"Migrant Mother" - Dorothea Lange
California has been in the international limelight because of the Sacramento tent city – our modern day Hooverville, if you will. Since it was dismantled national media outlets have gone home (tip: you can still find homeless folks camping elsewhere, if you know the right people and have the guts to go in). But now that our state’s famous now-dismantled Hooverville has been forgotten by the Today Show, what happens next on the national media stage?
This Canadian article notes “grim days” for U.S. towns: foreclosures, ghost towns springing up, childhood poverty, and new (and atypical) residents in RV parks. Likewise, there are otherinternational reports of American kids going to bed hungry. Then there are the local news reports: in the Central Valley things appear to be really bad, San Diego Unified can count 900 homeless studentsin their district, Imperial County clocks the highest national jobless rate at 25-percent. These are bits and pieces of international and local news sources. Where is the national media attention on rising family homelessness and childhood poverty? If you come across anything send your tips to us so we can check it out.
What’s the real scoop in your area? From where you are (even if you live out of state), what do you see? Are these our dust bowl days?