Fifty years ago, former President Lyndon B. Johnson made a promise to the American people to end the nation’s poverty.
“It will not be a short or easy struggle… but we shall not rest until that war is won,” Johnson said in his 1964 State of the Union Speech. “The richest nation on earth can afford to win it. We cannot afford to lose it.”
But as the years went by, many say Johnson’s famous declaration — a promise of a better life for the American people — has yet to see full fruition.
“We certainly haven’t won the war but we’re fighting the fight,” said, Doug Stanley, executive director for Hocking-Athens-Perry Community Action.
For some local nonprofit workers, Johnson’s declaration of the war on poverty meant a personal calling.
“There’s a certain rhetoric to declaring war on things,” said Justin Gray, service unit manager for the Athens and Meigs County Salvation Army. “You saw how people mobilized in the War on Terror.”
But today, Gray said, the enthusiasm to fight back against poverty has waned.
“The problem (of poverty) is still there but the rallying cry isn’t,” Gray said.
For local charities like HAPCAP — which Stanley said was created because of Johnson’s so-called war on poverty — the 50th anniversary of the former president’s mission is a time for not only service, but reflection as well.
“It’s a very special time for us; we’ve been here for 50 years,” Stanley said. “I think we can continue to make progress. There’s no question that we are a better society than we were in 1964. Much of that has to do with the War on Poverty.”
A study released by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a private, nonpartisan think-tank based in Massachusetts, supports Stanley’s view.
The study shows many government programs, such as food stamps and Women in Crisis, among others, have helped America’s poor.
The study proves “that government programs have played a particularly important role in alleviating child poverty and deep poverty, especially during economic downturns,” according to the text of the study.
Johnson delivered a speech outside Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium on May 7, 1964 to about 15,000 people. He urged OU students and Athens residents to confront poverty with enthusiasm.
“Our goal is a Great Society in which no child is underfed or unschooled, no one is unemployed and no person is barred from any door because of his race, religion or place of birth,” Johnson said, according to a Post article. “This is what waits for you. Reach out for it now.”
Despite gains, Stanley believes the fight against poverty is still very real to those who are both on the ground combatting it and those who are suffering from it.
“Much of the general population is not aware of it or does not have a really clear idea of all that’s going on in the community or where we would be without it,” he said.
