By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia
In an exclusive telephone conference with the Black Press of America, the Rev. Dr. William Barber and his Poor People’s Campaign Co-Chair, Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharris, said America has a moral crisis.
“Democrats run from poverty and Republicans racialize poverty,” Dr. Barber stated during the more than one-hour discussion.
“We have invited both sides of the political fence. We’ve invited the White House to come and talk with us. They’ve refused,” stated Dr. Barber, the founder of Repairers of the Breach, a national leadership development organization, which expands upon his Moral Monday movement.
“This administration has been virtually silent on the issue of poverty. The president talked about unemployment being down, but underemployment is up. The number of people that have dropped out of the workforce is up,” said Dr. Barber, who, along with Dr. Theoharris, and others launched the Poor People’s Campaign, spearheaded initially by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The Campaign conducted what it said was a 50-year audit of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, and the war economy in the U.S.
They said the findings have already helped to inform and build state and local, nonpartisan fusion movements that are committed to challenging laws and policies that are antithetical to the broad tenets of social justice.
Dr. Barbara and Theoharris, who is a pastor from New York, pointed to figures that show 140 million poor and low-wealth people live in the United States – from every race, creed, sexuality, and place.
“We aim to make sure these individuals are no longer ignored, dismissed, or pushed to the margins of our political and social agenda,” Dr. Theoharris stated.
With 2020 counting as a pivotal election year, Dr. Barber said voter suppression laws in many states have only contributed to poverty.
The Poor People’s Campaign has noted that, since 2010, 23 states have passed racist voter suppression laws, including racist gerrymandering and redistricting statutes that make it harder to register.
Because of this, early voting days and hours have reduced, officials have purged voter rolls, and there have been more restrictive voter ID laws.
Following the Shelby County v. Holder Supreme Court case, which gutted key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, 14 states had new voting restrictions in place before the 2016 Presidential election, and there were 868 fewer polling places across the country, according to the Campaign.
While these laws have disproportionately targeted Black people, at least 17 states saw voter suppression cases targeting American Indian and Alaskan Native voters in 2016, Dr. Barber stated.
“Thirteen states that passed voter suppression laws also opted not to accept expanded Medicaid benefits offered under the Affordable Care Act,” he added.
“These attacks follow a broader pattern of restricting and curtailing democratic processes by drawing on legacies of racism to undermine local efforts to organize for better conditions,” Dr. Barber stated.
As of July 2017, 25 states have passed laws that preempt cities from adopting their own local minimum wage laws. Most of these are in response to city councils passing or wanting to pass minimum wage increases.
“We found that people can work a minimum wage job and can’t afford a two-bedroom apartment,” Dr. Barber said. “We found out that there are 2 million people who work every day for less than the living wage. Some of them live in their cars, and they go to work every day.”
The Poor People’s Campaign is organizing the Poor People’s Assembly and Moral March on Washington, June 20th, during which Dr. Barber said they would rise as “a powerful moral fusion movement to demand the implementation of our moral agenda.”
Dr. Barber said some of those living in poverty would attend and speak for themselves. He stated that it was essential to know that poverty comes in “all colors” and that it’s more than just African Americans who are struggling.
Also, Dr. Barber noted that 6.1 million people had been disenfranchised because of felony convictions, including one in 13 Black adults.
During the call, Dr. Barber continued to lash out at the current administration’s controversial immigration policies. The Poor People’s Campaign has found that undocumented immigrants contributed $5 trillion to the U.S. economy over the last ten years.
They paid $13 billion in Social Security in 2010, but only received $1 billion in benefits.
They also pay eight percent of their income in state and local taxes, while the wealthiest one percent pay just 5.4 percent. Yet undocumented immigrants and most lawfully residing immigrants are barred from receiving assistance under the major public welfare programs, causing hardship for many poor immigrant families.
In fact, among the 43.7 million immigrants in the U.S., there are 19.7 million – undocumented and lawfully residing – who cannot vote, Dr. Barber noted.
“So, we have to understand the history of systemic racism. And we have to see how systemic racism is impacting not just people of color, but also white people today,” Dr. Barber stated.
(Follow Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire senior correspondent, @StacyBrownMedia.)
