Opportunity 101: What Affects Access?

Poverty is not an event with a specific cure so much as the end result of a "cascading process," says David Harris. "It is a process where any type of disadvantage makes one vulnerable to more disadvantages. That increased vulnerability reduces the probability that any single solution, however effective, will make an overall difference in a disadvantaged person's life."

The solution, he says, is to figure out how to reduce vulnerability to prevent disadvantages from cumulating. That means understanding the dynamics of poverty. Harris's seminar, and the three others that will follow, are meant to inform people who are interested in making a difference in the country's efforts to reconcile its racial and economic disparities

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