IowaWatch (https://www.iowawatch.org/tag/poverty/)
The nation’s only president born in Iowa had a far different reputation around the world than he had in the United States. Such was the fate for Herbert Hoover, who presided over the start of the Great Depresssion during his 1929-33 presidency.
Last week’s news put furrows in my brow. As I ruminated on the headlines and details in the news accounts, I came away convinced something is out of whack somewhere.
I have spent 50 years as a journalist asking questions, listening to the responses, and closely observing the people and events around me. Somewhere along the way, my observational skills must have failed me. Apparently, I have missed a lot. Otherwise, I would have noticed those lines of people eager to join and remain in the ranks of the poor. Randy Evans
STRAY THOUGHTS
Randy Evans is the executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council.
White Iowans made strong gains in high school and college graduation rates, poverty, median family income and home ownership from 1960-2010 but black and Latino achievements in these areas grew far more slowly, or in some cases declined. This IowaWatch Connection radio podcast looks at ways some are trying to level the playing field.
A summer vacation that is riveted in my memory was in August 1962 when my parents, my two brothers and I piled into our Dodge and headed for Washington, D.C. This vacation was all about history.
U.S. Census data show where black and Latino Iowans have fallen behind white Iowans when it comes to income, jobs, home ownership and high school and college degrees. IowaWatch obtained an analysis of 50 years of U.S. Census data from the Colorado-based public service journalism organization I-News, a member of the Investigative News Network to which IowaWatch belongs.
Kemp and Anderson take an inside look into caucus candidate Newt Gingrich.