THE OTHER
AMERICANS
“Any step up is a step back, so
why step up? That’s the whole
trap with everybody out here,
and I understand it.”
‘TELL THEM
TO COME HELP US’
All of this, of course, raises the
question: Why not just leave?
Charles Fluharty, the founding
director of the Rural Policy Research Institute and a professor
at the Harry S. Truman School of
Public Affairs at the University
of Missouri, suggests that’s
a facile question.
“That is like saying to someone
in a five-block area of the Bronx,
‘You should leave here now.’ And
they look at you and say, ‘What
are you talking about? This is
my neighborhood. I’m the fourth
generation on this block, you’ve
got to be kidding me.’”
In economic terms, Fluharty
said, it’s a given that some people
will always take less money to
stay where they’re comfortable. In
many of the most impoverished,
minority-dominated rural communities, the proclivity to stay
put despite poor prospects can be
particularly strong.
Combine those who won’t leave
HUFFINGTON
10.21.12
with those who, for a variety of
reaso