Write an article suggesting ways to bridge the gap between the two contrasting words (rich and poor) within our nation.
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7 ways to narrow the rich-poor gap
By John D. Sutter, CNN
updated 5:43 PM EDT, Wed October 30, 2013

It's the most unequal place in America
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Income inequality in America has been growing since the late 1970s
John Sutter: Policy and attitude shifts can help narrow the rich-poor gap
The first step, Sutter says, is for people to recognize how divided we've become
Policies like a higher minimum wage would help the economy work for everyone
Editor's note: John D. Sutter is a columnist for CNN Opinion and head of CNN's Change the List project. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Google+. E-mail him at [email protected].
Lake Providence, Louisiana (CNN) -- "You have to sit back and think why is God keeping this town alive?
"If we're the poorest and we have the highest unemployment and crime rate, why doesn't God just say I'm going to wipe this town off the map? Because he knows that, in a couple years, something big is going to happen for Lake Providence.
"He's waiting for us to start to believe in ourselves."
That's 18-year-old Frededreia Willis, one of the many amazing people I met in Lake Providence, Louisiana, which is the American capital of income inequality. East Carroll Parish, where Lake Providence is located, has a wider gap between rich and poor than any other county in the United States.

John D. Sutter
It also offers clues for how things change -- how people in this off-the-map farming community, and in the country as a whole, can narrow the rich-poor gap.
Income inequality isn't inevitable. As economists and the president have argued, it is the result of bad policies that favor the rich and leave everyone else struggling.
The income gap is too wide for our own good. Here are seven ways that can and should change:
1. Break down the social barriers
One of the reasons income inequality persists, says Michael Norton, an associate professor at Harvard, is that people don't realize how wide the gap between rich and poor has become. Credit masks poverty, and most of us are stuck in an income bubble -- we tend only to see and associate with people who are like us, economically.
A solution: We should get out of our collective comfort zone and create conversations across the income divide. Willis, the young woman in Lake Providence, says she wants to come back to her hometown to build a bridge across the lake that largely separates the richer folks on the north from the poorer folks on the south. If they talked more, they might support policies to help each other.
2. Improve public schools; unify them
There's no surer ticket out of poverty than a solid education. But that education has to be affordable (modern college isn't) and it has to be equally distributed. It would be impossible to argue that's true of America's public schools, which are supported by property taxes. Big houses equal better schools. And poorer kids, of course, lose out. That's a tragedy, and leads, according to a recent Stanford study, to poorer students who are years behind their richer peers.
In Lake Providence, richer kids go to a private school, which has no formal scholarship program. Poorer students go to a public school that does not perform as well. Education should be a great equalizer, not a source of division. The community would benefit from closing its private school, Briarfield Academy, and creating a shared asset in the public school system. Right now, as some locals explained it to me, the business community and richer families have almost no reason to fully invest in the public schools.
3. Raise the minimum wage to 1960s levels, at least
The fast-food workers are right: It's impossible to live on today's minimum wage, which is substantially lower, when adjusted for inflation, than it was in the late 1960s. I'm not sure what the magic number should be, but I know I met several people in Lake Providence who live at or slightly above the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour and who can't pay their bills. It's not even close. One woman, Delores Gilmore, 44, works overnight as a prison guard making $8.50 per hour. She has to choose which bills to pay. At previous jobs, she was not always able to afford underwear for her children because money was so tight.

The U.S. minimum wage is worth less now than it was in the 1960s.
It's convenient for employers to argue they can't pay higher wages. Their profits indicate otherwise. The American dream is to work hard and get ahead. That is not a reality today, even for people who are working full-time.
By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to the new Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
Part of complete coverage from
John Sutter
SHARE THIS
More sharing
7 ways to narrow the rich-poor gap
By John D. Sutter, CNN
updated 5:43 PM EDT, Wed October 30, 2013

It's the most unequal place in America
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Income inequality in America has been growing since the late 1970s
John Sutter: Policy and attitude shifts can help narrow the rich-poor gap
The first step, Sutter says, is for people to recognize how divided we've become
Policies like a higher minimum wage would help the economy work for everyone
Editor's note: John D. Sutter is a columnist for CNN Opinion and head of CNN's Change the List project. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Google+. E-mail him at [email protected].
Lake Providence, Louisiana (CNN) -- "You have to sit back and think why is God keeping this town alive?
"If we're the poorest and we have the highest unemployment and crime rate, why doesn't God just say I'm going to wipe this town off the map? Because he knows that, in a couple years, something big is going to happen for Lake Providence.
"He's waiting for us to start to believe in ourselves."
That's 18-year-old Frededreia Willis, one of the many amazing people I met in Lake Providence, Louisiana, which is the American capital of income inequality. East Carroll Parish, where Lake Providence is located, has a wider gap between rich and poor than any other county in the United States.

John D. Sutter
It also offers clues for how things change -- how people in this off-the-map farming community, and in the country as a whole, can narrow the rich-poor gap.
Income inequality isn't inevitable. As economists and the president have argued, it is the result of bad policies that favor the rich and leave everyone else struggling.
The income gap is too wide for our own good. Here are seven ways that can and should change:
1. Break down the social barriers
One of the reasons income inequality persists, says Michael Norton, an associate professor at Harvard, is that people don't realize how wide the gap between rich and poor has become. Credit masks poverty, and most of us are stuck in an income bubble -- we tend only to see and associate with people who are like us, economically.
A solution: We should get out of our collective comfort zone and create conversations across the income divide. Willis, the young woman in Lake Providence, says she wants to come back to her hometown to build a bridge across the lake that largely separates the richer folks on the north from the poorer folks on the south. If they talked more, they might support policies to help each other.
2. Improve public schools; unify them
There's no surer ticket out of poverty than a solid education. But that education has to be affordable (modern college isn't) and it has to be equally distributed. It would be impossible to argue that's true of America's public schools, which are supported by property taxes. Big houses equal better schools. And poorer kids, of course, lose out. That's a tragedy, and leads, according to a recent Stanford study, to poorer students who are years behind their richer peers.
In Lake Providence, richer kids go to a private school, which has no formal scholarship program. Poorer students go to a public school that does not perform as well. Education should be a great equalizer, not a source of division. The community would benefit from closing its private school, Briarfield Academy, and creating a shared asset in the public school system. Right now, as some locals explained it to me, the business community and richer families have almost no reason to fully invest in the public schools.
3. Raise the minimum wage to 1960s levels, at least
The fast-food workers are right: It's impossible to live on today's minimum wage, which is substantially lower, when adjusted for inflation, than it was in the late 1960s. I'm not sure what the magic number should be, but I know I met several people in Lake Providence who live at or slightly above the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour and who can't pay their bills. It's not even close. One woman, Delores Gilmore, 44, works overnight as a prison guard making $8.50 per hour. She has to choose which bills to pay. At previous jobs, she was not always able to afford underwear for her children because money was so tight.

The U.S. minimum wage is worth less now than it was in the 1960s.
It's convenient for employers to argue they can't pay higher wages. Their profits indicate otherwise. The American dream is to work hard and get ahead. That is not a reality today, even for people who are working full-time.
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