Race and Class: What About the Working Poor?
— Malik Miah
ONE STRIKING FEATURE of political debate in the country today is that — while every commentator, pundit and political observer talks about and focuses on the concerns of the super-rich and the middle class — few ever talk about the plight of the disadvantaged, those on food stamps and welfare and particularly the working poor.
Most welfare recipients, unemployed, underemployed and working poor don’t vote in large numbers. They’re trying to survive day by day. The civil rights groups once based “The Movement” on winning equality and helping the working poor. That changed as the old leaders became more integrated into mainstream politics and business.
Today these organizations’ primary base is the “middle class” — those losing homes to foreclosures and jobs to outsourcing overseas — and their solution to problems is electoral, not extralegal actions. When actions are oganized it is to advance the electoral agenda of the Democratic Party.
This is in contrast to the major marches on Washington in the 1960s, which demanded that the institutions of the government — the White House, Congress and courts — take action. Then the party in power was a secondary consideration.
The poor, who are disproportionately Black and Latino, don’t have representatives in elected office or leaders holding their banner. Not surprisingly, not much is done for the voiceless ones. There are fewer voices speaking up for them, as the civil rights leadership like the trade union officialdom act as partners with the Democratic Party.
This is more so than ever under the first African American president. When a community group like ACORN that aggressively defends the poor comes under attack, it has few allies in the civil rights or labor movements. Or worse, it is thrown under the bus. The NAACP accepted a racist smear campaign by the far right against longtime rural activist Shirley Sherrod before hearing her side of the story.
ACORN never had the opportunity to defend itself. The Obama administration and liberal elected officials still have not apologized for their dirty complicity in the destruction of ACORN.
Most welfare recipients, unemployed, underemployed and working poor don’t vote in large numbers. They’re trying to survive day by day. The civil rights groups once based “The Movement” on winning equality and helping the working poor. That changed as the old leaders became more integrated into mainstream politics and business.
Today these organizations’ primary base is the “middle class” — those losing homes to foreclosures and jobs to outsourcing overseas — and their solution to problems is electoral, not extralegal actions. When actions are oganized it is to advance the electoral agenda of the Democratic Party.
This is in contrast to the major marches on Washington in the 1960s, which demanded that the institutions of the government — the White House, Congress and courts — take action. Then the party in power was a secondary consideration.
The poor, who are disproportionately Black and Latino, don’t have representatives in elected office or leaders holding their banner. Not surprisingly, not much is done for the voiceless ones. There are fewer voices speaking up for them, as the civil rights leadership like the trade union officialdom act as partners with the Democratic Party.
This is more so than ever under the first African American president. When a community group like ACORN that aggressively defends the poor comes under attack, it has few allies in the civil rights or labor movements. Or worse, it is thrown under the bus. The NAACP accepted a racist smear campaign by the far right against longtime rural activist Shirley Sherrod before hearing her side of the story.
ACORN never had the opportunity to defend itself. The Obama administration and liberal elected officials still have not apologized for their dirty complicity in the destruction of ACORN.
No comments:
Post a Comment