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Poverty is not limited to minorities; unfortunately most foundations and other charitable organizations overlook the statistics of caucasian poverty.

"As philanthropy races to fight inequality, the country’s foundations and wealthy donors continue to overlook a major part of impoverished America: poverty among whites.

"President Obama’s project, My Brother’s Keeper, and recent pledges of $300 million from dozens of foundations and corporations focus mostly on supporting programs intended primarily to serve black and other minority youth, pushing the epidemic of poverty among whites further into the background. Few people want to talk about the problem. The news media focus relatively little attention on the plight of poor whites in the "hollers" of West Virginia and Kentucky, in mobile homes and trailer parks throughout the country, and in declining small towns in rural areas. A couple of years ago, Diane Sawyer anchored on ABC News a striking exposé on health problems in Appalachia, but unfortunately, there was no follow-up. It was the exception that proved the rule.

"Yet the statistics about poverty among whites are startling."--Pablo Eisenberg, The Chronicle of Philanthropy


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