He spoke of 16.4 million children in the USA living in poverty and how the wealthiest 20 percent of Americans take home half of all income while the poorest 20 percent earn almost none. He noted that the nation’s income disparity is at an all-time high, rivaling that of countries such as Tunisia, Sri Lanka and Morocco.
“This is a land of opportunity,” said Cruz, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Cal State Fullerton. “We say to ourselves and to the rest the world that regardless of your socio-economic background, ethnicity and your race, if you work hard and you play by the rules, you will make it. It’s also part of our national narrative that if parents work hard, and they save, and they instill the right values in their children, this will ensure that their children are better off than they were.
