Liberal Arts Education and Poverty: Earl Shorris's Argument

Introduction

In his 1997 Harper's Magazine article, "On the Uses of a Liberal Education as a Weapon in the Hands of the Restless Poor," Earl Shorris presents the argument that the common explanation for why poor people remain poor neglects a critical element. Generally, the article details the author's first-hand research in the form of recruiting participants for, and then teaching, a class in the Humanities for individuals from poor neighborhoods and circumstances in the New York Metropolitan area. He begins by tracing the origin of his changed beliefs based on a conversation with an inmate at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Westchester, a northern suburb of New York City. The rest of the article details the manner in which Shorris applied the lessons he learned from that inmate to develop a new program intended to help those of limited means improve their situations.

Specifically, Shorris argues that there is a fundamental importance to a Liberal Arts education that emphasizes the Humanities in particular, and that providing greater access to an introduction to the Humanities is the key to helping those facing poverty improve their lives.

Understanding the Actual Causes of Poverty

Shorris argues that the factors traditionally associated with poverty as causative factors omit a crucial component: the political power that comes with the benefits of appreciating the Humanities. Shorris (p. 50) expresses his initial beliefs about poverty and the poor's lack of political power as follows:

"Numerous forces — hunger, isolation, illness, landlords, police, abuse, neighbors, drugs, criminals, and racism, among many others — exert themselves on the poor at all times and enclose them, making up a 'surround of force' from which, it seems, they cannot escape. I had come to understand that this was what kept the poor from being political and that the absence of politics in their lives was what kept them poor. I don't mean 'political' in the sense of voting in an election but in the way Thucydides used the word: to mean activity with other people at every level, from the family to the neighborhood to the broader community to the city-state."

That was Shorris's point of view on the root causes of poverty in America before his first conversation with an inmate named Viniece Walker ("Nieci"). When he asked Nieci why she thought poor people stay poor, she responded that poor children lack sufficient access to alternatives to street life — such as exposure to the arts and to the cultural elements of their society that are consistent with morality and goodness in life. Further discussion and reflection led Shorris to conclude that Nieci was right: poor children rarely have the benefit of exposure to culture and the chance to study the Humanities — that is, Art, Literature, Classic Philosophy, and History — that wealthier children typically receive. In addition to greater access to museums and concerts through their parents, wealthier children tend to study the Humanities in college as well. Shorris concludes that, in combination, these experiences help wealthier individuals develop better critical thinking and reasoning skills, which, as adults, enable them to interact with others in society in ways that benefit them. They enjoy greater access to gainful employment and greater political power alike.

Shorris decided to develop a Humanities course designed to address this specific problem. By taking advantage of the existing resources available in New York City through the Roberto Clemente Family Guidance Center, he obtained the necessary physical facilities and managed to convince several respected university educators to contribute their time to teach within the program. Shorris also eventually recruited his first class of students by visiting various program centers in New York and pitching the program to larger groups of prospective participants. In principle, the goals of the Clemente Course — as it came to be called — were to provide exposure to the Humanities to poor students so that they might reap some of the same benefits that normally require enrolling as a freshman in a traditional college program, an option that is not realistic for many poor students, whether for lack of funds or because they never completed high school. Shorris hoped that the program would help his students learn to think in ways consistent with the lessons of classic philosophy and come to appreciate the social and political potential associated with higher education.

Conclusion

There seems to be little reason to doubt that a program such as the Clemente Course is extremely beneficial in that it encourages poor individuals to appreciate education and to discover intellectual abilities they may not otherwise have the chance to discover. On one hand, the experience recounted by Shorris seems to prove the initial supposition that increased availability of educational opportunities of this type can be instrumental in helping poor students raise their self-esteem and achieve something of value in their society. On the other hand, the experience does not necessarily prove that studying the Humanities in particular is any more important in that regard than studying other disciplines, such as science or law. Ultimately, it is likely that any comparable educational opportunity would be equally beneficial under the same circumstances.