There is nothing that gives me As much pleasure and satisfaction As sitting at my typewriter and writing. You done to run out of ideas if you write a column and the reason was made Clear years ago by a writer named Morley Callaghan. A there is Only one trait that Marks the writer a he said. A the is always watching. Its a kind of trick of mind and he a born with while i m still watching in a going to continue to write. Tribune Media Rooney is a former Siars and stripes reporter. Page 20 sunday january 2, 1994
