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The Great American Divide The Great American Divide
(about 20 hours later)
You don’t have to look hard to find inequality in America. For the past several weeks I have been sheltering with my family in Central New York, where even among the rolling hills and sweeping expanses of farmland, the vast divide between the haves and have-nots is as plainly visible as it is in New York City.You don’t have to look hard to find inequality in America. For the past several weeks I have been sheltering with my family in Central New York, where even among the rolling hills and sweeping expanses of farmland, the vast divide between the haves and have-nots is as plainly visible as it is in New York City.
Tompkins County, one of the wealthiest in the region, is home to Cornell University and the stunningly beautiful Cayuga Heights village, with stone and Tudor mansions set on the cliffs among gorges and waterfalls overlooking Ithaca. Seen from the bluffs above Ithaca Falls, tightly packed two-story homes downtown give way to commercial streets and strip malls. Behind a Walmart, in a swampy forest of city land known as “The Jungle,” more than 30 makeshift shelters form a sprawling homeless encampment. Volunteers with Loaves and Fishes, one of the longest-serving food pantries in the city, walk winding paths through tick-infested marshes that are strewn with garbage, broken bicycles and hypodermic needles. Among their clients is 27-year-old Cameron Alexander McCaffery, who just spent his first upstate winter in a one-room shack made from scraps of building materials.Tompkins County, one of the wealthiest in the region, is home to Cornell University and the stunningly beautiful Cayuga Heights village, with stone and Tudor mansions set on the cliffs among gorges and waterfalls overlooking Ithaca. Seen from the bluffs above Ithaca Falls, tightly packed two-story homes downtown give way to commercial streets and strip malls. Behind a Walmart, in a swampy forest of city land known as “The Jungle,” more than 30 makeshift shelters form a sprawling homeless encampment. Volunteers with Loaves and Fishes, one of the longest-serving food pantries in the city, walk winding paths through tick-infested marshes that are strewn with garbage, broken bicycles and hypodermic needles. Among their clients is 27-year-old Cameron Alexander McCaffery, who just spent his first upstate winter in a one-room shack made from scraps of building materials.
Farther north, in Syracuse, Interstate 81 bisects the city with a huge four-lane overpass. Beneath it, on both sides of a highway, are long rows of two-story brick apartment buildings called the Pioneer Homes. They are the oldest public housing projects in New York and are among the first in the nation. On the east side of the highway, residents navigate a strip of sooty industrial wasteland to reach a few small convenience stores, the only businesses within walking distance. As the sun sets over the city’s impoverished south side, long-haul trucks barreling through the city cast shadows across the buildings, speeding past doors and windows, and shaking the ground beneath. On a hill above, the modern glass-and-steel buildings of the Upstate and Syracuse University campuses sparkle in the evening light. During the school year, Syracuse’s vaunted journalism program sends its eager young journalists, some of whom pay upward of $65,000 a year in tuition, down the hill to document the blight.Farther north, in Syracuse, Interstate 81 bisects the city with a huge four-lane overpass. Beneath it, on both sides of a highway, are long rows of two-story brick apartment buildings called the Pioneer Homes. They are the oldest public housing projects in New York and are among the first in the nation. On the east side of the highway, residents navigate a strip of sooty industrial wasteland to reach a few small convenience stores, the only businesses within walking distance. As the sun sets over the city’s impoverished south side, long-haul trucks barreling through the city cast shadows across the buildings, speeding past doors and windows, and shaking the ground beneath. On a hill above, the modern glass-and-steel buildings of the Upstate and Syracuse University campuses sparkle in the evening light. During the school year, Syracuse’s vaunted journalism program sends its eager young journalists, some of whom pay upward of $65,000 a year in tuition, down the hill to document the blight.
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“The America We Need” is on Opinion project focusing on how we can emerge out of the current crisis with a fairer nation. Excerpts from the introductory editorial accompany these photos.“The America We Need” is on Opinion project focusing on how we can emerge out of the current crisis with a fairer nation. Excerpts from the introductory editorial accompany these photos.
“A great divide separates affluent Americans, who fully enjoy the benefits of life in the wealthiest nation on earth, from the growing portion of the population whose lives lack stability or any real prospect of betterment.”“A great divide separates affluent Americans, who fully enjoy the benefits of life in the wealthiest nation on earth, from the growing portion of the population whose lives lack stability or any real prospect of betterment.”
“One of the most important steps the United States can take to ensure all children have the opportunity to thrive is to bulldoze enduring patterns of racial and economic segregation."“One of the most important steps the United States can take to ensure all children have the opportunity to thrive is to bulldoze enduring patterns of racial and economic segregation."
“So long as Americans are segregated, their opportunities can never be equal.”“So long as Americans are segregated, their opportunities can never be equal.”
“Less affluent Americans suffer disproportionately from the diseases of labor like black lung and mesothelioma; the diseases of poverty like obesity and diabetes; and the opioid epidemic that has raged in the communities where opportunity is in short supply.”“Less affluent Americans suffer disproportionately from the diseases of labor like black lung and mesothelioma; the diseases of poverty like obesity and diabetes; and the opioid epidemic that has raged in the communities where opportunity is in short supply.”
"Americans need affordable options for child care and for the care of older members of their families, a growing crisis in an aging nation. No one, and especially not children, should ever go hungry. Everyone deserves a place to call home.”"Americans need affordable options for child care and for the care of older members of their families, a growing crisis in an aging nation. No one, and especially not children, should ever go hungry. Everyone deserves a place to call home.”
“Public schools are one of the great equalizing forces in American life; the shift to online learning means existing inequalities matter more. Millions of children lack reliable internet access."“Public schools are one of the great equalizing forces in American life; the shift to online learning means existing inequalities matter more. Millions of children lack reliable internet access."
“The cost of a college education in the United States is among the highest in the developed world.”“The cost of a college education in the United States is among the highest in the developed world.”
“By one estimate, patterns of poor health mean those at the bottom of the income spectrum are twice as likely to die from Covid-19.”“By one estimate, patterns of poor health mean those at the bottom of the income spectrum are twice as likely to die from Covid-19.”
“Many Americans have lost confidence in the government as a vehicle for achieving the things that we cannot achieve alone."“Many Americans have lost confidence in the government as a vehicle for achieving the things that we cannot achieve alone."
“10.9 million American families barely can afford an apartment. They spend more than half of their incomes on rent, and so they scrimp on food and health care. And on any given night, half a million Americans are homeless.”“10.9 million American families barely can afford an apartment. They spend more than half of their incomes on rent, and so they scrimp on food and health care. And on any given night, half a million Americans are homeless.”
“Those still working generally cannot do so from the safety of the living room couch. They risk death to obtain the necessities of life."“Those still working generally cannot do so from the safety of the living room couch. They risk death to obtain the necessities of life."
“Even after explicit discrimination was declared illegal, single-family zoning laws continued to exclude low-income families, particularly minorities.”“Even after explicit discrimination was declared illegal, single-family zoning laws continued to exclude low-income families, particularly minorities.”
“The defining trend in American public policy has been to diminish government’s role as a guarantor of personal liberty. Government should provide all Americans with the freedom that comes from a stable and prosperous life.”“The defining trend in American public policy has been to diminish government’s role as a guarantor of personal liberty. Government should provide all Americans with the freedom that comes from a stable and prosperous life.”
“Beyond the threadbare nature of the American safety net, the government has pulled back from investment in infrastructure, education and basic scientific research, the building blocks of future prosperity."“Beyond the threadbare nature of the American safety net, the government has pulled back from investment in infrastructure, education and basic scientific research, the building blocks of future prosperity."
“The United States has a chance to emerge from this latest crisis as a stronger nation, more just, more free and more resilient. We must seize the opportunity.”“The United States has a chance to emerge from this latest crisis as a stronger nation, more just, more free and more resilient. We must seize the opportunity.”
Mr. Winter is a staff photographer on assignment in Opinion.
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