A recent commentary, “Poverty and Culture,” written by Professor Lawrence Mead and published in Society, a journal edited by Jonathan Imber, has caused great concern and anger within the poverty research community. We recognize that Professor Mead has the same rights to express his opinions as we all do and are firm in our commitment to the principle of academic freedom. At the same time, we feel we must speak out and clarify that his opinions do not reflect the current knowledge in the field. His conclusions are false, without any supporting evidence, and completely unfounded. As such his commentary is harmful to the integrity of social science research. Indeed, decades of research suggest that when anti-poverty policies and programs are designed in an effective and inclusive way, much progress can be made.
As poverty scholars, we are committed to understanding and explaining how policies and programs perpetuate or mitigate racism, inequality, violence, and poverty. We have been, and remain, committed to doing research that generates more equitable, just, and anti-racist policy systems and institutions. And yet, we still need to do better and more, because commentaries such as Mead’s are incredibly harmful to communities of color. It is important that as poverty researchers we center our work on fundamental values of diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging. Racism has no place in our scholarly community.
Irwin Garfinkel Mitchell I. Ginsberg Professor of Contemporary Urban Problems at the Columbia School of Social Work Co-Director, Center on Poverty and Social Policy Columbia University
David Grusky Professor of Sociology Director, Center on Poverty and Inequality Stanford University
Haydar Kurban Professor of Economics Director, Center on Race and Wealth Howard University
Katherine Magnuson Professor of Social Work Director, Institute for Research on Poverty University Wisconsin–Madison
Marianne E. Page Professor of Economics Director, Center for Poverty Research University of California Davis
Jennifer Romich Professor of Social Work Director, West Coast Poverty Center University of Washington
H. Luke Shaefer Hermann and Amalie Kohn Professor of Social Justice and Social Policy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy Director, Poverty Solutions University of Michigan
James Sullivan Gilbert F. Schaefer College Professor of Economics Co-Director, Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities University of Notre Dame
Christopher Wimer Co-Director, Center on Poverty and Social Policy Columbia University
James P. Ziliak Gatton Endowed Chair in Microeconomics Director, Center for Poverty Research University of Kentucky