The other poor people
People are slipping through the cracks because of a myth about who the poor people really are. America has a very short history and, because of that, a lot of the history of poor people is unknown. As much as many Blacks don’t know their history, many poor whites don’t know theirs, either.
History doesn’t show that many poor white Southerners died for rich plantation owners, not realizing that their poor ancestors were brought to Georgia by a rich class of royals for their profit-driven benefits.
If poor people look to learn the truth, they would realize that this country’s wealth is in the hands of the few. It’s poor and working-class children who die in wars to protect the property of the wealthy. Why should we accept the con that it’s in America’s interest when it’s actually in the richest peoples’ interest? Georgia was not supposed to have Black slaves. This was to be a penal colony. The prison system in England was overcrowded just as our prisons are today. For most of the leaders, this was a place to ship the criminals.
In England the poor were put in prison for serious crimes as well as minor crimes such as for not paying their bills. Many times, the entire family had to be jailed with the father because he was the head of the household and responsible for supporting them.
The introduction of Black slaves in Georgia was really a breach of promise made to earlier white indentured slaves. Why was the contract breached? Because, for the rich in charge, more money could be made by not paying black slaves.
Historically, the powerful have always broken promises with any group when the color before them was green.
The question one should ask those supporting the rich and powerful is, what have they to do with you or for you? What have they done but use race and the differences between people to distract from the fact that they do not want you — if you are poor — in their neighborhood, either?
It’s different times but the same hustle. When will we learn that black, brown and white is a poor-people issue? For the rich and powerful it’s only about green, and it has been that way from the beginning of our history.
The more things change the more things stay the same. I came to that conclusion by getting close-up and personal with one character and by observing other poor whites. I share with my husband all the time the story of one of the most talented actors that ever crossed the stage in Rome, Georgia.
When I was writing and staging plays for schools, churches and community organizations, I had the great opportunity of meeting individuals from all walks of life. One particular individual was William Kelly. William felt shut out of the white acting world in downtown Rome. He drank profusely, and I later believed it was to cover his pain. He had left his family and physical past behind in South Georgia, but his emotional pain he carried each day.
How we met and what attracted us to each other in the world of performing arts, I don’t recall. Maybe, in spite of his racist beliefs, he knew the truth — that we both were in the same poor class. He was racist and knew it and cared less about showing it.
He would wear his Confederate regalia to rehearsals on his bad hair days. He did not want us to get him confused with the people he was forced by circumstances to be with. Several times after rehearsals, I had to intervene on his behalf. Many times, he forgot where he was and tried to carry out his racist beliefs off the stage by using lines he had memorized from the plays.
Many of the plays that I wrote were raw, realistic, and unfiltered. He did not have a problem playing the roles of an uncompassionate plantation owner, a mean store owner or an overseer. However, on many occasions over the years, he played other roles like Lyndon B. Johnson, Abraham Lincoln, and a chief priest in “Fill My Brother’s Cup.”
William just wanted to fit in someplace and the group accepted him ... some with much reservation. He and I had agreed to disagree and yet respect each others’ humanity. When he became ill and could not get proper health care any place, I was in a position to assist him.
Later he became ill enough for hospitalization but was released before time since he had no money, no job, and no insurance. After months of suffering, he became homeless and reached out to his sister. She had to come for him, but the family could not afford health care for him. He died from the inability to afford health insurance.
William’s death still concerns me, just as other indigent people who have died and are still dying from lack of medical care.
William truly believed that poor people should not have health care when they were unable to pay for it. He argued with me vigorously as he lay dying. He never saw himself as one of us because he had been told otherwise by the rich and powerful.