Peter Edelman discusses "So Rich, So Poor: Why It's So Hard to End Poverty in America"

“Could everyone please read this book?"--Barbara Ehrenreich

If the nation's gross national income--over $14 trillion--were divided evenly across the entire U.S. population, every household could call itself middle class. Yet the income-level disparity in this country is now wider than at any point since the Great Depression. In 2010 the average salary for CEOs on the S&P 500 was over $1 million--climbing to over $11 million when all forms of compensation are accounted for--while the current median household income for African Americans is just over $32,000. How can some be so rich, while others are so poor?

In his provocative book, Peter Edelman, a former top aide to Senator Robert F. Kennedy and a lifelong antipoverty advocate, offers an informed analysis of how this country can be so wealthy yet have a steadily growing number of unemployed and working poor. So Rich, So Poor delves into what is happening to the people behind the statistics and takes a particular look at the continuing crisis of young people of color, whose possibility of a productive life too often is lost on their way to adulthood. This is crucial reading for anyone who wants to understand the most critical American dilemma of the twenty-first century.

"Peter Edelman brings blinding lucidity to a subject usually mired in prejudice and false preconceptions. Before we have one more discussion of how America can combat its persistent and growing levels of poverty, could everyone please read this book?"--Barbara Ehrenreich

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Peter Edelman, a former aide to Senator Robert F. Kennedy and member of the Clinton administration, is a professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center. He has written articles and op-ed pieces for a wide range of periodicals, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Atlantic Monthly, and Dissent. He is married to Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Children's Defense Fund and a best-selling author.

Event date:

Tuesday, October 2, 2012 - 7:00pm

Event address:

38 S Snelling Ave

55105 Saint Paul