TWO AMERICAN FAMILIES: 1991-2024
July 23, 2024
TERRY NEUMANN:
Tony and I have known each other since we were probably about 2 years old. His mother and my mother went to school toobtainher at Pulinquirei High School. And our grandparents, when our parents were younger, they played cards. So they were pretty good friconcludes.
TERRY NEUMANN:
I don’t know, we just started seeing each other, spconcludeing a lot of time at each other’s houtilizes, and he just inquireed me out. So I stated, OK. We were crazy about each other. We had to spconclude a lot of time toobtainher, and I could just picture myself spconcludeing the rest of my life with him.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Our expectations were, I considered, you find the man that you like and obtain married and have a family and obtain a houtilize. Little white picket fence, all those little fairy tale-type things. Some of it came true, but some of it, as far as the bumpy roads, I didn’t expect either. I knew they weren’t going to be all peaches and cream, but you don’t consider of all the bad things when you’re younger.
1991
BILL MOYERS:
Once upon a time, Terry Neumann and her husband, Tony, dreamed of a good, simple life.
TERRY NEUMANN:
When we obtained married, we had started a family right away. He was working factory and I stayed home. And he created pretty good money when we were first married, for a young couple with one little one on the way.
Grab a couple and crack them in the pan.
I don’t know. We had a good time with one child, so we had another one, and there was Adam. And then I obtained pregnant with Karissa in ’86, and he had lost his job. Then he obtained hired at Briggs, and we considered, OK, this is a very stable job. We can start saving. And we bought the houtilize.
BILL MOYERS:
Buying a home was a huge step for a young couple. But Tony had a good job with the engine buildr Briggs & Stratton, then the largest employer in the region.
FEMALE VOICE:
Years ago, if you wanted a tiny engine, you obtained a Briggs & Stratton.
BILL MOYERS:
For decades, Briggs and dozens of other stalwart Wisconsin manufacturers had assisted build Milwaukee just about the American dream’s hometown. Celebrated in sitcoms—
LAVERNE & SHIRLEY THEME SONG:
Give us any chance, we’ll take it.
BILL MOYERS:
—and sentimentalized in beer commercials.
MILLER BEER TV COMMERCIAL:
So when Miller time rolls around tonight, we raise a glass to you, Milwaukee. You’ve earned it.
BILL MOYERS:
When we met the Neumanns in the early ’90s, American manufacturers had already begun chasing cheap labor to nonunion states and Mexico. Of over 40,000 good-paying jobs lost from Milwaukee in the preceding decade, about 4,000 were from Briggs & Stratton. One of them was Tony Neumann’s.
TONY NEUMANN:
It sort of goes like this. Here and here.
TERRY NEUMANN:
He obtains into Briggs, and we consider, Oh, this is a good company. We can acquire a houtilize. Now we have the houtilize, we have more bills.
TONY NEUMANN:
We obtained to drill a hole. How huge of a hole do you want?
ADAM NEUMANN:
Not that huge.
TERRY NEUMANN:
But it’s either rent for the rest of your life or own, and we prefer to own. I mean—
BILL MOYERS:
That’s supposed to be the American dream.
TERRY NEUMANN:
That’s supposed to be the American dream.
BILL MOYERS:
A houtilize, a good job.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Where is it? Where is it?
BILL MOYERS:
Tony had been creating up to $18 an hour plus benefits. Now, the jobs available to a laid-off union worker commonly paid a fraction of that.
TONY NEUMANN:
I’ve applied over at grocery stores, hardware stores, there’s—
TERRY NEUMANN:
McDonald’s.
TONY NEUMANN:
—Hardy’s—
TERRY NEUMANN:
Kohl’s.
TONY NEUMANN:
—SuperAmerica, Pizza Hut, Walmart, Sam’s. Most of them will not pay $6 an hour. They’re all less than $6 an hour. Little do they know I necessary to live also.
Thank you. Have a nice day.
TERRY NEUMANN:
And one of these. And then you necessary a business card to call Mommy up.
BILL MOYERS:
While her husband viewed for work, Terry attempted to bring in some extra money. She bought skin care products and then attempted reselling them to her neighbors, door to door.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Look in the mirror and feel your face and declare, “Well, it’s softer,” the complexion, the color. Yeah. And that’s basically why I wanted to share this with you.
BILL MOYERS:
But she lost money on the deal, and their troubles just obtained worse.
TONY NEUMANN:
You going to call him back?
TERRY NEUMANN:
Am I going to call him back? Yeah, I’m going to have to call him back.
TONY NEUMANN:
Well, you talked to him before.
BILL MOYERS:
How much is your mortgage a month?
TERRY NEUMANN:
I believe it’s like eight—
TONY NEUMANN:
$819.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Yeah, $820, or something like that.
BILL MOYERS:
Have you been able to build all the payments?
TERRY NEUMANN:
No, and we’re behind. And today the mortgage company called me again.
BILL MOYERS:
Again?
TERRY NEUMANN:
Yes.
BILL MOYERS:
What did they declare?
TERRY NEUMANN:
I didn’t answer them right now becautilize I wanted to talk to Tony, who wasn’t home, so I wanted to talk to him.
BILL MOYERS:
You must dread it when the phone rings.
TERRY NEUMANN:
I do. I cringe.
TONY NEUMANN:
It was the same guy who I talked to before.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Really.
[on phone] I did sconclude a $1,000 check in, probably a few weeks back, but the check was sent back to me with a letter stating “we will not accept a partial payment.” I don’t really consider of that as a partial payment. I consider of that as a basic payment and a good gesture on attempting to obtain caught up. Right now we’re going through a hard time. My husband’s out of work. He went to school and he’s viewing for a job. And I’m basically just attempting to acquire a little time so we can obtain on our feet again, so we can obtain caught up. I would consider that this is just going to be a temporary thing, not a permanent thing. And I really don’t want to lose my houtilize. Or are you just attempting to notify me that you have to foreclose on the houtilize if I don’t have that full amount? You would recommconclude it.
TONY NEUMANN:
Is he putting this on paper? I want to know, is he putting this on paper? Dear?
WOMAN AT FOOD PANTRY:
Holding on there OK? You obtain the peanut butter and the honey.
TERRY NEUMANN:
I don’t like having to go and inquire and declare, “I have no food in the houtilize,” or something, “Can you assist me out?” Where when you would go and work and obtain a paycheck and come home and support yourself—
TONY NEUMANN:
Then you would be giving this food to other people.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Right. Well, now, shoe’s on the other foot. Makes me feel very uncomfortable. I’d rather be on the giving side than the receiving.
WOMAN AT FOOD PANTRY:
They have peanut butter, flour, some pork here. I understand that if you put it over noodles or rice and maybe add a little onion, that it’s quite palatable.
TONY NEUMANN:
Oh, what happened to his ear? What, he wants to go back in his houtilize? He doesn’t like all you kids,
ADAM NEUMANN:
He don’t have no houtilize. Come here.
TONY NEUMANN:
Can you reach that high? Or you want me to do it?
ADAM NEUMANN:
I want to hold him all the way over there.
TONY NEUMANN:
- You can hold him all the way over here.
ADAM NEUMANN:
Come on. Come here.
TERRY NEUMANN:
They’ve created comments, too, like, “Mom, let’s sell the bookshelf.” They’ve obtained little baseball cards. “Mom, I’ll sell these.” And that hurts, becautilize they’re willing to sell their baseball cards to assist their parents out.
TONY NEUMANN:
I’ve been obtainting very angry lately. I’ve been losing my temper quite a bit. I’ve attempted doing things. I work in the garage on woodworking things when I obtain angry, and that assists once in a while. I just—I’m having a hard time dealing with this.
TERRY NEUMANN:
What are you doing today?
BILL MOYERS:
How do you deal with this pressure? The anger, the—
TERRY NEUMANN:
I can’t. It’s very difficult.
TONY NEUMANN:
Yeah, our marriage is really on the rocks. This is a really difficult time. This is a real difficult time. I’ve been considering about divorce now for a while.
BILL MOYERS:
Why?
TONY NEUMANN:
I can’t deal with the situation. I’m just having a real hard time dealing with it.
BILL MOYERS:
You feel guilty?
TONY NEUMANN:
Yeah, I do. I feel I should be supporting my family.
BILL MOYERS:
You consider he really wants a divorce? Or is this just an escape?
TERRY NEUMANN:
I consider it’s an escape, and I just consider he figures it’s an simple way out. But really, the problems are still going to be there becautilize he’s still going to have to support us. And I feel it’s going to be worse.
I just feel it’s just—just a tough time. And if we can just obtain through this, then we’ll be back to the life that we had before.
FATHER MIKE STRACHOTA:
Good morning, everybody. We gather on this Sunday morning in faith to praise our triune God, in the name of the Father and of the Son—
BILL MOYERS:
As Tony and Terry prayed for better times, across town in Milwaukee’s central city, a second hardworking family found their faith being tested. Like Tony Neumann, Claude Stanley had also been laid off. He lost his assembly line job with huge manufacturer A.O. Smith.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
When I obtained laid off, they wanted me to go onto welfare, down to welfare, but I could not stand in that line. I just stated, “That’s not me. This is not me.” They wanted to give me food stamps. I stated, “This ain’t me.” I don’t want no food stamps. I stated I obtained my strength, my heath. I will find me a job. And I found me a job.
BILL MOYERS:
He found a job waterproofing basements for less than $7 an hour—not even half of what he had been creating.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
You obtained to view at it on the real side. I cannot live like I was creating $20 an hour, OK? That money is not there. So you might as well obtain it in your mind it’s not there no more. So, OK, bring yourself down.
BILL MOYERS:
Claude and his wife, Jackie, were raising five kids: their daughter Nicole, about to enter college when we met her; the oldest son, Keith; the twins Klaudale and Claude Jr.; and the youngest, Omega.
KEITH STANLEY:
I consider the hardest time is when you have to worry about coming home—like I declare, always coming home, and then there’s a bill on the door declareing the water is cut off. Or there’s—the guy just called declareing he’s going to cut off the phone. Or the electricity’s off and you have to wait for a couple of days until Mom and Dad can obtain enough money to put it back on.
BILL MOYERS:
Their neighborhood, Sherman Park, was mostly African American and had once thrived on factory jobs that paid enough to support a family. Now, those jobs were disappearing and people here were attempting to figure out what to do next. People like Jackie Stanley, who had lost her job at Briggs.
JACKIE STANLEY:
When I was on the motor line at Briggs, I launched to study my real estate.
Can I shake your hand?
I went 10 times for my real estate license. The 10th time I passed. And I promised that as soon as Briggs did close the door that I was going to go on and do real estate. And that’s exactly what I did.
[on phone] Hi, Joe. Yeah, this is Jacqueline Stanley from Homestead.
It’s just like anything else. It’s really unsure.
[on phone] OK, I just obtained into this, it declares “ASAP.”
You only obtain excited when you’re sitting at the closing and have the check in your hand. You never obtain overexuberant. And I’m learning that every day.
NICOLE STANLEY:
Mom’s real estate is tough on her. I’ve seen her attempt to wheel and deal deals. They seem so good, and at the last minute they fall apart.
JACKIE STANLEY:
[on phone] The listing is for September. It’s already October.
NICOLE STANLEY:
And that falling apart is our mortgage. That falling apart is the car notes. And that’s scary.
BILL MOYERS:
As good jobs left town, the number of African Americans in poverty increased from about 25% in the 1970s to over 40% in the early ’90s. The Stanleys vowed it wouldn’t happen to them, but as property values fell in the central city, so did real estate commissions. And when Jackie attempted to sell in other neighborhoods, she met resistance.
JACKIE STANLEY:
It was on the market for a year and didn’t sell.
BILL BERLAND:
It’s becautilize they didn’t have somebody as good as you.
JACKIE STANLEY:
[laughs] OK.
BILL BERLAND:
People of color really have a much more difficult time in our business creating a living than white people. It may be a situation where she may call for a revealing and not obtain the courtesy of a callback. Maybe her client that she takes into a mortgage lconcludeer has a much more difficult time, even if their credit is good, obtainting a mortgage.
JACKIE STANLEY:
[on phone] All right. Fax it to me.
I can’t sell suburbs. I can’t sell the most affluent areas here. And that hurts. But they’ll call me for central city.
KEITH STANLEY:
You talk to your friconcludes. They always declare, “Well, I’m going to be doing this this summer. Well, how about you?” And you’re like, “Well, I’m doing working.” That’s all you can declare right now is I’m working.
They’re always inquireing, “Why do you work? Why don’t you go out and have fun like the rest of the kids do?” And you declare you can’t. You just can’t do it. You have to go out there and assist your mom and dad.
BILL MOYERS:
To assist out, Keith Stanley and the twins, Claude Jr. and Klaudale, started a business. They called it the Three Sons Lawn Care Service.
MALE INTERVIEWER:
How much money would you like to build when you grow up?
CLAUDE STANLEY JR.:
Probably about a hundred million, something like that. Three hundred million, something like that.
MALE INTERVIEWER:
Do you consider you will?
CLAUDE STANLEY JR.:
Yeah.
KLAUDALE STANLEY:
I see my mom on the phone talking to the bill collectors, inquireing them when they would take—the mortgage company, when they were about to take our houtilize, she was pleading with the mortgage company. She inquireed the bill collectors to keep the light and sometimes the gas on. That builds me want to do more. A lot more.
BILL MOYERS:
The counattempt was deep in recession in 1991. The president predicted it wouldn’t last.
PRESIDENT GEORGE H.W. BUSH:
We will obtain this recession behind us and return to growth soon. We will obtain on our way to a new record of expansion and achieve the competitive strength that will carry us into the next American century.
BILL MOYERS:
But the problem was hugeger than recession. By 1991, Milwaukee’s new economy depconcludeed on nonunion manufacturing and service jobs, the vast majority of them offering lower pay and fewer benefits. That was still the case when we returned to the city two years later.
1993
BILL MOYERS:
But by the launchning of 1993, there were expectations that things were about to turn around.
PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON:
I, William Jefferson Clinton, do solemnly swear and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defconclude the Constitution of the United States. So assist me God.
CHIEF JUSTICE WILLIAM REHNQUIST:
Congratulations.
KLAUDALE STANLEY:
From the way he ran his campaign, it was more like he wasn’t going to sconclude more jobs or factories out of the counattempt and bring more in. And I guess that in the next four years, maybe we might have openings and maybe you might not have to film as many people, and you’re—more people have jobs and things probably work out.
MALE INAUGURATION SPEAKER:
Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States of America, William Jefferson Clinton.
KLAUDALE STANLEY:
This president I consider I can trust and relate to somehow.
KEITH STANLEY:
Four more years. Four more years, buddy. You necessary to grow up a little bit.
BILL CLINTON:
Today we celebrate the mystery of American renewal.
KEITH STANLEY:
Yeah, I’ve been there with Reagan, Bush and now Clinton. I’m not declareing I don’t trust presidents. It’s that you declare a lot of stuff to obtain on top. Even if I was running for something, I’d declare—I’d be like, “Everybody obtain free candy,” and everything, you know? So you declare a lot of stuff to obtain on top.
BILL CLINTON:
We inherit an economy that is still the world’s strongest, but is weakened by business failures, stagnant wages—
TERRY NEUMANN:
I consider if they work on jobs first, a lot of people would probably be more energized. Give people something to wake up to every morning. A purpose.
TONY NEUMANN:
A purpose and a lot more self-respect.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Right. And I consider that will alter a lot of people’s attitudes.
TONY NEUMANN:
Changed mine.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Yeah.
FATHER MIKE STRACHOTA:
I invited the Neumanns around the Lord’s table becautilize a year ago they may not have had as much to be thankful for, right? You didn’t have a steady job then, did you?
TONY NEUMANN:
That’s a fact.
FATHER MIKE STRACHOTA:
That’s a fact. What is the fact today?
TONY NEUMANN:
I have more than enough work.
FATHER MIKE STRACHOTA:
More than enough work. God is with us.
BILL MOYERS:
Tony Neumann had found a job creating engine parts in a tiny factory. Like many in the new light manufacturing sector, the job was nonunion. It paid $8.25 an hour with no benefits.
KARISSA NEUMANN:
More coffee for Daddy.
TONY NEUMANN:
I’m still scared becautilize of being laid off so many times. Some people do call me money-hungry becautilize I eat up the overtime, but I’ve seen how a couple months without income can do to you. I won’t feel safe enough until I have like $20,000 in the bank.
BILL MOYERS:
Tony was working the night shift. Still months behind on the mortgage, he was working an exhausting amount of overtime to attempt and catch up.
TONY NEUMANN:
The kids are off to school at 8 o’clock in the morning so I can see them from 7 o’clock when they obtain up until 8 o’clock when they leave. And then I don’t obtain home until 12 o’clock at night, and they’re already in bed sleeping.
It does bother me not to be able to see the kids as much as I utilized to. It does bother me a lot. But at this point in time right now, having money coming in consistently is more important than spconcludeing time with my children all the time like I utilized to.
Can you build sure Daniel reads that book on the chemisattempt set real good?
BILL MOYERS:
Terry and Tony’s marriage survived, but there were still pressures.
TONY NEUMANN:
See you tonight.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Goodbye.
Come on, let’s pray.
We are missing somebody. We’re missing Tony. So a lot of times we’re here by ourselves and it obtains kind of lonely, becautilize we have to do things just with the four of us. And sometimes I feel like a single parent.
[praying toobtainher] The Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen. Bless us, oh, Lord, and these thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy bounty through Christ, our Lord, amen. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen.
This is the ham that Dad obtained from work, at Christmastime.
BILL MOYERS:
Terry still found herself having to choose between creating money and staying home with the kids. The choice for now was to bring in some extra income. Selling beauty products had wound up costing her money, so she took part-time work caring for an elderly woman. She left the kids with a relative.
In 1993, Claude Sr. was still waterproofing basements.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
I do my best. If I’m going to come out here and do a job, I’m going to build sure it’s done right. I don’t care who works with me, we’re going to do it right, if I have to be here half the night to obtain it done.
BILL MOYERS:
He was now earning about $7 an hour, 50 cents more than in ’91.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
Now I’m putting the long hours in. You’re obtainting money, but it’s not that much. But you’re obtainting longer hours. But you obtain home, you’re tired. We tired, you know? And you declare, “What the utilize?”
JACKIE STANLEY:
Why keep struggling?
CLAUDE STANLEY:
Why keep going? But you obtained to declare, “I’m going to build it. I’m going to build it.” But that door’s obtained open up somewhere. It’s obtained to open up somewhere.
BILL MOYERS:
In 1993, the three sons were still in business. Keith Stanley, now 16, and the 14-year-old twins, Klaudale and Claude Jr.
KEITH STANLEY:
We do a lot of offhand jobs. Odd jobs like doing this and painting rooms and putting up carpet, taking out the furniture and stuff like that. Most of the money goes to the bank, and if it doesn’t, either we’re assisting our sister out in college or we’re assisting out acquireing our own shoes, acquireing our equipment. So it doesn’t just obtain spent on whatever you want.
BILL MOYERS:
Keith had set a goal to become the first boy on either side of the family to graduate high school and go on to college.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
I attempt to instill in them is you’re going to necessary to obtain education. You obtained to go to college. Without a college education, you won’t build it.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Daniel.
KARISSA NEUMANN:
Daniel!
TERRY NEUMANN:
Daniel, view for your homework. And your backpack.
KARISSA NEUMANN:
And shut the door!
TERRY NEUMANN:
With me working and Tony working, we had different shifts and we weren’t all toobtainher all the time at the same time.
TONY NEUMANN:
Karissa, where is it?
TERRY NEUMANN:
How can he lose a backpack?
Daniel started obtainting very quiet and kept to himself a lot, and his attitude just alterd a little bit. He obtained really distant.
TONY NEUMANN:
Hey, view at this.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Homework not finished. Why?
And then Daniel started having problems with his grades in school.
There’s three pages here.
TONY NEUMANN:
I’m not signing none of this.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Let me see that.
GUIDANCE COUNSELOR:
Some kids almost blame themselves for what’s going on in a family. And that they have to realize this is a situation that’s a tough situation for the whole family. Everybody’s doing the best they can. You love him, you’re there for him and you’ll always be there for him.
TEACHER:
Danny Newman?
BILL MOYERS:
Deciding the children necessaryed her full time at home, Terry gave up the job.
JACKIE STANLEY:
I consider he created about 35, 40 at Smith.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
At Smith, yeah.
JACKIE STANLEY:
And I created 35 and 40.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
At Briggs.
JACKIE STANLEY:
And that’s—so we’re about half of that. If we didn’t—created what we created at Briggs and Smith, right now, kids at least have some kind of college funds built up.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
But we view on each other for our strength. Some days, she have bad days. Some days, I have bad days. But like, when—if I’m not producing, she’s producing. When I can’t—I do, she do, I do. We attempt to find a way to build concludes meet. You obtained some families probably declare, how do we build it? How do we build it?
JACKIE STANLEY:
We don’t even know sometimes. [laughter]
CLAUDE STANLEY:
How do you build it?
JACKIE STANLEY:
We just keep holding on. We rummage. I love to rummage.
Hi.
WOMAN AT RUMMAGE STORE:
How are you?
JACKIE STANLEY:
Fine.
I come here becautilize I work with a lot of people every day. They come in the offices, from their cologne to the shoes, they view gorgeous. And I can’t afford what they wear. My accessories that I wear, they are like $5, $10 to $20 earrings. I pay 99 cents.
OMEGA STANLEY:
This is something you would wear, probably.
JACKIE STANLEY:
Something I would wear? No, I consider Elvis Presley would wear it. [laughter] No, I wouldn’t wear that.
WOMAN AT RUMMAGE STORE:
Fifty-five.
JACKIE STANLEY:
OK, I’ll obtain hers and put mine on layaway.
Nobody wants to be around somebody that doesn’t have their selves toobtainher, even if you have to, as one broker wrote to me and stated, fake it till you build it. And that’s what we do in the Stanley houtilizehold. We wear exactly what the people on Lake Drive wear.
I’ll notify you what we’ll do. I’ll notify you what, I’ll give this one, becautilize that’s the very same houtilize.
Our family would be what you would declare is what the average Americans are going through. And with my kind of work that I do, which is real estate, I obtain paid on commission. It goes up and down, and it’s rough.
Don’t go in the back hallway. The dog’s there.
BILL MOYERS:
Jackie was just one of the agents working on this sale and had to split the commission with the others. She also had to pay a percentage of her share to her employer, Homestead Realty, reducing her own take.
JACKIE STANLEY:
Out of this one, by the time they’re done, it will be about $1,000. If we’re going to do the taxes, too, then you also have to remember they take the 28% out of the $1,000 that you build. So it’s—you’re down again.
There’s something that I always declare, and I know you may not understand this, but it’s “If so a man considereth, so is he.” If I consider poverty all the time, I’ll act that way. I can’t afford to talk negative and then allow my children to see me that way down or depressed.
BILL MOYERS:
Even as Jackie persevered, it seemed her neighborhood was coming apart at the seams.
JACKIE STANLEY:
Even on this street, one block west of my houtilize, just about every door here has a steel door. There was “kill you” written on the back of my fence—”if you don’t join the gangs,” to my oldest son, Keith.
All I could notify him is keep attempting. Every day I have to encourage myself, and I have to encourage them. Many times Keith has stated to me, “What’s the utilize, Mom?” He did a 3.5. What does it matter? And I stated, “You obtained to keep going.” Someone called us the other day. The snow was heavy and we were out shoveling snow and someone stood at the window and stated, “Look at your family, it’s perfect.” And they called us the Beaver family. I know they meant to declare Cleaver, but—and I stated—”We see you toobtainher all the time. It views good.” But it “views” good. But no matter how it views on the outside, I’m concerned.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Daniel, Daniel, let me see. Let me see, please. Oh, come on. Come on. I’ve been waiting for this.
DANIEL NEUMANN:
I obtained Ds in all things.
TERRY NEUMANN:
You have what?
BILL MOYERS:
Having given up on her job, Terry was home with the kids, encouraging them and assisting with homework.
TERRY NEUMANN:
As, Cs, Cs. Well, you went up in math. You had a U, you went to a C.
I wasn’t sure if it was the right decision, but I considered it’s either that or my kids are just going to be having a worse problem.
“Wow! I am proud of your efforts, Dan. I knew you could do it. Keep up the good work.” Good job, Dan.
TONY NEUMANN:
Did Julie mention what kind of plants she wanted. Tomatoes?
TERRY NEUMANN:
Yeah, she wanted tomatoes.
TONY NEUMANN:
A lot of the stuff that you grow, you can eat and just assists save money a little bit. I learned this from my mom and dad and grandma and all of these people who grew up during the Depression and figured, it builds it seem like you don’t have it that bad.
BILL MOYERS:
Tony continued working lots of overtime. Then he obtained sick and lost 10 days’ pay.
TERRY NEUMANN:
He caught pneumonia and he collapsed.
TONY NEUMANN:
Yeah, they put me on an IV for about an hour and a half or so.
TERRY NEUMANN:
And you obtain the bill and it’s like 300 and something dollars. And I stated, “Just for a taxi service to the hospital?” I’m like, come on. And Tony’s like, “Oh, God, there’s another bill.”
BILL MOYERS:
Tony’s new medical expenses hit them hard. They were still paying off the debts from when he was unemployed.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Just with the mortgage we obtained, well, three months behind, and it will take us two years to obtain—to pay that back becautilize they tack on the interest and penalty charges and whatever else. So that three months takes two years. That’s a long time. So whatever extra money we have, we sconclude it, only becautilize we want to build sure that in the next year we have it paid off so they don’t take the houtilize.
ACCOUNTANT:
OK, let’s obtain these numbers down, see what we’ve obtained here. Looks like you’ve obtained a medical deduction there.
BILL MOYERS:
In April 1993, the Neumanns were proud that Tony was reporting income for the first time in two years.
ACCOUNTANT:
Uh-oh. You don’t have enough taxes paid up. You owe $900.
TERRY NEUMANN:
$900? Where am I going to obtain $900?
1995
BILL MOYERS:
Two years later, in 1995, obtainting a job wasn’t the problem anymore in Milwaukee. There was even a shortage of skilled labor.
MALE NEWSREADER:
Employers in some parts of the state declare they can’t find enough qualified workers. And Gov. Thompson announced what he calls Operation Hire to address those shortages.
BILL MOYERS:
The problem still was that jobs often didn’t pay enough.
In the spring of ‘95, Tony Neumann finally shiftd on to the day shift. Now he and Terry were able to spconclude more time with the kids.
TERRY NEUMANN:
They’re doing great. They’re healthy. They’re doing well in school. And they’re obtainting huge. They’re growing. They’re just huge. They’re growing out of shoes and pants and clothes. [laughs]
BILL MOYERS:
Tony was now creating around $13 an hour, still less than he had created at Briggs & Stratton. The Neumanns had managed to catch up on their mortgage, but they had no savings and still lived paycheck to paycheck.
TONY NEUMANN:
Why would I be waiting?
TERRY NEUMANN:
Morning. Morning, Barb.
BILL MOYERS:
Terry’s latest part-time job was at a school cafeteria. Paying $6.91 an hour, it let her obtain home before the kids.
TERRY NEUMANN:
I only work three hours, so I don’t obtain any benefits right now. I might obtain extra time if somebody’s sick. Any extra time that I can obtain, I grab, becautilize it assists.
BILL MOYERS:
In a typical day, Terry took home less than $20 after taxes.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Oh, I have to go by my dad’s houtilize. He went on vacation for three weeks, and I have to go check out the houtilize.
BILL MOYERS:
In the Stanley houtilizehold in 1995, oldest son Keith reached a milestone, becoming the first man on either side of his family to graduate high school.
KEITH STANLEY:
Aw, Mommy.
JACKIE STANLEY:
[cries] I’ve been talking for years. I can’t talk now. You’re the first one.
GRADUATION ANNOUNCER:
Keith Kenyatta Stanley.
JACKIE STANLEY:
That’s my boy. That’s my son. Jackie Stanley’s son.
KEITH STANLEY:
I’m kind of nervous and kind of excited, but I’m ready to go on and shift on now, becautilize it’s like been a long four years at high school. I’m hoping that after I graduate, I really stay in college. Becautilize I know a lot of times people, they go out there expecting high hopes and the world let them down. I want to really go out there and build some noise in the world. That’s what I want to do.
TERRY NEUMANN:
This is where I’m going today, Karissa. Pickup and deliveries. “Must have CDL. Competitive wages and excellent benefits.” And that’s what we necessary, benefits. “Apply in person.”
I studied and took a test at the motor vehicle department and obtained a CDL license. And CDL license stands for commercial driver’s license. I’m hoping to obtain into a pretty good company that’s going to offer me like eight hours a day and give me some decent benefits, like medical, dental and eye exam.
BILL MOYERS:
Knowing he wouldn’t build the living he necessaryed at his present job, Tony had been retraining again.
TONY NEUMANN:
What are you doing outside?
ADAM NEUMANN:
I was waiting for you.
TONY NEUMANN:
I’m always learning. You always have to learn. If you—when you stop learning, then you’ve obtained a problem.
The Honors Program. “Congratulations on your outstanding performance on The Asset.”
BILL MOYERS:
Tony obtained near-perfect scores, this time in thermoplastic molding. Now he was up for a new job.
TONY NEUMANN:
I went and obtained an interview, and I’m waiting to hear sometime by the conclude of the month if I have the job or not.
BILL MOYERS:
And that doesn’t build you happy?
TERRY NEUMANN:
It builds me happy becautilize it’s really what he wanted. I notified him he had to build the decision. And if that’s—if he felt that that’s what he wanted, to go ahead and do it.
BILL MOYERS:
But?
TONY NEUMANN:
It’s a cut in pay right off.
TERRY NEUMANN:
It’s a cut in pay. They do have good benefits.
BILL MOYERS:
How much do you lose if you take it?
TERRY NEUMANN:
Three bucks?
TONY NEUMANN:
Oh, probably about two and a half, $3 an hour. But the thing is, four years down the road, I’ll be creating more money than I would ever dream of creating here.
TERRY NEUMANN:
But is it going to be there when he obtains out? You know what I mean?
TONY NEUMANN:
They’re going to train you on the job for four years, and all that is going to cost them a lot of money, to put you through school and train you. And why would they do all of that and want to kick you out?
TERRY NEUMANN:
I know. I don’t want to burst your bubble.
TONY NEUMANN:
TERRY NEUMANN:
But what happens if they can’t compete with a neighbor?
BILL MOYERS:
As you declare, it’s happened twice to Tony.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Right. A company can just—I mean, I’ve seen it. It can just pick up and shift.
BILL MOYERS:
Hey, Jackie, good to see you. Thank you. Good to see you. This is new.
JACKIE STANLEY:
Yeah.
BILL MOYERS:
What’s going on?
JACKIE STANLEY:
The neighborhood’s modifying, and we right now feel that we should sell the houtilize. Every year it’s obtainting worse. Gangs are shifting in. I have $2,800 worth of steel up to my houtilize,
BILL MOYERS:
Yeah, I saw the steel doors, the “protected by”—this alarm system. “Beware of the dogs.”
JACKIE STANLEY:
We have it all. And I was going to build up a sign “Ignore the dog, ignore the alarm and you’re going to build the 6:00 news.” I’m—I’ve had it. I have had it.
KEITH STANLEY:
Hey, what’s up, everybody. This is Keith. I’m inside my dorm room just attempting to let you know how everything is doing.
BILL MOYERS:
In September of 1995, Keith started at Alabama State University,
KEITH STANLEY:
I’m taking each step at a time. It’s kind of harder than I considered, but I can do it.
BILL MOYERS:
How do you afford to keep Keith in college?
JACKIE STANLEY:
I neobtainediated two transactions and closed them the day before he left. And you’re talking about a prayer.
BILL MOYERS:
Jackie’s commissions paid for only part of the first semester.
What does it take you, a year down there for him?
JACKIE STANLEY:
It’s $7,000 a year.
BILL MOYERS:
Is he going to be able to build it this year?
JACKIE STANLEY:
I just received a letter that I have to pay $1,300 now or Keith will have to be put out in 48 hours. But again, God came through again. Keith had applied for a lot of charge cards before he left.
[on phone] Keith, hi. How are you doing? All right, listen, we came up with something. Oh, that’s so sweet. I can notify you’ve been down South a long time, you’re declareing, “Yes, ma’am.” Your Discover card came in, and we were concerned about this letter that came from your school. So here’s what we’re going to do. I called the Discover card people, and I notified them we wanted a cash advance.
BILL MOYERS:
Most people, when they pray, expect God to give them a miracle. What you obtained was $1,000 credit with 18% interest rate.
JACKIE STANLEY:
But it’ll tide me over until I can obtain the miracle.
[on phone] So then this semester’s taken care of. You hear me? All right. I love you.
It’s called “rob Peter to pay Paul.” And I’m robbing Peter so much that Peter’s just standing there.
TERRY NEUMANN:
I have a new job. I’m a driver and a guard and a messenger. My hourly pay right now is $7.50 to start. It has very good insurance benefits, which my husband doesn’t have. He obtains more money and less benefits, and I’ve obtained less money and better benefits. So hopefully, between the two of us—
TONY NEUMANN:
—it kind of works out.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Yeah. I obtain a lot of views from a lot of truck drivers, and a lot of double takes that, “Wow, view at that.” Yeah. I love it. I consider it’s great.
BILL MOYERS:
Working?
TERRY NEUMANN:
Working, yeah. And having the power behind the huge truck. I like it.
BILL MOYERS:
The power behind the huge truck?
TERRY NEUMANN:
Yeah. I obtain a lot more views than sitting in the kitchen cooking muffins. [laughter]
Well, good morning. [laughs]
BILL MOYERS:
I remember you notifying us a couple of years ago how important it was that as a mother, you were home with the kids. Daniel was having a few difficulties then, approaching teenage years. You just felt it was best if you could be here.
TERRY NEUMANN:
I still feel that way. But under the circumstances, we’re put into a situation we don’t have a choice.
DANIEL NEUMANN:
You obtained any homework?
KARISSA NEUMANN:
Yeah, I obtained a lot. I obtained this little worksheet. I obtained a couple other things, I consider.
BILL MOYERS:
The Neumanns now created enough from their combined income to meet their expenses, but the kids were coming home to an empty houtilize.
TERRY NEUMANN:
I hope they’ve learned something from this, how hard it is and how difficult it is and how everybody necessarys to build sacrifices, including them. This is how it is and this is what we have to do in order to obtain through this and build it.
BILL MOYERS:
Over the next few years, as their parents worked harder and harder, the Neumann kids were growing up.
KARISSA NEUMANN:
I love clothes. I’m a clothes fanatic. Adidas, Tommy Gear, Nike. Which I have none of. I have Adidas.
BILL MOYERS:
Terry was creating a little more money at the armored car company.
TERRY NEUMANN:
I obtained a raise. I did obtain a raise. A few of us complained and—40 cents. Forty cents more. But it’s better than what it was.
BILL MOYERS:
Tony continued working and attempting to find a better job.
TONY NEUMANN:
I don’t have any complaints about the job that I have now. Except for the pay. And the benefits. And can’t seem to go no further.
BILL MOYERS:
The Stanleys were barely obtainting by. Claude remained at his job waterproofing basements. Jackie continued selling real estate in the central city. They couldn’t sell their own home for enough money to afford a more stable neighborhood, so they decided to stay put.
MALE NEWSREADER:
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up more than 98 and a half points.
BILL MOYERS:
Meanwhile, the economy was really booming. The stock market kept rising, to over 6,000 by 1997, 8,000 by ’98. Inflation was lower than it had been in 30 years, and jobs were plentiful. But for working families, it was still a struggle to build concludes meet. Even a full-time job didn’t guarantee full benefits. Not having enough health insurance could turn into a nightmare.
And that’s what happened in 1997, when Claude Stanley obtained sick. A serious lung infection required an extconcludeed stay in the hospital and kept him out of work for two months. When we next saw him, it was 1998. He notified us the family faced uncovered medical bills approaching some $30,000.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
It will be rough. It’ll hit us financially, but all we can do is just depconclude on—you know, we depconclude on the Lord to build a way for us, but we ain’t going to stop living. We obtained to keep shifting, keep going.
KLAUDALE STANLEY:
Welcome to Burger King. Can I take your order, sir?
BILL MOYERS:
The growing family debt meant that paying for college for their younger children was out of the question. Omega was still in high school, but the twins had graduated. Claude Jr. was working odd jobs, including doing some modeling. His twin, Klaudale, took a different route. He joined the Navy.
KLAUDALE STANLEY:
I, Klaudale Lamar Stanley.
FEMALE NAVAL OFFICER:
Do solemnly swear.
KLAUDALE STANLEY:
Do solemnly swear.
FEMALE NAVAL OFFICER:
That I will support and defconclude.
KLAUDALE STANLEY:
That I will support and defconclude—
BILL MOYERS:
He went through basic training in Illinois—
NAVAL PETTY OFFICER:
Pivot to the right, recruit. I stated to the far right side, recruit. Can you ever hear? Do you have a problem hearing, recruit?
KLAUDALE STANLEY:
No, petty officer.
NAVAL PETTY OFFICER:
Apparently you do! Now obtain to the far right side of the passageway!
NAVAL OFFICER:
Get that backed up the way it was when you first came aboard.
KLAUDALE STANLEY:
Aye-aye, sir.
NAVAL RECRUITS [chanting in unison]:
Six more days, and we’ll be through!
BILL MOYERS:
—and would soon be stationed in Washington, D.C., at the Pentagon.
KLAUDALE STANLEY:
Navy Washington Operator 30. How may I assist you?
BILL MOYERS:
Tony had found a new job as a machinist.
TONY NEUMANN:
There are a lot of jobs available in the paper for skilled people. Right now I’m running a boring bar, a 4-inch boring bar. I’m creating pretty good money there—a lot better than I have in a long time. This is really comparable to what I was creating at Briggs.
BILL MOYERS:
The day shift paid $14 an hour, but he could build 15 working overnight from midnight to 8 in the morning. He decided it was worth it.
TONY NEUMANN:
It takes a little obtainting utilized to. It seems like you only obtain somewhere between four and six hours of real sleep and you have to be able to live off of that.
KARISSA NEUMANN:
Sometimes I like him to assist me on homework. But since he’s on third shift, he can’t really assist me a whole lot becautilize he’s normally sleeping. And when we wake him up, he obtains really irritable. He’s kind of crabby.
TONY NEUMANN:
I already notified you, food is going to be off limits in your room if I see this.
KARISSA NEUMANN:
The only time I obtain to see him is towards the time I’m going to bed.
TONY NEUMANN:
Actually, I would prefer to have a real life on first shift. I would really like to sit down and have a nice dinner with the family every day. I would really enjoy that. Terry and I are never really toobtainher for any period of time. We’re not really obtainting along like we utilized to. We don’t sleep toobtainher anymore. It’s really—it stinks.
BILL MOYERS:
Daniel and his brother were working part time at their church, where the pastor, Father Mike Strachota, had obtainedten to know them well.
FATHER MIKE STRACHOTA:
Dan would be the quiet one who’s always considering and has the insights. He has a rough edge to himself that he oftentimes portrays, but deep down, who he is, is not only good, but it’s struggling to overcome other forces.
TONY NEUMANN:
If we don’t have the money, we don’t have the money.
FATHER MIKE STRACHOTA:
Jesus stated to his disciples, you are the salt of the earth.
This has always been a working-class parish. We have no wealthy people as a part of the parish. And so it’s been the struggle to maintain not only one job, but two jobs, or both parents working has become the common experience. It’s just like there’s so many other things that are occupying their time. The parents don’t have time for being with the children. And that’s why sometimes we launch to consider that even their violent behavior or disruptive behavior is often their cry, “We want attention. Somebody view at us.” Now we talk about grade school children and what they are facing when it comes to drugs, to smoking, to the violence that fills the neighborhood.
TERRY NEUMANN:
I go to work. I expect it. I put my weapon on, my vest, and I go out there and I’m watching. But when I’m done punching the clock out and I go home, that’s my safe haven. I want to go home, obtain some loose clothes on and lounge or do what I necessary to do. Now I have to go home and have to do exactly what I have to do at work.
I’m taking Adam over to his friconclude’s houtilize becautilize some kids have been caapplying some problems and threatening their lives. So I don’t want them walking alone becautilize the minute they obtain them alone, they obtained a group of kids driving around in vehicles that are stalking them, that have threatened to kill them, beat them up, hurt them bad.
The sergeant stated if you see anything, dial 911.
BILL MOYERS:
The threat to the Neumann boys launched after another teenager harassed Adam’s girlfriconclude at a party.
Then, one evening, while Terry was on the phone to Father Mike, a rock came crashing through her picture window.
TERRY NEUMANN:
I notified Father Mike, I stated, “Call 911. I don’t know what’s going on. There’s—somebody’s attempting to break through my houtilize, or somebody broke my window.”
FATHER MIKE STRACHOTA:
I stated, “I’ll call 911” and rushed over to the houtilize. And at that point, Dan, who was home, was angry.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Dan wanted to go outside and find out what was going on and beat somebody up. And I stated, absolutely not.
FATHER MIKE STRACHOTA:
So Terry is there attempting to calm him down, obtain him down into the basement, becautilize they were circling. And then they started pounding on the door. I have never been more terrorized in all my life as I was when I was downstairs, and Dan notifying mewhere to hide. “Stay away from the windows. They have guns.” Guns had been seen. It was an incredible, frightening experience.
BILL MOYERS:
The police finally arrived and arrested the leader of the assault. But Daniel and Adam would now have trouble feeling safe, even in their own home.
FATHER MIKE STRACHOTA:
Their sense was “We better protect ourselves. We obtained to have weapons.” And I remember declareing to them, “Guns are not the answer. Jesus calls us to turn the other cheek, pray for our enemies.” And Adam’s response haunted me. He stated, “But Father Mike, this is the real world.”
BILL MOYERS:
With their conflicting work schedules, the Neumanns managed a rare weekconclude toobtainher in the fall of ‘98 at Tony’s parents’ home in northern Wisconsin.
TONY NEUMANN:
It’s nice, relaxing, and obtain away from a lot of the stress. Enjoy time out with the kids. This is about the only time that I obtain to be with the kids.
Hey, Adam, slow down. You’re obtainting too far ahead.
Adam decided to take it upon himself to go to a Catholic school this year. It’s harder than the schools he was going to. He’s putting forth a good effort. And effort, to me, means a lot more than the grades anyhow. It does cost, but it’s for his future, which means more than money.
You obtained one. How close were you?
ADAM NEUMANN:
He was in a tree. He was way in a tree.
BILL MOYERS:
Tony’s parents retired here. His mother, Mary Lou, spent her career at the very company that laid her son off, Briggs & Stratton.
MARY LOU NEUMANN:
I consider they’re all envious of me now becautilize I’m sitting here not—I’m retired at an early age along with my husband, enjoying life. I feel sorry for these kids. I don’t know how they’re going to obtain ahead to do any savings.
1999
JACKIE STANLEY:
It’s a good economy, but it’s just here in our houtilize. Like I was discussing with a girlfriconclude of mine that just left here to start her retirement with several $90,000 worth of CDs. And I was notifying them we didn’t save like that and we’re not ready for retirement.
BILL MOYERS:
Sales in the central city produced only meager commissions. But Jackie still didn’t feel welcome as an African American attempting to sell in more affluent, mostly white neighborhoods.
JACKIE STANLEY:
I’m the same color I was when you came before. No matter what I wear, no matter how I view, it’s still the same. This is 1999, and it’s still doing it. As a realtor, I know. That’s sad.
BILL MOYERS:
In the fall of 1999, Keith Stanley launched his last year at Alabama State. He had some aid and worked two jobs: as a resident assistant in his dorm and the organist at his church. But when we visited, we found him on the verge of being kicked out for nonpayment.
KEITH STANLEY:
So what I do usually is I just have to go inside the credit card and pay for it through credit cards. And that’s the only way I can do it. And if that’s what it takes to stay in school, that’s what I’m going to do to stay in school. My current balance for this credit card is $2,574.68. The interest on this is, I believe it’s 23, close to 24%.
[reading credit card ad] “No fee. First year. Apply now.” They’re everywhere.
BILL MOYERS:
Back home in Milwaukee, Keith’s parents had decided to strike out on their own to become entrepreneurs. Borrowing against their home, they bought a central city office building where Jackie could start her own real estate firm and Claude could set up shop as a home inspector.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
[preaching] We’re talking about those, amen, that is so quick to obtain rich and quick to prospering, quick to go somewhere.
BILL MOYERS:
They would utilize it on Sundays as a church; Claude had become an ordained pastor. Their faith remained as strong as their future seemed uncertain.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
[preaching] God is good. He’s good. He’s good. He’s good. He’s good.
I obtained an article from USA Today where it stated every person that’s going to retire is going to necessary at least a million dollars. [laughs]
BILL MOYERS:
Seeing the growing tensions in the family, Father Mike recommconcludeed the Neumanns and their children enter counseling.
KARISSA NEUMANN:
I don’t like going to counseling becautilize I don’t want to notify him my problems. It’s like he’s, “Hello, what are your problems?” [laughs] He doesn’t—He never laughs. It’s so funny.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Well, he’s serious. He wants to obtain to the root of the problem.
KARISSA NEUMANN:
And Dad even stated that we weren’t going to go to any more. And then you guys scheduled another one. And I notified the boys that we weren’t going to have any more, and they obtained all happy. Becautilize the boys don’t like coming to these things, either.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Goodbye. Behave. Be in by curfew. OK. I’m going to work now.
BILL MOYERS:
Terry left the armored car job for one that paid more—$15 an hour instead of nine. But her schedule was utterly unpredictable. Sometimes she worked from 4 in the morning to noon and might have to come back the same evening and work the overnight. She was always on call to report to work on just two hours’ notice.
TERRY NEUMANN:
By the time I obtain home, I’m like zonked out. I obtain tired.
BILL MOYERS:
Despite all the hard work, these two American families had barely survived one of the most prosperous decades in our history.
2000
PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON:
We launched the new century with over 20 million new jobs, the rapidest economic growth in more than 30 years, the lowest unemployment rates in 30 years. . . . We have built a new economy.
2012
BILL MOYERS:
It was 12 years before we came back to Milwaukee. We found a city still struggling, with over a quarter of its people living in poverty. Some people had done very well. Parts of the city had been splconcludeidly rebuilt, and over the previous decade, more promises had been created.
2007
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH:
A future of hope and opportunity launchs with a growing economy. And that is what we have. . . . Unemployment is low. Inflation is low. Wages are rising. This economy is on the shift.
BILL MOYERS:
But the promises had come with a price. Two costly wars, a soaring deficit and the hoapplying market boom and bust.
FEMALE NEWSREADER:
The Obama administration declares it will spconclude billions to keep struggling homeowners in their homes.
BILL MOYERS:
American families had been hit by the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression.
FEMALE NEWSREADER:
We were raised to believe that each generation can and will do better than the last. But is that really true?
BILL MOYERS:
We wanted to know what had happened to the two American families we knew. We found Jackie Stanley outside her church.
How are you?
JACKIE STANLEY:
The graduate!
BILL MOYERS:
I can’t believe it.
Along with a grown-up Keith, now 35.
KEITH STANLEY:
I would never would have created it through college. Never would have created it through college without Moms.
BILL MOYERS:
But Jackie quickly confided that when we called her to see about filming again, she almost stated no.
JACKIE STANLEY:
I was notifying Kathy I considered it was a failure. I literally considered I was a failure becautilize I didn’t do it. We went backwards.
BILL MOYERS:
She stated that after suffering some health problems, she had quit doing real estate altoobtainher. That her dream of having her own office had come to nothing. That she hadn’t done enough to build it happen.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
[preaching] Sometime we’re going to go through some things, praise God, and God ain’t going to bring it out like you consider it ought to come out, the way you want it to come out.
BILL MOYERS:
Turns out Claude’s entrepreneurial efforts hadn’t worked out, either.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
[preaching] You might be on your job sometime. You hear about a layoff that’s going to happen. You might go home and pray all week, declareing, “Lord, don’t let that happen to this place. I want to keep my job.” And guess what? Guess what? You obtain laid off anyhow and the place closed down. Guess what?
You obtained to praise God anyhow.
BILL MOYERS:
Now the couple was surviving on a job Claude had taken with the city of Milwaukee.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
During the summertime I do foresattempt. I do work with the boulevards. All the boulevards you see out here with the flowers, we keep the flowers intact, the grass being cut.
BILL MOYERS:
And the winter?
CLAUDE STANLEY:
Right now I’m in sanitation, OK. Collecting garbage.
BILL MOYERS:
That’s hard work.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
Yes, it is, Bill.
BILL MOYERS:
And you’re how old now?
CLAUDE STANLEY:
I’m almost 60 years old.
BILL MOYERS:
How long do you consider you can keep that up?
CLAUDE STANLEY:
Not too long. [laughs] Not too long.
BILL MOYERS:
Claude was a member of a public union, creating about $26,000 a year, plus some benefits.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
And you’re talking about doing other things in between. I had to work at the airport for two years.
BILL MOYERS:
Doing what?
CLAUDE STANLEY:
I was—worked on the runway, directing the planes that come in. Flagging them down, stop, take their luggage to the tunnel. Lifting baggage. It was all kind of stuff at the airport I was doing.
BILL MOYERS:
Was that a minimum wage job?
CLAUDE STANLEY:
Definitely was minimum wage. When I worked out there they cut our salary, I mean, down to nothing.
JACKIE STANLEY:
He carried dead bodies, too. He worked at the hospital.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
I was a security guard at Columbus Hospital. And at nighttime, if it was like third shift, anybody passed away or died, we had to carry—put them on the elevator and carry them down to the refrigerator.
BILL MOYERS:
The third shift is from when to when?
JACKIE STANLEY:
Graveyard. [laughs]
CLAUDE STANLEY:
From 11 to 12 o’clock at night to 7 in the morning.
BILL MOYERS:
Once upon a time when people obtained your age—and you’re much younger than I am, you’re almost 60—they started considering seriously about retiring. But you’re not.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
I can’t do that.
JACKIE STANLEY:
One day he notified me, he had come in from work and it was kind of cold, and he stated, “By the time I obtain up, I’m just thawing out. My bones haven’t finished obtainting warm. I can’t keep doing this.”
TERRY NEUMANN:
Hey, Dyl. Are you in a good mood today? Dylan?
BILL MOYERS:
When we next met Terry Neumann, we found she had lost her warehoutilize job some five years before. So in 2008, she had retrained to become a nurse’s assistant and home health care aide. Now 49 years old, she was working part time in a suburb just west of Milwaukee—
TERRY NEUMANN:
Ready? One, two, three. There you are.
BILL MOYERS:
—taking care of a 16-year-old, Dylan Solper.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Oh, I’ve been probably doing this for, probably 19 months I’ve been here. What, you consider that’s funny? What’s so funny, Dyl? He considers he’s funny sometimes. I don’t want those stinky feet. I don’t want those stinky feet.
The job paid, when I first started, $8 an hour, and now I’m obtainting $9 an hour. I’m at 24 hours a week.
Here is my paycheck. This is a two-week paycheck. So year to date—what are we talking here, November? That’s what I created: $9646.89. That’s poverty.
BILL MOYERS:
For Terry Neumann, survival had been difficult since the last time we saw her, and not just becautilize of her paycheck.
What happened to you and your husband?
TERRY NEUMANN:
I consider we just grew apart and went separate ways. And the love wasn’t there anymore.
BILL MOYERS:
Tony Neumann notified us he had lost his factory job and had been doing construction and handyman work in and out of Milwaukee.
He declined to talk on camera.
KATHY SOLPER, Dylan’s mother:
Dylan, we’re obtainting into our chair. Back up. Good job.
BILL MOYERS:
Terry was working for a for-profit agency receiving money from Medicaid for Dylan’s care. Positions like hers are often part time or temporary.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Are you ready?
So they don’t have to pay for the benefits, vacation time, sick time or health.
Drink? Drink?
BILL MOYERS:
You kept the houtilize at the time of the divorce. You were able to keep the houtilize.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Yes.
BILL MOYERS:
You were determined to hold on to that houtilize.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Oh, yeah.
BILL MOYERS:
Terry had survived the wave of home foreclosures that hit some 16,000 Milwaukee property owners between 2008 and 2010. But by 2011, divorced and working part time, she simply couldn’t afford to build her home payments anymore.
KATHY SOLPER:
She was real quiet, and I could notify that she was down. And I finally came to her and I stated, “What’s going on? You seem like you’re really down, like you’re really tired, like you’re exhausted, like you just have a really heavy—something’s heavy on your mind.” I stated, “Is everything OK with your family?”
I consider she felt embarrassed, which she shouldn’t have. I consider that she didn’t feel like she wanted to talk about it. But as the summer went on, it was a horrible time for Terry.
TERRY NEUMANN:
[reading letter] “Dear occupant. You are hereby notified that possession is demanded by JPMorganChase Bank, which now owns your property.”
They wanted $120,000 for the acquireout of it. And I’m like, where am I supposed to find that? So it goes into foreclosure and you can sell it for, what, $30,000? Are you serious? You can’t lower my payments or my interest rate so I can stay in my houtilize?
BILL MOYERS:
With nowhere else to go, Terry shiftd in first with a relative, then with a friconclude. At the time Terry lost her home, both her grown sons, Daniel and Adam, were living with her.
ADAM NEUMANN:
I want to hold him all the way over there.
TONY NEUMANN:
OK, you can hold him all the way over there.
BOY SCOUT LEADER:
Adam Neumann has passed uniform inspection.
BILL MOYERS:
We found Adam Neumann, Terry’s middle son, working for a lawn care company.
ADAM NEUMANN:
I’ve been doing it for about a year now, and I like this job. It’s nice. I like being outside. Keeps me in shape. I obtain paid like nine bucks an hour, usually 40 hours a week. Right now there’s no benefits or insurance, so that’s the downfall of the job.
That’s Piggy.
BILL MOYERS:
Adam, we learned, had dropped out of school in the 10th grade after fathering a daughter who now lived with her mother.
ADAM NEUMANN:
I wish I would have stayed in school and found something that I was good at, for a stable job, in that sense. But after I had my kid at a young age I had to work, and I couldn’t work and go to school at the same time.
BOY SCOUT LEADER:
And Daniel has earned the handyman activity pin.
BILL MOYERS:
Adam’s brother Daniel, Terry’s oldest, was now 29, an auto mechanic.
DANIEL NEUMANN:
I’ve seen it done before, too, where you fill up the syringe with brake fluid and force it back through.
BILL MOYERS:
Like so many Milwaukeeans of the past few decades, including his father. Daniel was viewing to upgrade his skills to assist him obtain work. So he went back to school for retraining at one of the region’s many technical colleges—
MALE TEACHER:
How are we doing here, young man?
DANIEL NEUMANN:
All right.
BILL MOYERS:
—studying automotive technology.
Daniel had three kids of his own to assist support. They live with their mothers.
DANIEL NEUMANN:
The world is just going all downhill right now. All the stuff going on here in Milwaukee, and all these shootings and all that. I mean, they just had another shooting out there, even in a nice neighborhood over there in Brookfield. I have my concealed carry. I carry everywhere I go. You really don’t have to want to utilize it, but you have to have something to protect yourself and your family and friconcludes around you.
BILL MOYERS:
How about Karissa? How’s she doing? And she’s how old now?
TERRY NEUMANN:
Twenty-six.
And one of these. And then you necessary a business card to call Mommy up.
KARISSA NEUMANN:
When I was younger, I just knew we didn’t have money. And money is how the world goes round. A lot of people have clothes every school year. They have a new pair of shoes, or several pairs of shoes. And I wanted to be able to declare, “I have money in the bank.”
BILL MOYERS:
We found Karissa working for a hospital in the large Aurora chain, one of the hugegest employers in the region, in one of the hugegest economic growth sectors, health care. She had an associate’s degree and also recently took courses to obtain certified as a professional insurance coder.
KARISSA NEUMANN:
I do the physician billing, so all the physician services, I do those.
BILL MOYERS:
She earned about $15 an hour plus benefits. She supported herself and her husband, Anthony LeFebvre.
Becautilize they didn’t earn enough to have a home of their own, they live with Anthony’s relatives.
KARISSA NEUMANN:
Drive around any neighborhood. See how many people are living in the houtilizes to attempt to assist support each other. There’s a lot of vacant houtilizes. A lot of people lost their houtilizes, my mom being one of them.
BILL MOYERS:
We inquireed Terry to take us back to her old houtilize.
TERRY NEUMANN:
So this is it.
BILL MOYERS:
The people living there invited us in.
KHOU HANG:
We recently just obtained this place, in early September. And so we just obtained it resolveed up. It’s still—we still necessary a lot of repairs.
BILL MOYERS:
Khou Hang and Lu Lao bought Terry’s houtilize in a foreclosure sale for about $38,000.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Can I take a view around?
KHOU HANG:
Go right ahead.
LU LAO:
Yeah, go ahead.
TERRY NEUMANN:
This was my room. And this was my spare room. And this is where my grandkids would sleep when they’d come to visit me.
BILL MOYERS:
Jackie Stanley, serious about her community role as the pastor’s wife, attempted to remain upbeat.
JACKIE STANLEY:
Everything free, my dear.
BILL MOYERS:
On this day, there was a charitable giveaway at their church.
JACKIE STANLEY:
If anybody has a queen-size bed, I have a down comforter. We obtained furniture coming in just a bit.
It just went crazy. We can’t even finish obtainting rid of everything becautilize every time obtain rid of a table or two, another table comes in.
BILL MOYERS:
We went along to one of her volunteer projects, a drug and alcohol recovery group. The woman who had once notified us you have to fake it till you build it was still spreading that gospel.
JACKIE STANLEY:
And I’ma reveal you the 45-degree angle walk. And women, I want you to hear this. Do not walk with your butt. When you want to be successful, when you step out—and don’t do those timid walks. That means, it’s like, whichever way the wind—No! “I have somewhere to go. My name is J. Renee.” You see that?
BILL MOYERS:
But the private Jackie was less self-assured.
Do you feel like a failure today?
JACKIE STANLEY:
Yes.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
No. She’s not a failure.
JACKIE STANLEY:
He’ll always declare that.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
You’re not a failure. In this day and age, you raise five kids, that’s success. Get jobs and build their own decisions.
JACKIE STANLEY:
But even the Bible declares “leave heirs.” You obtained to—you must leave something.
BILL MOYERS:
Do you consider your children feel that you’re a failure?
JACKIE STANLEY:
I consider they love me enough not to notify me if they did feel it.
BILL MOYERS:
At Milwaukee City Hall, Keith Stanley earned about $45,000 a year as an assistant to the Common Council president, Alderman Willie Hines. Hines’ district was in Milwaukee’s central city, near where Keith grew up.
KEITH STANLEY:
Neil, how’s that thing going? How’s that thing going with you?
[on phone] If you can, give me a call. This is Keith Stanley with Alderman Willie Hines’ office.
We do obtain the calls about jobs. They’re viewing for a job. “I necessary a job.” Sometimes that’s difficult to have that conversation becautilize I, myself, I’m in no position to offer a job, and my boss, that’s just—We’re policy buildrs. My heart goes out to them becautilize I know I can share that same story with them. I can understand their pain. Now, they may not want to hear that. A lot of times, you know, “Oh, you’re working at the city and you don’t understand.” And I—lots of them I wish I could stop and declare, “No, I definitely understand. I definitely understand dealing with struggle when your parents just don’t have enough.”
My parents spent a lot of time and energy in us, in creating us who we are. There are people that view like me, that live where I live and who are now dealing with situations and struggles that I never have seen. I’ve never seen the inside of a jail. I can’t notify you what a gun views like. I don’t know what drugs or even alcohol views like. And I have to give all that credit to my dad along with my mom. And they put the fear of God in us. You have to work hard. You have to view people in the eye.
JACKIE STANLEY:
He’s beyond our expectation. But Keith has notified me a lot of times, “Mom, I don’t want to be like you and Dad.”
BILL MOYERS:
Meaning?
JACKIE STANLEY:
Bill, when it’s time to eat, they want to eat. They don’t want to do like Dad and I and start creating excutilizes why you’re not hungry.
We’re going to keep filling the racks. Go by color, not by size. Go by color.
KEITH STANLEY:
I’m inspired by my parents. But that’s also created me build a lot of tough decisions where I declare, “I’m not going to build those decisions becautilize I don’t want that to affect my life.”
BILL MOYERS:
One of the decisions Keith created is to hold off on obtainting married and having kids.
KEITH STANLEY:
I want to build sure I can control my destiny, and that’s including not having children at a certain age. I would love to declare I want to bring in a child in the world, but until I have myself toobtainher, I’m confident and believe that I have myself toobtainher. And people declare there’s no perfect time to have a kid. I know that. But there’s been too many struggles I saw. And for me it’s like, can I build that sacrifice? And if I do, I—man, maybe, maybe one kid. Maybe a dog right now. That’s why I obtained Spike. So that’s it.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
Sometime you’re going to go through some things to obtain where you’re attempting to go. Do all that you can, but still praise God.
BILL MOYERS:
How much has your faith been an anchor for you during this difficult—
CLAUDE STANLEY:
Oh, it’s a huge anchor. That’s what obtains me up in the morning, Bill. That’s what keeps me going. I believe that something going to happen.
CONGREGATION:
[singing call-and-response] Can’t nobody do me like Jesus.
BILL MOYERS:
But you’ve had so many setbacks. Since I first met you—
CLAUDE STANLEY:
That’s true.
BILL MOYERS:
—you were fighting hard after you lost those good-paying jobs.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
That’s right.
BILL MOYERS:
And you’ve been fighting ever since. And yet you still—
CLAUDE STANLEY:
Still, Bill. Still praise the Lord. I still believe that there’s something for us.
JACKIE STANLEY:
And I would interject, declareing, “What else?” We have no other choice.
CONGREGATION:
[singing call-and-response] Can’t nobody do me like Jesus.
BILL MOYERS:
What you’ve lost—People declare to me, “How does she keep going? Where does she obtain that spirit? How does she do it?”
TERRY NEUMANN:
My grandfather always stated you never let the devil win. Never let the devil win. I’m still determined. I’m not going to give up.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:
We believe that America’s prosperity must rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle class. . . . When the wages of honest labor liberate families from the brink of hardship.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:
America will start winning again. . . . We will bring back our jobs. . . . We will bring back our wealth. And we will bring back our dreams.
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN:
We can right wrongs. We can put people to work in good jobs . . . and rebuild the middle class and build health care secure for all.
2024
BILL MOYERS:
A dozen years and three presidential terms later we returned to Milwaukee. Tax cuts had created the wealthy richer, here and across the counattempt.
FEMALE NEWSREADER:
The stock market has been blasting through record after record.
BILL MOYERS:
And Wall Street was living it up.
FEMALE NEWSREADER:
The S&P 500 recently crossed a new threshold, the 5,000 mark, for the first time ever.
BILL MOYERS:
By 2024, wages had been rising rapider than they had in decades.
FEMALE NEWSREADER:
Income adjusted for inflation has been rising above the cost of living.
BILL MOYERS:
But that proved little comfort to those who had lost—and never regained—their sense of economic security.
FEMALE NEWSREADER:
—but they see prices in the grocery store, at the gas tank—
BILL MOYERS:
Terry Neumann was once again working in a warehoutilize.
TERRY NEUMANN:
I was creating nine-something taking care of Dylan. I had to shift on becautilize I necessaryed more money to sustain me. My current job, I load and unload trailers and wrap pallets and obtain product to the other department. With all of my physical jobs, my joints, my knees, shoulders, the foot that I fractured—the weather alters and it aches. I hurt every day, but I keep pushing through. But there are days where it’s like, oh, God. [laughs]
I work from 4 p.m. to 12 midnight. I build $19.10 an hour, and then becautilize I work a night shift, you obtain extra $3 more an hour. If our wages obtain raised, then everything else goes up. Gas goes up, groceries goes up. There is no wiggle room for anything.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
And she takes a lot of other stuff, supplements and stuff. So, vitamins. I take those, too, so she just—
JACKIE STANLEY:
This is the one with the ladies dancing on the commercial, for God’s sake.
BILL MOYERS:
Since we last saw Jackie, she had developed some new health problems.
JACKIE STANLEY:
I was obtainting fluid on me and didn’t understand where was this weight coming from. And then that’s when they notified me that the diabetes was full blown.
And I take that one twice.
And then later on, congestive heart failure. I’ll notify you, no lie, when I was in the hospital and they rushed me in—I knew I would cry. When they rushed me in, this guy had rolled into the bed with me when I went to sleep. I didn’t even know who he was. I should have died. But I’m coming back. You guys, I’m notifying you, you have no idea. I’m talking to—I literally walk through here at night talking to God.
You feel like going by 5801?
BILL MOYERS:
Claude Stanley retired from his sanitation job with a tiny pension in late 2023. Now he assists Jackie, who is back in the real estate game. They plan to supplement their retirement income with commissions.
JACKIE STANLEY:
We’ll both be 70 this year. He is 71, and I’ll be 70.
There you go.
MALE HOMEBUYER:
All right.
JACKIE STANLEY:
I’ll wait out here. Yeah, yeah. I can’t breathe.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
Right now, giving her insulin and whatever, that’s just part of our life now. We just obtained to do it until she obtains better. And she’s going to obtain better. Even when I was working in different jobs and stuff, if lost it, it’s another one. I can obtain another one. This is not where I’m going to be. I’m going to keep going. When I viewed at my wife’s situation, I stated, “We can work with that. We can work with that.”
JACKIE STANLEY:
I’m not giving up.
TONY NEUMANN:
What would I notify my younger self? Should have probably saved a little bit more money more often. I did acquire a trailer. It necessaryed a lot of work. It’s convenient becautilize it’s real close to the expressway.
BILL MOYERS:
Tony Neumann is now 62.
TONY NEUMANN:
I worked at a lot of factories. Briggs & Stratton. And then there was machining that I did at another company. Tool and die buildr at another company. Maintenance worker at another company. A machinist at another company. The tinyer ones seem to take care of your employees better. The hugeger ones, you’re just a number, and you come and go just as they please. You just obtained to roll with the punches. You obtained to do what you obtained to do when you can. That’s all you can do. Nowadays it’s painting, drywall, plumbing, electric, tile. Roofing. Little bit of concrete, maybe. Almost anything. I’m a handyman. [laughs] It’s what I do. And I’m good at it. [laughs] My job cannot be outsourced overseas becautilize you can’t do this remotely. You actually have to be at a certain particular place in order to do this. I know I will always have a job.
JACKIE STANLEY:
If you expect to hear Claude declare he—”I saved a million,” he didn’t save a million. We couldn’t do it all, if you’re going to have five kids. But view at those five kids now. I’m beyond proud. Aren’t you proud?
CLAUDE STANLEY:
Yeah. I’m a little proud, yeah.
JACKIE STANLEY:
There was a word back in the ’60s or ’70s. We called it “braggadocious.” I’m braggadocious. Klaudale. Klaudale is United States Navy, retired. He has a son and a daughter. He’s IT, and he’s shifting and shaking. Claude has stayed near home. He stays near Mom and Dad at all times. Nicole went to Virginia. She obtained married in Virginia. She went to Missouri, obtained her master’s.
BILL MOYERS:
These days Nicole lives in Augusta, Georgia, with her husband and 14-year-old son. She has an older son in the Navy.
NICOLE STANLEY:
I desired to complete college becautilize I saw the struggle of my mother. I have my undergrad in IT infrastructure, and I have my master’s in cybersecurity. I also have four IT certifications: Network Plus, Security Plus, ITIL Foundations and Cybersecurity. I love it, but economically speaking, I have $90,000 in student loans. That was my only option, was the loans.
JACKIE STANLEY:
Then there’s Omega. And I obtained to declare that with my Omega. Omega’s a go-obtainter.
BILL MOYERS:
Omega became a single mother at 21, and life obtained harder as her bills obtained larger. Now, she believes, she’s landed on her feet.
OMEGA’S DAUGHTER:
[on phone] OK, I love you, too.
OMEGA STANLEY:
Be safe.
OMEGA’S DAUGHTER:
[on phone] I will. You, too, Momma.
OMEGA STANLEY:
All right, love you.
I’m a certified nursing assistant. I work for the state. I take care from age 29 all the way up to 80, with autism, dementia, other mental and physical disabilities. I consider I was about 10 years old when it started. I just didn’t realize that my parents went through that.
JACKIE STANLEY:
It’s called “rob Peter to pay Paul.” And I’m robbing Peter so much that Peter’s just standing there.
OMEGA STANLEY:
And back then I was attempting to realize, OK, are we really robbing someone to pay somebody else? I had to grow and understand what that meant.
FEMALE TV HOST:
Joining us this morning we have Keith Stanley—
JACKIE STANLEY:
Then there’s Keith.
FEMALE TV HOST:
—executive director of Near West Side Partners.
KEITH STANLEY:
The Near West Side is one of the most historic parts of the city of Milwaukee in my humble opinion, Grace.
BILL MOYERS:
From 2014 to 2022, Keith worked as an executive for nonprofit organizations in Milwaukee.
KEITH STANLEY:
It’s your time, it’s your mind, it’s your energy, it’s your resources.
JACKIE STANLEY:
He’s gone to North Carolina. He’s doing what he did here.
KEITH STANLEY:
Hey, this is Keith Stanley with University City Partners. It is live, it is happening right now. We are celebrating Charlotte Kids Fest.
I obtained a call from a headhunter about an opportunity here in Charlotte. And I figured that this is a way for me to grow and to learn.
BILL MOYERS:
Now he leads University City Partners, a Charlotte community development group.
KEITH STANLEY:
—and we want to build sure that Charlotte is a place where our kids are being nurtured.
When I describe what I do, there’s a term I utilize: the common good. And it’s a little bit of everything. It’s safety and security. It’s economic development. It’s connectivity and public transportation. How do we work toobtainher to build a difference?
JACKIE STANLEY:
He’s doing what the president of the United States did, Obama, is he’s re-creating the communities.
He’s also married, ladies. [laughs]
NATANJA HUNTER STANLEY:
I’m originally from Boston, and I am an IT manager and work in professional and managed services. I watched the last installment of this documentary. I was really struck by the vulnerability of the families and what I consider it must have taken to put yourself out there that way.
JACKIE STANLEY:
I was notifying Kathy I considered I was a failure.
NATANJA HUNTER STANLEY:
I recognize as a person of color that oftentimes we tconclude to be more private and keep things inside. And the vulnerability that they revealed over that time frame was just striking to me. And so I reached out to Keith and it was just like, “Hey, thank you for doing this. I really enjoyed it. Thank your family for doing it.” And that was 2013?
KEITH STANLEY:
2013.
NATANJA HUNTER STANLEY:
2018, I had shiftd from Boston to Dallas, and then he was coming down to Dallas for a visit. I wasn’t sure why. I considered he was coming for work or church or something like that, and he came down and we hung out and that was pretty much it.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Oh, this thing is digging in my back. OK, I consider I obtained it.
GPS VOICE:
Turn right, then turn left.
TERRY NEUMANN:
My British guy. I love his accent.
GPS VOICE:
Turn left onto East Moreland Boulevard.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Boulevard.
I’m driving to go see Father Mike.
FATHER MIKE STRACHOTA:
More than enough work. God is with us.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Becautilize he’s had some health issues and he’s retiring. I’ll be 61 in July. So I have like six years to go before I can retire. So with the cost of everything that’s going up, are we going to be able to afford retirement and live comfortably?
FATHER MIKE STRACHOTA:
The challenge as you obtain older is launchning to feel your worth. Why did I do—work all these years, and this is all that I obtain? But it isn’t the conclude of the road. It’s the launchning of something new. And when we go back to our trust in God, I have found and I’ve been amazed, God has done things that I could never have imagined. But it’s in very subtle ways. So our strength will inspire others and sustain us.
TERRY NEUMANN:
So how do you like it here?
FATHER MIKE STRACHOTA:
Very much so. They feed me well, good people and I’m one of the youngest, so. How is life with the family?
TERRY NEUMANN:
It’s going good.
FATHER MIKE STRACHOTA:
It’s going well?
TERRY NEUMANN:
Going good. Adam’s working, working. His hours are like 7 till like 5, 6 in the morning. He’s working at Amazon. He’s creating good money.
Karissa. Sometimes she’s like her mother.
BILL MOYERS:
Karissa recently received a promotion at her hospital job. During the pandemic, she launched working full time in the two-room apartment she shares with her husband.
KARISSA NEUMANN:
My office was in our living room. And it was quite difficult, when two people are attempting to share a space and you can only have me in the room, and he’s not allowed in there becautilize I deal with patient medical records. When they offered the position, I stated, “I necessary to talk to our landlord to see if he would be willing to rent me a second apartment that I could utilize as an office.” Previously I was saving. We had a little bit of extra money to go out and and do a few activities. And now we won’t be able to do that becautilize of the additional expense of the office. When we go to the store, we pick up fruits and veobtainables, and it’s—
ANTHONY:
Expensive:
KARISSA NEUMANN:
So we’ve decided to start a raised garden.
This part with the seeds reminds me of when the basement was just full of lots of seeds and plants. That was 30 years ago. And when I talked to my dad about gardening, he’s like, “I can drop off some pallets and you can work on building some planters.” And I stated, “I would love to do that.”
TONY NEUMANN:
I know my daughter utilized to love coming out and assisting me do the woodworking, and she learned quite a bit. She seems to enjoy it a lot.
I finished cutting these other ones up a little bit and then I’m going to cut—
KARISSA NEUMANN:
That one, OK.
TONY NEUMANN:
—that one that’s leaning down that way.
KARISSA NEUMANN:
I did obtain permission from the landlord to trim up some of the trees to allow more light in. We do want our own place. I don’t want to be here long enough to see an apple tree grow and bear fruit.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Dan. Well, he’s my oldest. I had him when I was 18. He’s obtained a good work ethic. He works hard.
He called me the other day and stated that he found some property up north. He’s like, “I’m just done with the city, Mom.” A month ago, he declares he went to the car wash and there was like 15 bullets just pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, right across the street.
BILL MOYERS:
Gun violence has long been a scourge in Milwaukee. It’s often ranked among the counattempt’s most dangerous cities.
DANIEL NEUMANN:
Milwaukee’s obtainting more rough and rough as the days go. Got a car wash. The middle of intersection, a shoot out at 11 o’clock in the morning, right in the middle of the intersection. And it was time to go.
I’ll see you later. I obtained to hit this highway here.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Yep. Take care of Kate.
People are obtainting angry. They’re obtainting frustrated. They’re obtainting violent becautilize they don’t see no way out. There are so many people that are struggling the same way with the cost of everything, and not obtainting enough on your paycheck to cover your monthly expenses. It’s like we haven’t come very far.
KEITH STANLEY:
I always have my parents at the top of mind, and I’m always considering about how they’re doing and creating sure they’re OK. But I know that there are some health considerations. My dad has done it all as much as possible as I could see. And I know that that takes a toll. So I know he’s not as rapid as he utilized to be, but still obtainting around. I mean, just like, “I’m going to cut the grass.” I’m like, “Dad, really?” [laughs] He’s doing it, too.
OMEGA STANLEY:
I never considered that retirement for my dad was going to come, becautilize he’s a worker. My dad works.
KEITH STANLEY:
I consider for Mom and Dad, as they consider about retiring and what that means, I would love for them to be out traveling, even possibly a different neighborhood.
OMEGA STANLEY:
I worry every day. I worry every day with them over there. There’s more violence. It’s not safe.
JACKIE STANLEY:
He always walks me down.
NICOLE STANLEY:
They cannot afford to leave that area. Everything is expensive. Real estate has rocketed. And what does that do to a senior citizen couple? It devastates them, becautilize they could be in a dangerous area and have to be subjected to it becautilize they have no other option.
KISHA MATTHEWS, Tax accountant:
Just for my understanding, there’s a monthly pension that’s coming, right. And then both of you have your Social Security.
JACKIE STANLEY:
Yes.
KISHA MATTHEWS:
We should be working on what the budobtain views like in your day to day and what your necessarys are.
I know you were talking about still doing some working, but becautilize of your health, becautilize of the market—
JACKIE STANLEY:
I was just declareing that that’s a problem for me, becautilize yesterday, I had five houtilizes I had to go into, but I could only build it to two becautilize of my heart. I couldn’t go up the steps.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
As we obtain older, we slow down. Ain’t no sense in fooling ourselves.
KISHA MATTHEWS:
I just don’t want to see—
JACKIE STANLEY:
That’s the only thing. I planned for growing old, but I didn’t plan for obtainting sick.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
Right? Nobody plans for that, though.
KISHA MATTHEWS:
And you’re very indepconcludeent. Let’s just be honest. You’re very prideful. You have always taken care of yourself.
JACKIE STANLEY:
Listen, have a GED, so notify me something: what does that mean? I’m prideful? [laughter]
KISHA MATTHEWS:
Becautilize you don’t want to inquire for assist, and you don’t inquire for assist. No one’s given you anything. I’m not declareing that we don’t work to leave children things, but you’ve created sure that your children are able to be self-sufficient. So you necessary to consider about what it views like for you. Becautilize time is not promised, but what time we have, I really want to see you guys be able to do the work you want. You still want to do minisattempt? Most of that’s come out of your pocket, though. And we talked about that. That’s come out of pastor’s check. That’s come out of you putting funds to the side. And then again, sitting down talking about what your expenses are, becautilize right now you’re paying taxes and you’re paying utilities and you have to consider about insurance, as well, becautilize you don’t have life insurance.
JACKIE STANLEY:
And I don’t want to lean on my kids for nothing, unless it’s “what color you wearing to the funeral” type thing. I’m serious. I don’t want to bother them. They have a life. There I go.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
But you know what? You raise your kids, and for them to be indepconcludeent.
JACKIE STANLEY:
I know, Dad, but I viewed up and I’m gray-haired, and I—[cries] and I’m tired and I don’t know how to rest. I don’t know how to rest.
OMEGA STANLEY:
Where I want to see them right now is somewhere in a beach. They never really been on a vacation, a real vacation. Swimsuits, the beach, the—you know, and I want them to live.
KISHA MATTHEWS:
When’s the last time you actually had a vacation? You—
JACKIE STANLEY:
When Keith went to college. That was the weekconclude in 1995.
OMEGA STANLEY:
They paved the way. Their name is stamped all over Milwaukee. They’re very known as good people. Big hearts.
KISHA MATTHEWS:
It’s wonderful that we’re acquireing foods in bulk and taking it to neighborhoods. It’s wonderful that we’re out ministering to people. But when our health isn’t there and when our finances are not there, we can only do so much. That’s not being selfish, it’s being realistic.
JACKIE STANLEY:
Yeah, but we were in motion. It’s not a badge of honor to be sick in our community. It’s just—you know, you’re weak. And I’m Jackie Stanley. I refutilize— [cries]
KEITH STANLEY:
I would declare the key word that I consider is not spoken enough of is sacrifice in this counattempt. We can point to a lot of indicators of how great the economy is. Our productivity over the past 40, 50 years in this counattempt has skyrocketed. But there’s a sacrifice to that: the sacrifice of not being home to see your kids go to school. The sacrifice of always putting work before everything else. I still believe in hard work. But I will declare that I consider we are fooling ourselves if we believe that it’s only hard work. So as much as I believe what my father and my grandfather taught me about rolling your sleeves up and obtainting the job done, I know it’s not just hard work that you necessary to succeed. Many times it’s about luck. It’s about who you know. It’s about your ZIP code. And I consider sometimes that’s conflated within our society, that if you work really hard that you will be successful. I consider there’s a lot more to that equation.
BILL MOYERS:
For now, these two American families expect they will have to keep working as long as they can—even in an economy that long ago stopped working for them.
TONY NEUMANN:
The inside walls are pretty much all done up to about here. I’m waiting on a door. It should be in almost any time, and then I can finish the rest of it.
I utilized to expect a lot more of myself when I was younger. But as I obtained older, it’s kind of like certain things mean more than others. Money utilized to be a huge thing. Now there’s so many more things that are really more important than money. You just obtained to live within your means.
Personally, I am not going to retire. I am going to slow down a whole lot. Who knows? Maybe in the future, I’ll obtain a huge bus and put all my tools on there and just travel around the counattempt. Kind of like them guys on “This Old Houtilize.” [laughs]
BILL MOYERS:
On weekconcludes, Terry Neumann entertains the grandkids when she can. There are five in all—plus a great-grandchild.
TERRY NEUMANN:
Everybody probably considers this: Yeah, you obtained married young. And maybe I should have went to school and did something. But after I had my kids, I became a mom. I’m still a mom to this day. I don’t regret anything I did. I wouldn’t alter my kids for anything, becautilize they’re my world.
JACKIE STANLEY:
There was times I put $12 in my account, savings. There was time I put $40 in there.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
I feel good. I’m not a millionaire or whatever, but I’ma feel good.
JACKIE STANLEY:
If I have to, I’ll stay. It’s fine. He’s here. We’ve been toobtainher, be 50 years.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
Forty-five. Forty-five.
JACKIE STANLEY:
We’ve been married 45—
CLAUDE STANLEY:
Yeah. Been—yeah.
JACKIE STANLEY:
—and toobtainher 50 years.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
It’s been a while. [laughs]
JACKIE STANLEY:
A little while.
CLAUDE STANLEY:
[laughter] Been a while.
TWO AMERICAN FAMILIES
July 9, 2013
BILL MOYERS, Correspondent: Hello, and welcome to this special edition of FRONTLINE. I’m Bill Moyers.
We want to notify you the story of two American families whose lives embody what’s happened to the hopes and dreams of millions of Americans over the past 20 years.
It’s a story that launchs in Milwaukee back in 1991, when we first met the Stanleys and the Neumanns, families my mother, rest her soul, would have called “the salt of the earth.”
TERRY NEUMANN: I want my kids to—
TONY NEUMANN: Grow up to be good kids.
TERRY NEUMANN: Yeah,. I want good children.
JACKIE STANLEY: I can notify you’ve been down South a long time. You’re declareing “Yes Ma’am.”
BILL MOYERS: [voice-over] Hard workers, caring parents, faithful church-goers attempting to secure a foothold in the middle class. But as we came back to visit them over the years, we watched their children grow and their fortunes alter.
CLAUDE STANLEY: Now I’m putting the long hours in. You know, you’re obtainting money, but it’s not that much. And you declare, “What’s the utilize?”
BILL MOYERS: We saw their work lives upconcludeed by the powerful economic and political forces that were altering the American landscape.
TERRY NEUMANN: Here’s my paycheck— $9,646.89. That’s poverty.
BILL MOYERS: As America ushered in a new Gilded Age, in Milwaukee, as in the rest of the counattempt, working people found themselves left behind, barely staying even, at best.
So now, 22 years in the creating, the intimate and revealing story of two American families.
TERRY NEUMANN: Tony and I have known each other since we were probably about 2 years old. His mother and my mother went to school toobtainher at Pulinquirei High School. And our grandparents, when our parents were younger, you know, they played cards. So they were pretty good friconcludes.
I don’t know, we just started seeing each other, you know, spconcludeing a lot of time at each other’s houtilizes. And he just inquireed me out, so I stated OK. We were crazy about each other. We had to spconclude a lot of time toobtainher, you know, and I could just picture myself spconcludeing the rest of my life with him.
And our expectations were— I considered, you know, you find the man that you like and obtain married and have a family and obtain a houtilize, a little white picket fence, you know, all those little fairy tale type things.
Some of it came true. But some of it, as far as the bumpy roads, I didn’t expect, either. You know, I knew they weren’t going to be all peaches and cream, but you don’t consider of all the bad things when you’re younger.
Milwaukee 1991
BILL MOYERS: [voice-over] Once upon a time, Terry Neumann and her husband, Tony, dreamed of a good, simple life.
TERRY NEUMANN: When we obtained married, we had started a family right away. He was working factory and I stayed home. And he created pretty good money when we were first married, you know, for a young couple with one little one on the way.
Grab a couple and crack ‘em in the pan.
I don’t know, we had a good time with one child, so we had another one and there was Adam. You know, and then I obtained pregnant with Karissa in ‘86. And he had lost his job. Then he obtained hired at Briggs, and we considered, OK, this is a very stable job. You know, we can start saving, and we bought the houtilize.
Twitter #frontline
BILL MOYERS: Buying a home was a huge step for a young couple. But Tony had a good job with the engine buildr Briggs and Stratton, then the largest employer in the region.
TELEVISION COMMERCIAL: Years ago, if you wanted a tiny engine, you obtained a Briggs and Stratton.
BILL MOYERS: For decades, Briggs and dozens of other stalwart Wisconsin manufacturers had assisted build Milwaukee just about the American dream’s home town, celebrated in sitcoms and sentimentalized in beer commercials.
TELEVISION COMMERCIAL: So when Miller time rolls around tonight, we raise a glass to you, Milwaukee. You’ve earned it.
BILL MOYERS: When we met the Neumanns in the early ‘90s, American manufacturers had already begun chasing cheap labor to non-union states and Mexico. Of over 40,000 good-paying jobs lost from Milwaukee in the preceding decade, about 4,000 were from Briggs and Stratton.
One of them was Tony Neumann’s.
TONY NEUMANN: It sort of goes like this. Here and here—
TERRY NEUMANN: He obtains into Briggs, and we consider, “Oh, this is a good company. We can acquire a houtilize.” Now we have the houtilize, we have more bills.
TONY NEUMANN: We obtained to drill a hole. How huge a hole do you want?
ADAM NEUMANN: Not that huge.
TERRY NEUMANN: But it’s either rent for the rest of your life or own. And we prefer to own. I mean—
BILL MOYERS: [on camera] That’s supposed to be the American dream.
TERRY NEUMANN: That’s supposed to be the American dream. Where is it?
BILL MOYERS: A houtilize a good job—
TERRY NEUMANN: Where is it?
BILL MOYERS: [voice-over] Tony had been creating up to $18 an hour plus benefits. Now the jobs available to a laid-off union worker commonly paid a fraction of that.
TONY NEUMANN: I’ve applied over at grocery stores, hardware stores. There’s—
TERRY NEUMANN: McDonald’s.
TONY NEUMANN: —Hardee’s—
TERRY NEUMANN: —Kohl’s—
TONY NEUMANN: —Super America, Pizza Hut, Walmart, Sam’s. Most of them will not pay $6 an hour. They’re all less than $6 an hour. Little do they know that I necessary to live also.
TERRY NEUMANN: And one of these. And then you necessary a business card to call Mommy up—
BILL MOYERS: While her husband viewed for work, Terry attempted to bring in some extra money. She bought skin care products and then attempted reselling them to her neighbors, door to door.
TERRY NEUMANN: Look in the mirror and feel your face and declare, “Well, you know, it’s softer”—
NEIGHBOR: It’s softer, yeah.
TERRY NEUMANN: —the complexion, the color. Yeah. And that’s basically why I wanted to share this with you.
BILL MOYERS: But she lost money on the deal, and their troubles just obtained worse.
TONY NEUMANN: Are you going to call him back?
TERRY NEUMANN: Am I going to call him back? Yeah, I’m going to have to call him back.
TONY NEUMANN: Well, you talked to him before.
BILL MOYERS: [on camera] How much is your mortgage a month?
TERRY NEUMANN: I believe it’s, like—
TONY NEUMANN: It’s $819.
TERRY NEUMANN: Yeah, $820, or something like that.
BILL MOYERS: And have you been able to build all the payments?
TERRY NEUMANN: No, and we’re behind. And today the mortgage company called me again.
BILL MOYERS: Again?
TERRY NEUMANN: Yes.
BILL MOYERS: What did they declare?
TERRY NEUMANN: I didn’t answer them right now becautilize I wanted to talk to Tony, and he wasn’t home. So I wanted to talk to him.
BILL MOYERS: You must dread it when the phone rings.
TERRY NEUMANN: I do. I cringe.
BILL MOYERS: [voice-over] Long before the term “foreclosure crisis” was on America’s lips, laid-off working people were learning what it meant.
TERRY NEUMANN: [on the phone] I did sconclude a $1,000 check in probably a few weeks back, but the check was sent back to me with a letter stating, “We will not accept a partial payment.” I don’t really consider of that as a partial payment. I consider of that as a basic payment and a good gesture on attempting to obtain caught up.
Right now, we’re going through a hard time. My husband’s out of work. He went to school and he’s viewing for a job. And I’m basically just attempting to acquire a little time so we can obtain on our feet again, you know, so we can obtain caught up. I would consider that this is just going to be a temporary thing, not a permanent thing, and I really don’t want to lose my houtilize.
Or are you just attempting to notify me that they have to foreclose on the houtilize if I don’t have that full amount? You would recommconclude it?
TONY NEUMANN: Is he putting this on paper? I want to know. Is he putting this on paper? Dear?
TERRY NEUMANN: It really bothers us that we have to depconclude on other people. Just want to obtain up and do what I have to do, just go in the car and go grocery shopping and have a normal life again.
FOOD PANTRY WORKER: You obtain the peanut butter and the honey—
TERRY NEUMANN: I don’t like having to go and inquire and declare, “I have no food in the houtilize,” or something. “Can you assist me out,” where when you would go and work and obtain a paycheck and come home and support yourself—
TONY NEUMANN: And you would be giving this food to other people.
TERRY NEUMANN: Right. Well, now the shoe’s on the other foot. Makes me feel very uncomfortable. I’d rather be on the giving side than the receiving.
FOOD PANTRY WORKER: They have peanut butter, flour, some pork here. I understand that if you put it over noodles or rice and maybe add a little onion that it’s quite palatable.
TONY NEUMANN: [holding baby bird] Oh, what happened to his ear? He wants to go back in his houtilize? He doesn’t like all you kids.
ADAM NEUMANN: He don’t have no houtilize.
TONY NEUMANN: Can you reach that high, or you want me to do it?
ADAM NEUMANN: I want to hold him all the way over there.
TONY NEUMANN: OK, you can hold him all the way over there.
TERRY NEUMANN: They’ve created comments to, like, “Mom, let’s sell the bookshelf.” They’ve obtained little baseball cards, “Mom, I’ll sell these.” And that hurts becautilize they’re willing to sell their baseball cards to assist their parents out.
TONY NEUMANN: I’ve been obtainting very angry lately. I’ve been losing my temper quite a bit. I’ve attempted doing things. I work in the garage on woodworking things when I obtain angry, and that assists once in a while. I just— I’m having a hard time dealing with this.
TERRY NEUMANN: What are you doing today?
BILL MOYERS: [on camera] How do you deal with this pressure, the anger and the—
TERRY NEUMANN: I can’t. It’s very difficult.
TONY NEUMANN: Yeah, our marriage is really on the rocks. This is really a difficult time. This is a real difficult time. I’ve been considering about divorce now for a while.
BILL MOYERS: Why?
TONY NEUMANN: I can’t deal with the situation. I’m just having a real hard time dealing with it.
BILL MOYERS: You feel guilty?
TONY NEUMANN: Yeah, I do. I feel I should be supporting my family.
BILL MOYERS: You consider he really wants a divorce, or is this just an escape?
TERRY NEUMANN: I consider it’s an escape and I just consider he figures it’s an simple way out. But really, the problems are still going to be there becautilize he’s still going to have to support us, and I feel it’s going to be worse. I just feel it’s just— just a tough time, and if we can just obtain through this, you know, then— then we’ll be back to the life that we had before.
PRIEST: Good morning, everybody. We gather on this Sunday morning in faith to praise our triune God, in the name of the Father and of the Son and—
BILL MOYERS: [voice-over] As Tony and Terry prayed for better times, across town, in Milwaukee’s Central City, a second hard-working family found their faith being tested. Like Tony Neumann, Claude Stanley had also been laid off. He lost his assembly line job with huge manufacturer A.O. Smith.
CLAUDE STANLEY: When I obtained laid off, they wanted me to go on welfare, but not— I could not stand in that line. I just stated, “Not me.” This is not me. They want to give me food—- I declare, “This is ain’t me.” I don’t want no food stamps. I declare I obtained my strength, my health. I will find me a job. And I found me a job.
BILL MOYERS: He found a job waterproofing basements for less than $7 an hour, not even half of what he had been creating.
CLAUDE STANLEY: You obtained to view at it on the real side. I cannot live like I was creating $20 an hour. OK, that money is not there. So you might as well obtain it in your mind it’s not there no more. So OK, bring yourself down.
BILL MOYERS: Claude and his wife, Jackie, were raising five kids— their daughter, Nicole, about to enter college when we met her, the oldest son, Keith, the twins, Klaudale and Claude, Jr., and the youngest, Omega.
KEITH STANLEY: I consider the hardest time is when you have to worry about coming home, like— like I declare, always coming home, and then there’s a bill on the door declareing the water’s cut off. Or there’s a— the guy just called declareing he’s going to cut off the phone. Or the electricity’s off. And you have to wait for a couple of days until Mom and Dad can obtain enough money to put it back on.
BILL MOYERS: Their neighborhood, Sherman Park, was mostly African-American and had once thrived on factory jobs that paid enough to support a family. Now those jobs were disappearing, and people here were attempting to figure out what to do next, people like Jackie Stanley, who had lost her job at Briggs.
JACKIE STANLEY: While I was on the motor line at Briggs, I launched to study my real estate. I went 10 times for my real estate license. The 10th time, I passed. And I promised that as soon as Briggs did close the door that I was going to go on and do real estate. And that’s exactly what I did.
[on the phone] Hi, Joe. Yeah, this is Jacqueline Stanley from Homestead.
It’s just like anything else. It’s really unsure.
[on the phone]_ OK, I just obtained in and it declares “ASAP.
You only obtain excited when you’re sitting at the closing and have the check in your hand. You never obtain over-exuberant. And I’m learning that every day.
NICOLE STANLEY: Mom’s real estate is tough on her. I’ve seen her attempt to wheel and deal deals. They seem so good, and at the last minute, they fall apart.
JACKIE STANLEY: [on the phone]_ The listing is for September. It’s already October.
NICOLE STANLEY: And that falling apart is our mortgage. That falling apart is the car note. And to someone else, it might not seem important, that they decide not to acquire the houtilize. But for us, it’s a matter of— not life and death, but it’s a matter of light and gas. And that’s scary.
BILL MOYERS: As good jobs left town, the number of African-Americans in poverty increased from about 25 percent in the 1970s to over 40 percent in the early ‘90s.
The Stanleys vowed it wouldn’t happen to them. But as property values fell in the Central City, so did real estate commissions. And when Jackie attempted to sell in other neighborhoods, she met resistance.
JACKIE STANLEY: It was on the market for a year and didn’t sell.
BILL BERLAND: It’s becautilize they didn’t have somebody as good as you.
JACKIE STANLEY: [laughs] OK.
BILL BERLAND: People of color really have a much more difficult time in our business creating a living than white people. It may be a situation where she may call for a revealing and not obtain the courtesy of a call back. Maybe her client that she takes in to a mortgage lconcludeer has a much more difficult time, even if their is good, obtainting a mortgage.
JACKIE STANLEY: [on the phone] All right, fax it to me.
I can’t sell suburbs. I can’t sell the most affluent areas here. And that hurts. But they’ll call me for Central City.
KEITH STANLEY: You talk to your friconcludes, they always declare, “Well, I’m going to be doing this this summer. Well, how about you?” And you’re like, “Well, I’m doing— working.” That’s all you just declare right now is “I’m working.
And they always inquire me “Why are you working? Why don’t you go out there and have fun like the rest of the kids do?” You can’t. You just can’t do it. You have to go out there and assist your mom and dad.
BILL MOYERS: To assist out, Keith Stanley and the twins, Claude, Jr., and Klaudale, started a business. They called it the Three Sons Lawn Care Service.
INTERVIEWER: How much money would you like to build when you grow up?
CLAUDE STANLEY, Jr.: Probably about a hundred million, something like that. Three hundred million, something like that.
INTERVIEWER: Do you consider you will?
CLAUDE STANLEY, Jr.: Yeah.
KLAUDALE STANLEY: I seen my mom on the phone talking to the bill collectors, inquireing them, when they would take— the mortgage company, when they were about to take our houtilize. She was pleading with the mortgage company. She inquires the bill collectors to keep the light and sometimes the gas on. And that builds me want to do more, a lot more.
BILL MOYERS: The counattempt was deep in recession in 1991. The president predicted it wouldn’t last.
Pres. GEORGE H. W. BUSH: We will obtain this recession behind us and return to growth soon. [applautilize] We will obtain on our way to a new record of expansion and achieve the competitive strength that will carry us into the next American century.
BILL MOYERS: But the problem was hugeger than recession. By 1991, Milwaukee’s new economy depconcludeed on non-union manufacturing and service jobs, the vast majority of them offering lower pay and fewer benefits.
That was still the case when we returned to the city two years later. But by the launchning of 1993, there were expectations that things were about to turn around.
1993
Pres. BILL CLINTON: I, William Jefferson Clinton, do solemnly swear—
—and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defconclude the Constitution of the United States, so assist me God.
KLAUDALE STANLEY: From the way he ran his campaign, it was more like he would concentrate on America than Mexico, Europe, Africa, Asia. He wasn’t going to sconclude more jobs or factories out of the counattempt, and bring more in. And I guess that in the next four years, maybe we might have openings and maybe you might not have to film as many people in your— more people have jobs, and things will probably work out.
ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States, William Jefferson Clinton!
KLAUDALE STANLEY: This president I consider I can trust and relate to somehow.
KEITH STANLEY: Four more years. Four more years, buddy. You necessary to grow up a little bit.
Pres. BILL CLINTON: Today we celebrate the mystery of American renewal!
KEITH STANLEY: I been there with Reagan, Bush and now Clinton. I’m not declareing I don’t trust presidents. It’s that you declare a lot of stuff to obtain on top. Even if I was running for something, I’d declare— I’d be like, I’m— “Everybody obtain free candy and everything,” you know? So you declare a lot of stuff to obtain on top.
Pres. BILL CLINTON: We inherit an economy that is still the world’s strongest, but is weakened by business failures, stagnant wages—
TERRY NEUMANN: I consider if they work on jobs first, a lot of people would probably be more energized, you know? Give people something to wake up to every morning, you know, a purpose!
TONY NEUMANN: A purpose and a lot more self-respect.
TERRY NEUMANN: Right. And I consider that will alter a lot of people’s attitudes.
TONY NEUMANN: Changed mine.
TERRY NEUMANN: Yeah.
PRIEST: I invited the Neumanns around the Lord’s table becautilize a year ago, they may not have had as much to be thankful for, right? You didn’t have a steady job then, did you?
TONY NEUMANN: That’s a fact.
PRIEST: That’s a fact. What is the fact today?
TONY NEUMANN: I have more than enough work.
PRIEST: More than enough work!
BILL MOYERS: Tony Neumann had found a job creating engine parts in a tiny factory. Like many in the new light manufacturing sector, the job was non-union. It paid $8.25 an hour, with no benefits. It obtained the Neumanns back on their feet, but it wouldn’t balance their books.
TERRY NEUMANN: Just with the mortgage, we obtained, well, three months behind. And it will take us two years to obtain to pay that back becautilize they tack on the interest and penalty charges and whatever else, so that three months takes two years. That’s a long time.
So whatever extra money we have, we sconclude it becautilize we want to build sure that in the next year, we have it paid off so they don’t take the houtilize.
BILL MOYERS: To build concludes meet, they necessaryed more money.
DANIEL NEUMANN: Guess what? I’m on the honor roll!
TERRY NEUMANN: That’s great!
BILL MOYERS: And Terry, like so many of her generation, realized she would have to go to work despite necessarying to be home for the kids. She launched taking a series of low-wage part-time day jobs.
TERRY NEUMANN: [behind lunch counter] Anyone for peas?
BILL MOYERS: Meanwhile, her husband Tony worked the night shift full-time.
TERRY NEUMANN: Tonight is Boy Scouts. They have a pack meeting once a month where all of the dens obtain all toobtainher and they come.
SCOUT LEADER: Adam Neumann has passed uniform inspection.
TERRY NEUMANN: They have their awards being passed out on that night, so this is kind of like a huge night.
SCOUT LEADER: Daniel Neumann, please come up with your mom or dad or both.
TERRY NEUMANN: That’s one thing Tony misses becautilize he utilized to be very involved in Scouts. So he had to give that up.
TERRY NEUMANN: Good job, Daniel!
TERRY NEUMANN: Daniel!
KARISSA NEUMANN: Daniel!
TERRY NEUMANN: Daniel! Look for your homework!
KARISSA NEUMANN: Get in here!
TERRY NEUMANN: And your backpack!
KARISSA NEUMANN: And shut the door!
TERRY NEUMANN: With me working and Tony working, we had different shifts and we weren’t all toobtainher all the time at the same time.
TONY NEUMANN: Karissa, where is it?
TERRY NEUMANN: How can he lose a backpack?
KARISSA NEUMANN: In the room.
TERRY NEUMANN: Daniel started obtainting very quiet, and he kept to himself a lot. And his attitude just alterd a little bit. You know, he obtained really distant.
[with guidance counselor] Daniel, he’s still having problems with his homework.
GUIDANCE COUNSELOR: I’m sure that Daniel is dealing with the stress of your relationship with Tony, and you know, the whole work issue. You’re working. Some kids almost blame themselves for what’s going on in a family, you know, and that— they have to realize this is a situation that’s a tough situation for the whole family. Everybody’s doing the best they can. You love him. You’re there for him and you’ll always be there for him.
TERRY NEUMANN: Right.
GUIDANCE COUNSELOR: A lot of our children here at school are obtainting themselves up in the morning, coming home to an empty houtilize at night. Ideally, we would have a parent there to obtain a kid off and someone there to receive them when they come home at night. But that’s, you know, in the fairyland world, I guess. And you know, we do want we have to do to survive.
TEACHER: Danny Neumann?
DANIEL NEUMANN: Period at the conclude.
TEACHER: Period at the conclude.
BILL MOYERS: Even as working people like the Neumanns were just hanging on, the new economy was on the upswing. The stock market was on the rise, and for investors, the good times were roaring back.
CLAUDE STANLEY: [preaching] Thank you. Hallelujah! Yes, Lord, we thank you this morning. Lord, we thank you how you provide for us, how you build ways out of no way. Lord, we thank you this morning!
BILL MOYERS: Claude Stanley served his church as a lay minister on Sundays.
CLAUDE STANLEY: We thank you, Lord, for your goodness. And thank you, Lord, for your kindness, Lord!
BILL MOYERS: The rest of the week, he was on his hands and knees. By 1993, Claude had been promoted to foreman of the waterproofing crew, which paid him less than a dollar more an hour.
CLAUDE STANLEY: Factory job, you’re creating $14 an hour. This job, you’re cutting that in half. You’re only creating— you build about $7. Yeah, you might obtain some bonutilizes here and there, but— incentives, but ain’t that great.
JACKIE STANLEY: I consider he created about 35, 40 at Smith.
CLAUDE STANLEY: At Smith, yeah.
JACKIE STANLEY: And I created 35 and 40.
CLAUDE STANLEY: At Briggs.
JACKIE STANLEY: And that’s— so we’re about half of that. If we did— created what we created at Briggs and Smith right now, we would be really well off. Houtilize would be paid for, car paid for. Kids at least would have some kind of college funds built up.
CLAUDE STANLEY: But we view on each other for our strength. You know, some days, she obtained bad days. Some days, I have bad days. But like, when— if I’m not producing, she’s producing. You know, when I can’t— you know, I do, she do, I do. We attempt to find a way to build concludes meet. You obtained some families probably declare, how do we build it? You know, how do we build it, you know?
JACKIE STANLEY: We don’t even know! [laughter]
CLAUDE STANLEY: How do you build it, you know?
JACKIE STANLEY: We just keep holding on. You know, we shop. We shop. I found out that there are grocery stores here that have food half-price on Mondays. We rummage.
[in second-hand store] Oh, my goodness, some Guess jeans. Omega! These are $70 in the store. Look at that!
I come here becautilize I work with a lot of people every day, they come in the offices from the cologne to the shoes, they view gorgeous. And I can’t afford what they wear.
For $24, this one I want. This is for work.
My accessories that I wear, they’re, like, $5, $10 to $20 earrings, I pay 99 cents.
OMEGA STANLEY: This is something you would wear, probably.
JACKIE STANLEY: Something I would wear? No. I consider Elvis Presley would wear it. [laughs] No, I wouldn’t wear that.
Nobody wants to be around somebody that doesn’t have theirselves toobtainher. Even if you have to, as one broker wrote to me and stated, “Fake it until you build it.” And that’s what we do in the Stanley houtilizehold. We wear exactly what the people on Lake Drive wear.
JACKIE STANLEY: [revealing houtilize] That’s the very same houtilize. Are you planning on keeping the hedges on there?
BILL MOYERS: For Jackie, the home sales came frequently enough. It was the pay that was the problem.
JACKIE STANLEY: With my kind of work that I do, which is real estate, I obtain paid on commission. It goes up and down. And it’s rough.
BILL MOYERS: Jackie was just one of the agents handling this sale and had to split the commission.
JACKIE STANLEY: [to client] Don’t go in the back hallway. The dog’s there.
BILL MOYERS: After also paying a percentage of her share to her employer, she figured to clear about $1,000.
JACKIE STANLEY: If we’re going to do the taxes, too, then you also have to remember they take the 28 percent out of the $1,000 that you build. So it’s— you’re down again.
BILL MOYERS: She reckoned that if she opened her own office, she could keep a larger share of the commissions.
JACKIE STANLEY: I’ve set goals at what I want to do. And I plan on going all the way with it becautilize I’ve obtained to come out of the hole somewhere. That’s it.
And there’s something that I always declare, “So a man considereth, so is he.” If I consider poverty all the time, I’ll act that way. I can’t afford to talk negative and then allow my children to see me that way, down or depressed.
BILL MOYERS: As she persevered in 1993, her neighborhood seemed to be coming apart at the seams.
JACKIE STANLEY: Even on this street, one block west of my houtilize, just about every door here has the steel doors. There was “Kill you” written on the back of my fence— “if you don’t join the gangs”— to my oldest son, Keith.
BILL MOYERS: Just blocks from her houtilize, Jackie’s uncle was murdered by an intruder.
JACKIE STANLEY: All I can notify them is keep attempting. Every day, I have to encourage myself and I have to encourage them. Many times, Keith has stated to me, “What’s the utilize, Mom?” He did a 3.5. What does it matter? And I stated, “You’ve obtained to keep going.”
The other day, we was— the snow was heavy and we were out shoveling snow. And someone stood at the window and stated, “Look at your family. It’s perfect.” And they called us the Beaver family. I know they meant to declare Cleaver. But— and I stated— they stated, “We see you toobtainher all the time.” It views good. But it views good.
1995
BILL MOYERS: Two years later, in 1995, obtainting a job wasn’t the problem anymore in Milwaukee. There was even a shortage of skilled labor.
NEWSCASTER: Employers in some parts of the state declare they can’t find enough qualified workers, and Governor Thompson announced what he calls Operation Hire to address those shortages.
BILL MOYERS: The problem still was that jobs often didn’t pay enough. Like millions of others, the Neumann family now had to have a second full-time income to build it. And Terry Neumann was pulling one in, and proud to be doing so.
TERRY NEUMANN: I have a new job. I’m a driver and a guard and a messenger. My hourly pay right now is $7.50 to start. It has very good insurance benefits, which my husband doesn’t have. He obtains more money and less benefits. And I’ve obtained less money and better benefits. So hopefully, between the two of us—
TONY NEUMANN: It kind of works out.
TERRY NEUMANN: Yeah. I obtain a lot of views from a lot of truck drivers, a lot of double takes that, “Wow, view at that.” Yeah. I love it. I consider it’s great, you know?
BILL MOYERS, Correspondent: [on camera] Working?
TERRY NEUMANN: Working, yeah. And having the power behind the huge truck, you know? I like it.
BILL MOYERS: The power behind the huge truck?
TERRY NEUMANN: Yeah. I obtain a lot more views than sitting in the kitchen, cooking muffins. [laughter]
BILL MOYERS: I remember your notifying us a couple of years ago how important it was that as a mother, you were home with the kids. And you know, Daniel was having a few difficulties then—
TERRY NEUMANN: Right.
BILL MOYERS: —approaching teenage years.
TERRY NEUMANN: Right.
BILL MOYERS: You just felt it was best—
TERRY NEUMANN: Right.
BILL MOYERS: —if you could be here.
TERRY NEUMANN: I still feel that way, but under the circumstances— we’re put into a situation we don’t have a choice.
[www.pbs.org: Watch on line]
ADAM NEUMANN: You obtained any homework?
KARISSA NEUMANN: Yeah, I obtained a lot. I obtained this little worksheet. I obtained a couple other things, I consider.
BILL MOYERS: [voice-over] The Neumanns now created enough from their combined income to meet their expenses. But the kids were coming home to an empty houtilize.
KARISSA NEUMANN: She probably considers about us and stuff, how we’re doing at home, obtains a little worried if we’re OK and if we created it home.
BILL MOYERS: [on camera] What about the neighborhood? You’re not the only family around, I guess, where both husband and wife are working?
TERRY NEUMANN: No.
BILL MOYERS: Where kids are coming home by themselves?
TONY NEUMANN: There’s a lot of kids around here that are like that. There’s quite a bit of commotion as far as the kids that are around here doing pretty much what they want.
TERRY NEUMANN: Becautilize they’re not supervised.
TONY NEUMANN: Yeah, they’re never supervised.
TERRY NEUMANN: The parents aren’t here to supervise them, and that’s the reason why you have so much teenage shenanigans or—
TONY NEUMANN: Yeah, violence.
TERRY NEUMANN: That’s what I’m worried about. I want my kids to—
TONY NEUMANN: Grow up to be good kids.
TERRY NEUMANN: Yeah. I want good children.
BILL MOYERS: So you’re betting on the fact that the kids will come through without you being here.
TERRY NEUMANN: I’ve attempted to bring them up right and to teach them right from wrong. And I’m just hoping that they will carry these values through all of this. I hope they’ve learned something from this, how hard it is and how difficult it is and how everybody necessarys to build sacrifices, including them. This is how it is, and this is what we have to do in order to obtain through this and build it.
[www.pbs.org: Share your considereds]
BILL MOYERS: [voice-over] In the Stanley houtilizehold in 1995, oldest son Keith reached a milestone, becoming the first man on either side of his family to graduate high school.
KEITH STANLEY: Oh, Mommy!
JACKIE STANLEY: [weeping] I’ve been talking for years, and I can’t talk now! You’re the first one.
GRADUATION ANNOUNCER: Keith Kenyatta Stanley.
JACKIE STANLEY: Yay! That’s my boy!
BILL MOYERS: He was heading into an uncertain economy, but Keith was determined to build it. That meant college. And in the fall, he enrolled at Alabama State University.
[on camera] How do you afford to keep Keith in college?
JACKIE STANLEY: I neobtainediated two transactions and closed them the day before he left. And you’re talking about a prayer!
BILL MOYERS: [voice-over] Jackie’s commissions only paid for part of the tuition. They would have to find the balance somehow.
[on camera] What does it take you a year down there for him?
JACKIE STANLEY: It’s $7,000 a year.
[on the phone] Keith? Hi. How’re you doing?
BILL MOYERS: Is he going to be able to build it this year?
JACKIE STANLEY: I just received a letter that I have to pay $1,300 now, or Keith will have to be put out in 48 hours.
[on the phone] We were concerned about this letter that came from your school.
But again, God came through, again! Keith had applied for a lot of charge cards before he left.
We came up with something. Oh, that’s so sweet. I can notify you’ve been down South a long time. You’re declareing “Yes, ma’am.” Your Discover card came in. I called the Discover card people, and I notified them we wanted a cash advance.
BILL MOYERS: Most people, when they pray, expect God to give them a miracle. You— what you obtained was a $1,000 credit with 18 percent interest rate.
JACKIE STANLEY: But it’ll tide me over until I can obtain the miracle.
So then this semester is taken care of. You hear me? All right. I love you.
It’s called rob Peter to pay Paul. And I’m robbing Peter so much that Peter is just standing there.
Sconclude it to the bank.
BILL MOYERS: [voice-over] The Stanleys were like millions of others attempting to survive the good times of the ‘90s. Living on credit became a way of life. Over that decade, credit card debt for the average American family increased by 53 percent. For low-income families, it was 184 percent.
And the paychecks weren’t obtainting any hugeger. Claude Stanley was creating about the same in ‘95 as he had been two years earlier. As a supervisor, he did have modest health benefits. Those he supervised, they weren’t so lucky.
[on camera] What do these guys do for health care?
CLAUDE STANLEY: There’s no benefits. That’s the main thing, no benefits.
BILL MOYERS: [voice-over] When crisis hit, Claude’s benefits proved insufficient. A serious lung infection required an extconcludeed stay in the hospital and kept him out of work for two months.
1998
When we next saw him, it was 1998. He notified us the family faced uncovered medical bills approaching some $30,000, $30,000 they didn’t have.
CLAUDE STANLEY: It will be rough, you know? It’ll hit us financially. But all we do is just— you know, we depconclude on the Lord to build a way for us, but we ain’t going to stop living, you know? We’ve obtained to keep shifting, keep going.
KLAUDALE STANLEY: Welcome to Burger King. Can I take your order, sir?
BILL MOYERS: The growing family debt meant that paying for college for their younger children was out of the question. Omega was still in high school, but the twins had graduated. Claude, Jr., was working odd jobs, including doing some modeling. His twin, Klaudale, took a different route. He joined the Navy.
KLAUDALE STANLEY: I, Klaudale Lamar Stanley, do solemnly swear that I will support and defconclude—
BILL MOYERS: He went through basic training in Illinois—
KLAUDALE STANLEY: [chanting with other recruits] Six more days, and we’ll be through!
BILL MOYERS: —and would soon be stationed in Washington, D.C., at the Pentagon.
KLAUDALE STANLEY: [on the phone] Navy Washington operator 30. How may I assist you?
BILL MOYERS: Older brother Keith, meanwhile, was now a senior at Alabama State and on his own financially. He had some aid and worked two jobs, as a resident assistant in his dorm and the organist at his church. But when we visited in 1999, we found him on the verge of being kicked out for nonpayment.
1999
KEITH STANLEY: So what I do usually is, I just have to go inside the credit card and pay for it through credit cards, you know? And that’s the only way I can do it, you know? That’s— and if that’s what it takes to stay in school, that’s what I’m going to do to stay in school. My current balance for this credit card is $2,574.68. The interest on this is— I believe it’s 23, close to 24 percent.
[viewing at credit card advertisement] “No fee first year. Apply now.” They’re everywhere.
BILL MOYERS: Back home in Milwaukee, Keith’s parents had decided to strike out on their own, to become entrepreneurs. Borrowing against their home, they bought a Central City office building where Jackie could start her own real estate firm and Claude could set up shop as a home inspector.
CLAUDE STANLEY: [preaching] We’re talking about those, amen, that is so quick to obtain rich and quick to prosper and quick to go somewhere—
BILL MOYERS: They would utilize it on Sundays as a church. Claude had become an ordained pastor. Their faith remained as strong as their future seemed uncertain.
CLAUDE STANLEY: God is good, he’s good, he’s good, he’s good!
I obtained an article from USA Today where they stated every person that’s going to retire is going to necessary at least a million dollars. [laughs]
BILL MOYERS: Across town, the Neumanns were attempting to cope with the toll on family life exacted by their different hours and demands at work, especially since Tony was still mostly working the night shift.
TONY NEUMANN: It takes a little obtainting utilized to. It seems like you only obtain somewhere between four and six hours of real sleep, and you have to be able to live off of that.
KARISSA NEUMANN: Sometimes I like him to assist me on homework, but since he’s on third shift, he can’t really assist me a whole lot becautilize he’s normally sleeping. And when we wake him up, he obtains really irritable and kind of crabby.
TONY NEUMANN: I already notified you, food is going to be off limits in your room if I see this!
KARISSA NEUMANN: The only time I obtain to see him is towards the time I’m going to bed. And that’s it. That’s when I have to inquire him all my quick questions on if I can do stuff or I necessary him to sign papers for school. And then I normally go to bed right after that.
TONY NEUMANN: Actually, I would prefer to have a real life on first shift. I would really like to sit down and have a nice dinner with the family every day. I would really enjoy that.
Terry and I are never really toobtainher for any period of time. We’re not really obtainting along like we utilized to. We don’t sleep toobtainher anymore. It’s really— it stinks.
BILL MOYERS: The Neumanns launched to see a family therapist.
KARISSA NEUMANN: I don’t like going to counseling becautilize I don’t want to notify him my problems. It’s like he’s, “Hello, what are your problems?” [laughs] He never laughs! It’s so funny.
TERRY NEUMANN: Well, he’s serious. He wants to obtain to the root of the problem.
KARISSA NEUMANN: And Dad even stated that we weren’t going to go to anymore. And then you guys scheduled another one. And I notified the boys that we weren’t going to have any more, and they obtained all happy becautilize the boys don’t like coming to these things, either.
BILL MOYERS: At decade’s conclude, Daniel, now 17, and Adam, 15, were in high school but having trouble focussing on their studies.
Terry left the armored car job for one that paid more, $15 an hour instead of $9. But her schedule was utterly unpredictable. Sometimes she worked from 4:00 in the morning to noon, and might have to come back the same evening and work the overnight. She was always on call to report to work on just two hours’ notice.
TERRY NEUMANN: By the time I obtain home, I’m, like, zonked out. I obtain tired.
BILL MOYERS: Terry and Tony finally created more combined than he had created working at Briggs a decade earlier. But despite all the hard work, these two American families had barely survived one of the most prosperous decades in our history.
State of the Union 2000
Pres. BILL CLINTON: We launched the new century with over 20 million new jobs, the rapidest economic growth in more than 30 years, the lowest unemployment rates in 30 years. We have built a new economy!
2012
BILL MOYERS: It was 12 years before we came back to Milwaukee. We found a city still struggling, with over a quarter of its people living in poverty. Some people had done very well. Parts of the city had been splconcludeidly rebuilt. And over the previous decade, more promises had been created.
Pres. GEORGE W. BUSH: A future of hope and opportunity launchs with a growing economy, and that is what we have. Unemployment is low. Inflation is low. Wages are rising. This economy is on the shift.
BILL MOYERS: But the promises had come with a price— two costly wars, a soaring deficit, and a hoapplying market boom and bust.
NEWSCASTER: [February 23, 2009] The Obama administration declares it will spconclude billions to keep struggling home owners in their homes.
BILL MOYERS: American families had been hit by the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression.
NEWSCASTER: [May 29, 2012] We’re raised to believe that each generation can and will do better than the last. But is that really true?
BILL MOYERS: We wanted to know what had happened to the two American families we knew. We found Jackie Stanley outside her church, along with a grown-up Keith, now 35.
KEITH STANLEY: I never would have created it to college, never would have created it to college without Mom.
BILL MOYERS: But Jackie quickly confided that when we called her to see about filming again, she almost stated no.
JACKIE STANLEY: I was notifying Kathy I considered I was a failure. I really considered I was a failure becautilize I didn’t do it. We went backwards.
BILL MOYERS: She stated that after suffering some health problems, she had quit doing real estate altoobtainher, that her dream of having her own office had come to nothing, that she hadn’t done enough to build it happen.
JACKIE STANLEY: And I don’t know. I really was ashamed.
CLAUDE STANLEY: [preaching] Sometimes we’re going to go through some things, praise God, and God ain’t going to bring it out like you consider it ought to come out, the way you want it to come out.
BILL MOYERS: Turns out Claude’s entrepreneurial efforts hadn’t worked out, either.
CLAUDE STANLEY: You might be on your job sometime and you hear about a layoff going to happen. And you might go home and pray all week, declareing, “Lord, don’t let that happen to this place. I want to keep my job.” And guess what? Guess what? You obtain laid off anyhow and the place close down. Guess what? You obtained to praise God anyhow! Glory to God. Hallelujah! Thank you, Jesus. God is good.
BILL MOYERS: Now the couple was surviving on a job Claude had taken with the city of Milwaukee.
[on camera] How did you find the work with the city?
CLAUDE STANLEY: I was viewing through the newspaper, and it stated something about foresattempt department.
BILL MOYERS: Foresattempt?
CLAUDE STANLEY: During the summertime, I do foresattempt. I do work on the boulevards. All the boulevards you see out here, with the flowers, keep the flowers intact, the grass being cut.
BILL MOYERS: And the winter?
CLAUDE STANLEY: Right now, I’m in sanitation, OK, collecting garbage.
BILL MOYERS: That’s hard work.
CLAUDE STANLEY: Yes, it is, Bill. Yeah, it ain’t simple.
KEITH STANLEY: I consider one of the hugegest things I can declare for my dad is just his work ethic. And I remember he assisted me install a tile floor in my kitchen. I was tired by the conclude of the first day. My dad is on the ground, putting the tile in and revealing me how to put the cement on the tile. And I was, like, “Man, this guy, he has all this strength.”
BILL MOYERS: And you’re how old now?
CLAUDE STANLEY: I’m almost 60 years old.
BILL MOYERS: How long do you consider you can keep that up?
CLAUDE STANLEY: Not too long. [laughs] Not too long.
BILL MOYERS: [voice-over] Claude is a member of a public union. He builds about $26,000 a year, plus some benefits. It’s one of a series of jobs he has had since we last saw him waterproofing basements and inspecting homes.
CLAUDE STANLEY: And you talking about doing other things in between, I had to work at the airport for two years.
BILL MOYERS: [on camera] Doing what?
CLAUDE STANLEY: I was working on the runway, directing the planes to come in, flag them down, stop, take the luggage to the tunnel, lifting baggage. And it was all kind of stuff at the airport I was doing.
BILL MOYERS: Was that a minimum wage job?
CLAUDE STANLEY: Definitely was minimum wage. When I worked out there, they cut our salary, I mean, down to nothing.
JACKIE STANLEY: He carried dead bodies, too. He worked at the hospital.
CLAUDE STANLEY: I was a security guard at Columbus Hospital. And at nighttime, if— it was like third shift, anybody passed away or died, we had to carry— put them on the elevator and carry them down to the refrigerator.
BILL MOYERS: The third shift is from when to when?
JACKIE STANLEY: Graveyard. [laughs]
CLAUDE STANLEY: From 11:00— from 12:00 o’clock at night to 7:00 in the morning.
BILL MOYERS: Once upon a time, when people obtained your age— and you’re much younger than I am, you’re almost 60— they started considering seriously about retiring. But you’re not.
CLAUDE STANLEY: I can’t do that becautilize the reason is, Bill, you can’t stay on a job long enough to retire. [laughs] You know, every job I have, I work seven years, OK, the place close down. You work somewhere else for another five years, they lay you off, they shut down. All the years I’ve been working, Bill, I could have retired right now.
BILL MOYERS: If you had—
CLAUDE STANLEY: Stayed at one job.
[www.pbs.org: More from the Stanleys & the Neumanns]
KEITH STANLEY: He will not be able to see the retirement, you know, that he was probably— would hope for when he was working at A.O. Smith. That’s just not a reality. My heart goes out to that generation that was promised something from America, by America, that they would have a better life, and that’s not the case anymore.
CLAUDE STANLEY: [to Jackie] I necessary to fill out my time sheet. I can do that.
JACKIE STANLEY: When I view at him early in the morning, he’s still doing it. He’s obtained that pretty young smile on his face and acting like nothing’s wrong. And every now and then, you’ll catch him exercising and humping his back and rubbing it .
One day, he notified me— oh, God, here goes the tears. I’m not going to do this. I’m not going to cry. Here’s what he stated. He had come in from work, and it was kind of cold. And he stated, “By the time I obtain up, I’m just thawing out. My bones haven’t finished obtainting warm. I can’t keep doing this.”
TERRY NEUMANN: Hey, Dyl, are you in a good mood today? Dylan! He’s not in a very good mood. I consider his bus drive was too long. And he’s obtainting antsy and he has to go potty.
BILL MOYERS: When we next met Terry Neumann, we found she had lost her warehoutilize job some five years before. She had searched unsuccessfully for a new warehoutilize or manufacturing position, but couldn’t find one.
So in 2008, she had retrained to become a nurse’s assistant and home health care aid. Now 49 years old, she was working part-time in a suburb just west of Milwaukee, taking care of a 16-year-old, Dylan Solper.
TERRY NEUMANN: Oh, I’ve been probably doing this for probably 19 months I’ve been here. What? You consider that’s funny? What’s so funny, Dyl? He considers he’s funny sometimes. He’ll put his feet up on me, and I’ll declare, “I don’t want those stinky feet. I don’t want those stinky feet. I don’t want those stinky feet!”
The job paid, when I first started, $8 an hour, and now I’m obtainting $9 an hour. I’m at 24 hours a week.
Where’s Dylan? Where’s Dylan?
BILL MOYERS: [on camera] How do you survive on $9 an hour?
TERRY NEUMANN: You can’t. If you want a houtilize and if you want that American dream, it’s impossible.
Here’s my paycheck. This is a two-week paycheck. So year to date— what are we talking here, November? That’s what I created, $9,646.89. That’s poverty.
BILL MOYERS: [voice-over] For Terry Neumann, survival has been difficult since the last time we saw her, and not just becautilize of her paycheck. These days, she’s also going it alone.
[on camera] What happened to you and your husband?
TERRY NEUMANN: I consider we just grew apart and went separate ways. And the love wasn’t there anymore. The trust wasn’t there anymore. It was just gone and dead. It was like a death.
BILL MOYERS: [voice-over] Tony Neumann notified us he had lost his factory job and had been doing construction and handyman work in and out of Milwaukee. He declined to talk on camera.
Terry, meanwhile, stated she never gave up searching for a full-time job.
TERRY NEUMANN: I necessary more hours. That’s what I necessary. And I’m working on that.
KATHY SOLPER, Dylan’s mother: Dylan, we’re obtainting into our chair. Back up. Good job!
BILL MOYERS: Terry was working for a for-profit agency receiving money from Medicaid for Dylan’s care. Positions like hers are often part-time or temporary.
TERRY NEUMANN: [to Dylan] Are you ready? Huh? Are you ready?
BILL MOYERS: [on camera] You’re part-time?
TERRY NEUMANN: Yes. So they don’t have to pay for the benefits, vacation time, sick time, or health.
KATHY SOLPER: The amount of money that these caregivers build, it’s just sad. It’s sad. I don’t know how they— I don’t know how they live on it. And the only thing I can notify them is they’re angels.
BILL MOYERS: You kept the houtilize at the time of the divorce. You were able to keep the houtilize.
TERRY NEUMANN: Yes.
BILL MOYERS: You were determined to hold onto that houtilize. That was your home.
TERRY NEUMANN: Oh, yeah. But I didn’t feel safe after a while.
BILL MOYERS: I remember when we were there, you were concerned about the growing rowdiness and violence in the neighborhood.
TERRY NEUMANN: It just obtained worse. I was waking up, let’s see, 2:00 o’clock in the morning with gunfire rounds going through the neighbor’s houtilize.
BILL MOYERS: But you had nowhere else to go.
TERRY NEUMANN: Right.
[www.pbs.org: Milwaukee through the years]
BILL MOYERS: [voice-over] Terry had survived the wave of home foreclosures that hit some 16,000 Milwaukee property owners between 2008 and 2010. But by 2011, divorced and working part-time, she simply couldn’t afford to build her home payments anymore.
KATHY SOLPER: She was real quiet, and you know, I could notify that she was down. And I finally came to her and I stated, “What’s going on? You know, you seem like you’re really down, like you’re really tired, like you’re exhausted, like you just have a really heavy— something’s heavy on your mind.” I stated, “Is everything OK with your family?”
I consider she felt embarrassed, which she shouldn’t have. I consider that she didn’t feel like she wanted to talk about it. But as the summer went on, it was a horrible time for Terry.
TERRY NEUMANN: [reading] “Dear occupant. Please take notice, judgment foreclosure entered March 15, 2011, in the amount of $96,619.12. You are hereby notified that possession is demanded by J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, which now owns your property.”
BILL MOYERS: [on camera] How long did you stay in the houtilize?
TERRY NEUMANN: I lived there for 24 years. They wanted $120,000 for the acquireout of it. And I’m, like, “Where am I supposed to find that?” You know, so it goes into foreclosure, and you can sell it for, what, $30,000? I was, “Are you serious? You can’t lower my payments or my interest rates so I can stay in my houtilize, but you’ll foreclose on it and then sell it for $30,000 or $40,000, whatever it was?”
BILL MOYERS: [voice-over] With nowhere else to go, Terry shiftd in first with a relative, then with a friconclude.
TERRY NEUMANN: And I felt like a sense of failure becautilize I’ve always been able to obtain back up on my feet. I’ve always found a way or the money to resolve it. And I just couldn’t resolve it anymore.
BILL MOYERS: At the time Terry lost her home, both her grown sons, Daniel and Adam, were living with her.
[on camera] Do you consider they’re going to obtain their feet on the ground one day economically and be more secure than you and Tony were?
TERRY NEUMANN: I have my doubts.
SCOUT LEADER: Adam Neumann has passed uniform inspection.
BILL MOYERS: [voice-over] Adam Neumann, Terry’s middle son, is now 28. We found him working for a lawn care company.
ADAM NEUMANN: I’ve been doing it for about a year now, and I like this job. It’s nice. I like being outside. Keeps me in shape. I obtain paid, like, 9 bucks an hour. It’s usually 40 hours a week. Right now, there’s no benefits or insurance. So that’s the downfall of the job.
BILL MOYERS: Adam, we learned, had dropped out of school in the 10th grade after fathering a daughter, who now lives with her mother.
ADAM NEUMANN: I wish I would have, you know, stayed in school and, you know, found something that I was good at, you know, for a stable job in that sense. But after I had my kid at a young age, I had to work and I couldn’t work and go to school at the same time.
BILL MOYERS: He lives just south of Milwaukee, in an apartment complex where he met his current girlfriconclude. They are expecting a child.
[on camera] This is your second child.
ADAM NEUMANN: Second.
BILL MOYERS: How old is the first one now?
ADAM NEUMANN: Eleven. And I live paycheck to paycheck, child support, rent, electric, food. But they still call me middle class, but I don’t— I don’t see that.
BILL MOYERS: Adam’s brother, Daniel, Terry’s oldest, is now 29. He’s an auto mechanic, currently unemployed.
DANIEL NEUMANN: [in class] I’ve seen it done before, too, where you fill up the syringe with the brake fluid—
BILL MOYERS: Like so many Milwaukeeans of the past few decades, including his father, Daniel was viewing to upgrade his skills to assist him obtain work. So he went back to school for retraining at one of the region’s many technical colleges, studying automotive technology.
TERRY NEUMANN: Daniel!
KARISSA NEUMANN: Daniel!
TERRY NEUMANN: Daniel! Look for your homework!
KARISSA NEUMANN: Get in here!
BILL MOYERS: We inquireed Daniel about the past, about the difficulties in his family that he had witnessed growing up.
DANIEL NEUMANN: I really wasn’t paying too much attention to it. I was busy with school and being a kid. None of that stuff really mattered to me, you know, becautilize I didn’t know. But now that I’m older and all this, it builds sense. Now I’m going through the same thing.
BILL MOYERS: Daniel has three kids of his own to assist support. They live with their mothers. He obtains by with unemployment and state food assistance. He’s had no home since his mother lost the houtilize and now lives with a friconclude. He declares he will start his own auto repair shop when he obtains out of school. And he knows how he’d like to run it.
DANIEL NEUMANN: What I see is, you know, you keep your employees happy, your company will grow. You know, if you keep treating your employees like crap, and you know, just keep taking from them just becautilize you want to obtain richer and richer and pay them less, that’s not the way to go becautilize, I mean, the economy is so bad right now, a lot of people don’t have money and stuff.
And the world is just going all downhill right now. All this stuff going on here in Milwaukee and all these shootings and all that— I mean, they just had another shooting out there, even in a nice neighborhood over there in Brookfield. I have my concealed carry I carry everywhere I go. You really don’t have to want to utilize it, but if you have to, you have something to protect yourself and your family and friconcludes around you.
BILL MOYERS: [on camera] With this kind of economy that we have now— low-wage, no-benefit jobs— do you consider that Dan and Adam have a shot at having— you know, raising a family, having a home?
TERRY NEUMANN: I don’t see them obtainting a home becautilize they’re creating— they’re just— they’re struggling from paycheck to paycheck. You know, I had the home before the job loss, but for them to attempt to save to obtain a home now, I don’t foresee that, plus raising kids.
BILL MOYERS: How about Karissa? How’s she doing? And she’s how old now?
TERRY NEUMANN: Twenty-six.
Then one of these. And then you necessary a business card to call Mommy up.
KARISSA NEUMANN: When I was younger, I just knew we didn’t have money, and money is how the world goes round.
DANIEL NEUMANN: You can’t acquire anything yet! We don’t have enough money!
KARISSA NEUMANN: A lot of people have clothes every school year. They have a new pair of shoes or several pairs of shoes. And I decided when I was younger that I wanted to be able to declare I have money in the bank.
BILL MOYERS: We found Karissa working for a hospital in the large Aurora chain. It’s one of the hugegest employers in the region in one of the hugegest economic growth sectors, health care. She has an associate’s degree and also recently took courses to obtain certified as a professional insurance coder.
KARISSA NEUMANN: I do the physician billing. So all the physician services, I do those.
BILL MOYERS: She earns about $15 an hour plus benefits. She supports herself and her husband, Anthony LeFebvre. He has an associate’s degree, but like so many others, is currently unemployed. He’s attempting to start his own computer consulting business. Becautilize they don’t earn enough to have a home of their own, they live with Anthony’s relatives.
ANTHONY LeFEBVRE: There’s a lot of people in the same boat as we are. My uncle down in Florida, he was in the real estate, selling million-dollar condos. I don’t consider he’s doing too well.
KARISSA NEUMANN: No. I mean, he even lost the houtilize he was living in. Drive around any neighborhood and see how many people are living in the houtilizes to attempt to assist support each other. There’s a lot of vacant houtilizes. You know, a lot of people lost their houtilizes, you know, my mom being one of them.
BILL MOYERS: We inquireed Terry to take us back to her old houtilize.
TERRY NEUMANN: So this is it.
BILL MOYERS: The people living there invited us in.
KHOU HANG: We recently just obtained this place and— in early September, and so we just obtained it resolveed up. It still— we still necessary a lot of repairs.
BILL MOYERS: Khou Hang and Lu Lao bought Terry’s houtilize in a foreclosure sale for about $38,000.
TERRY NEUMANN: Can I take a view around?
LU LAO: Go right ahead.
TERRY NEUMANN: This was my room. And this was my spare room. And this is where my grandkids would sleep when they’d come to visit me. And then this was the other room that my granddaughter would stay in when she would come visit me.
BILL MOYERS: Jackie Stanley, serious about her community role as the pastor’s wife, tries to remain upbeat.
JACKIE STANLEY: Everything’s free, my dear!
BILL MOYERS: On this day, there was a charitable giveaway at their church.
JACKIE STANLEY: If anybody has a queen-size bed, I have a down comforter. We obtained furniture coming in just a bit.
We just went crazy. We can’t even finish obtainting rid of everything becautilize every time obtain rid of a table or two, another table comes in.
Don’t be standing around viewing. You better grab. Take this stuff!
BILL MOYERS: We went along to one of her volunteer projects, a drug and alcohol recovery group. The woman who had once notified us you have to “fake it until you build it” was still spreading that gospel.
JACKIE STANLEY: And I’m going to reveal you the 45-degree angle walk. And women, I want you to hear this. Do not walk with your butt! When you want to be successful, when you step out— and don’t do those timid walks. That means— you know, it’s, like, whichever way the wind — No! I have somewhere to go. My name is J. Renee. You see that?
BILL MOYERS: We also went to school with her. She’s taking classes to obtain back into the real estate game.
JACKIE STANLEY: And I know I’m good. I can walk out here and I guarantee an Eskimo would acquire some ice, even if I brought it out of my refrigerator. They’re going to acquire it.
BILL MOYERS: But the private Jackie was less self-assured.
[on camera] Do you feel like a failure today?
JACKIE STANLEY: Yes.
BILL MOYERS: Claude, do you consider she’s a failure?
CLAUDE STANLEY: No. She’s not a failure.
JACKIE STANLEY: He’ll always declare that.
CLAUDE STANLEY: You’re not a failure. You know, in this day and age, you raise five kids, that’s success — obtain jobs and build their own decisions.
JACKIE STANLEY: But even the Bible declares leave heirs. You obtained to— you must leave something. You know—
BILL MOYERS: Do you consider your children feel that you’re a failure?
JACKIE STANLEY: I don’t consider my children— I consider they love me enough not to notify me if they did feel it.
BILL MOYERS: [voice-over] The Stanley kids are all grown up now. The oldest, Nicole, is in Virginia, working for a county clerk’s office. The youngest daughter, Omega, a single mother of a 10-year old, recently lost her job at a Milwaukee call center and is viewing for another.
INTERVIEWER: How much money would you like to build when you grow up?
CLAUDE STANLEY, Jr.: Probably about a hundred million, something like that.
BILL MOYERS: One of the twins, Claude, is also viewing for work.
KLAUDALE STANLEY: That builds me want to do more, a lot more.
BILL MOYERS: The other, Klaudale, left the Navy in 2011 and came back to Milwaukee to view for a job. But he found that opportunities were better elsewhere. He obtained a job with a private contractor in Afghanistan.
[on camera] What does it declare to you that he can build more money employed by a military contractor in Afghanistan than he can build here at home in Milwaukee?
CLAUDE STANLEY: It declares something.
JACKIE STANLEY: It’s sad.
CLAUDE STANLEY: Yeah. You’ve obtained to run out of this counattempt to go somewhere to build some more money. That’s— that’s crazy. And we’re supposed to be the richest counattempt? That ain’t— that ain’t— that don’t sound too good, Bill.
BILL MOYERS: [voice-over] We went to Milwaukee’s city hall to find the family’s one college graduate. Keith Stanley earns about $45,000 a year as an assistant to the Common Council president, Alderman Willie Hines.
WILLIE HINES, Milwaukee Alderman: He’s been on staff now about a year-and-a-half or two or so. And he’s highly respected. He’s a man of integrity.
BILL MOYERS: Hines’s district is in Milwaukee’s Central City, near where Keith grew up.
KEITH STANLEY: Neil, how’s that thing going? How’s it been going with you?
BILL MOYERS: Despite government and private efforts to bring jobs back here, Milwaukee’s jobless rate among African-American men hovers at around 50 percent.
KEITH STANLEY: [on the phone] Anyway, if you can, give me a call. This is Keith Stanley with Alderman Willie Hines’s office.
We do obtain the calls about jobs. They’re viewing for a job. “I necessary a job.” Sometimes it’s difficult to have that conversation with them becautilize I myself, I’m in no position to offer a job. And my boss— we— that’s just— we’re policy buildrs. My heart goes out to them becautilize I know I can share that same story with them. I can understand their pain.
Now, they may not want to hear that. A lot of times, you know, “Oh, you’re working at the City and you don’t understand.” I obtain lots of those, and I can stop and declare, “No, I definitely understand.” You know, I definitely understand dealing with struggle when, you know, your parents just don’t have enough.
My parents spent a lot of time and energy in us and creating us who we are. You know, there are people that view like me, that live where I live, and who are now dealing with situations and struggles that I have never have seen. I’ve never seen the inside of a jail. I can’t notify you what a gun views like. I don’t know what drugs or even alcohol views like. And I have to give all that credit to my dad along with my mom. And they put the fear of God in us. You know, you have to work hard. You have to view people in the eye.
BILL MOYERS: [on camera] Tell me about Keith.
JACKIE STANLEY: He’s gone far. He’s beyond our expectations. But Keith has notified me a lot of times, “Mom, I don’t want to be like you and Dad.
BILL MOYERS: Meaning?
JACKIE STANLEY: Bill, when it’s time to eat, they want to eat. They don’t want to do like Dad and I and start, you know, declareing— creating excutilizes why you’re not hungry.
We’re going to keep filling the racks. Go by color, not by size.
KEITH STANLEY: I’m inspired by my parents, but that’s also created me build a lot of tough decisions where I declare, “I’m not going to build those decisions becautilize I don’t want that to affect my life.”
CLAUDE STANLEY: Look for the blue or view for the brown.
BILL MOYERS: One of the decisions Keith has created is to hold off on obtainting married and having kids.
KEITH STANLEY: I want to build sure I can control my destiny, and that’s including not having children at a certain age. I would love to declare I want to bring in a child in the world, but until I have myself toobtainher, I’m confident and believe that I have myself toobtainher— and people declare there’s no perfect time to have a kid. I know that, but there’s been too many struggles I saw.
And for me, it’s like, “Can I build that sacrifice?” And if I do, I— man, they— maybe— maybe one kid. Maybe a dog right now. That’s why I obtained Spike, so that’s it!
BILL MOYERS: Knowing what growing up without money is like, Keith takes extra jobs to build sure he’s never in the same resolve. He’s a landlord, collecting rents on this building he bought just up the street from his parents’ storefront church. He also works nights and weekconcludes as a videographer—
KEITH STANLEY: You can kind of restate the question in the answer—
BILL MOYERS: —shooting and editing public and private events. And he does have a young person to care for.
KEITH STANLEY: This huge guy is my nephew, Kevin Joy.
BILL MOYERS: Kevin is the son of Keith’s older sister, Nicole. She sent Kevin from Virginia to Milwaukee with the hope of giving him a strong male role model.
KEITH STANLEY: He’s obtained a client. He’s been cutting the grass, watering the grass. It’s kind of amazing to see. We’ve obtained a whole ‘nother generation from just 20 years ago, when I was doing this and we had a business and we were cutting grass. So it’s kind of passing on those values, that same work ethic, creating sure that he can obtain to work on time. He can take authority and he can— time management, that type of thing. “K.J., now, you know that’s— you know, you could be done with that by now.”
INTERVIEWER: But you do want to be a dad some day?
KEITH STANLEY: I consider so. I consider so. I consider Kevin has given me a little light. Well, Kevin can— we’re not going to water. Yeah, we’re going to attempt to cut the grass. Don’t water it. Yeah, attempt to pull it. Get the lawn— I can assist you out. Put a lawn mower out.
So Kevin has given me a little light to declare maybe I can pour what little wisdom, what little nugobtains I have. There’s not much there, but what I do have can put onto the next generation and declare, “Listen, this is what it takes to survive.”
BILL MOYERS: [on camera] So Kevin, now it’s your turn, right? You’re how old?
KEVIN JOY, Keith’s Nephew: I’m 16.
BILL MOYERS: And what are your ambitions? What do you want to do with yourself?
KEVIN JOY: There’s nothing else I want to do but go to college.
BILL MOYERS: And what have you learned about your grandparents?
KEVIN JOY: Man, they’re just resilient. I mean, they’re the people that you view at, and you can— you can keep hitting them, knocking them down, breaking them to pieces, ripping them apart, burn ‘em, but they’ll still— they’ll still be there. They’re kind of indestructible.
CLAUDE STANLEY: [preaching] Sometimes, you’re going to go through some things to obtain where you’re attempting to go. Do all that you can, but still praise God.
BILL MOYERS: How much has your faith been an anchor for you during this difficult time?
CLAUDE STANLEY: Oh, that’s a huge anchor. That’s what obtains me up in the morning, Bill. That’s what keeps me going. I believe that something’s going to happen.
BILL MOYERS: But you’ve had so many setbacks since I first met you.
CLAUDE STANLEY: That’s true.
BILL MOYERS: You were fighting hard after you lost those good-paying jobs.
CLAUDE STANLEY: That’s right.
BILL MOYERS: And you’ve been fighting ever since, and yet you still—
CLAUDE STANLEY: Still, Bill, still— praise the Lord, I still believe there’s something for us.
JACKIE STANLEY: And I would interject at declareing, what else? We have no other choice.
BILL MOYERS: [voice-over] In early 2013, yet another American president set lofty goals for restoring the middle class.
Pres. BARACK OBAMA: We believe that America’s prosperity must rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle class. When the wages of honest labor liberate families from the brink of hardship, our purpose concludeures, a nation that rewards the effort and determination of every single American!
BILL MOYERS: [on camera] What you’ve lost— your home, your husband, a livable, decent income— people declare to me, “How does she keep going? Where does she obtain that spirit? How does she do it?”
TERRY NEUMANN: My grandfather always stated when I was 14, you never let the devil win. Never let the devil win. I’m still determined. You know, I’m not going to give up.
BILL MOYERS: You consider you’ll ever be financially secure?
TERRY NEUMANN: The way the economy is going, no, I don’t consider anybody is going to be financially secure, truthfully.
BILL MOYERS: And you’re not even—
TERRY NEUMANN: And we’ll just work until we collapse and keel over and die.
BILL MOYERS: [voice-over] There’s a postscript to Terry Neumann’s story. She finally found herself a new full-time job, at a nursing home. She works the overnight shift, 11:00 PM until 7:00 in the morning. She earns $11.50 an hour plus benefits.
It’s not enough, she declares, to ever consider about acquireing another houtilize of her own. Her hope now is someday to acquire herself a spot in a trailer park.
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