“many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.” This is the concept that the GOP is fighting so hard to obfuscate for the Republican voter. If enough people understand this it will destroy the GOP. The GOP have no idea how to solve America’s problems, they are stuck in the last century.
Their base is aging out of the electorate and soon there will not be enough Republican voters to support them.
I am a white woman in my 70's, I have followed and supported MLK and my POC friends since I was 9. I am sick with disgust at the GOP and their friends, the white supremacists and yes, the (KKK is still active). Trying to drag us back to before POC & women could vote (and you could tie that to abortion rights where white men control women). I will never give up the fight!
I'm an 'old' white - man (Scottish/Brittish heritage) - and grew up in the midwest in a household that held (back then = 50's to 80's) very repuGlican attitudes and racism. At one time my parents were for George Wallace for Pres ~ (wha ?). I came to 'see the light' when the family moved to the west coast (Seattle) in the late 60's and we became 'acquainted' with a plethora of - POC and religious peoples. I make friends by - personality traits, NOT skin color & have made friends all across the - spectrum !
So, Kathryn, I totally agree with what you said above. I also think MLK was the TRUE
"very stable genius'! and a brilliant speaker (no matter what his personal foibles might hvae been or happened to be).
Ms Kathryne, thank you for your continued vigilance and service. I'm of similar age and wonder if you might share with the rest of us what things you have done and/or are doing to engage with the fight? I'm looking for suggestions of ways to engage if you have any.
I protest at republicans offices. From Pennsylvania, so my target has/is Scott Perry and anything Maga. I write postcards for democrats. I support dems in all states by donating. I am on SS so my contributions are small but I give what I can. I join groups to decide what or who to target/support. My health has been a problem lately but I make sure I read the Post, Times, and join groups such as this one . I am very vocal and relentless.
Pat, getting the poorer and disenfranchised folks to fight among themselves has been the strategy for centuries to keep the have nots from demanding a check for their rights from being paid by the haves. If the "poor" can be blamed for all sorts of crimes and for fighting other poor people, you even get a workforce which our Constitution permits. It's a win-win for the rich empowered. Dr. King and the others 60 years ago tried to point this out, but the media found other things to focus on, the things that even rich folks could use as sound bites to make them seem like uniters rather than the dividers they actually are. It is rather amusing and ridiculous to hear Republicans quoting MLK as they work to take away people's rights to vote, to bodily autonomy, to compete in the world where we have permitted monopolistic corporations to rule.
The tactic — “Distract them from what you’re doing, and get them to fight among themselves” - has been a winning strategy, as you say, and has been probably for millennia.
Once one establishes resentment among and between disparate groups, it’s very difficult to extinguish that. Much easier, then, to manipulate the antagonisms. This is a sad bit of human and group psychology.
Works in labor disputes as well. Get a wedge between union members to fight amongst themselves, and they forget that they’re fighting against the corporation.
Eileen, I saw that when I was young. My dad was in a good union, but still little lies were planted among workers that some other companies were paying less, so their union couldn't expect any better than what their company was offering (which was never a truly fair amount and that was a good union). Fortunately, their union leadership didn't buy it and instead of caving, they went after the other ununionized companies and got many of them to join. We need leadership like that to stand against the Wall Street liars and cheaters who are only out for themselves. We know a majority of people in this nation want to do something to curb their power, but we need a leader who has nothing to lose if they stand in opposition to the super rich.
Pat ; Yes ; poverty and the culture wars, while they pay their criminal lawyers and political hacks to raid our treasury and keep us from having rights, like medical care and housing, and even a vote that is counted!
MMMM, just cannot put “like” on that, but can totally agree!!
It’s what we’re up against, those of us of modest means but not struggling hand-to-mouth {at least, not at the moment}. If we can spare a moment to care about the world beyond our doorstep, and about people we may never meet — can we pull the fat out of the fire one more time? For all of us?
@ Cyrano. Don't be fooled by media impressions. Republicans, the "right" in general, small town church attendance, small town populations, and the number of young people without college are all declining. The country is getting bluer and bluer.
Benjamin ; Even some small town church goers are getting bluer. Non college people, young and old are getting blue. Who wouldn't have the 'blues' now, with what is going on?
You do on dumptys media hype. You see a narrow shot of young folks and the two black people, with the majority white haired folks relegated out of the shot.
I am suspicious that he pays them (with OPM) to be there.
Janet, yes, hatred can fill in for a lot of emotions the scared white people choose not to express. Loving one's neighbor is hard and loving one's enemies, impossible for them. The kids pick it up early and with nothing to counter their parents' world view, even their churches, they become clones of the adults until some of those clones want something better. Hatred, in my experience, does not sustain and has to be fed all the time. Right now, Fox et al are doing a pretty good job of feeding the hatred, but then what? When one's job doesn't pay enough, hatred doesn't get one a better job and as long as the haters keep putting fools in office who hate better than they do, their lives will never improve.
It's not the Republicans whose policies incarcerated more black males than any previous policy, that was Joe Biden. Democrats are now the part of the perpetual war and militarism that Dr King spoke so boldly against, and Biden's addition of 100,000 police officers to a militarized and brutal force is not exactly what Dr King was striving for. Democrats espouse the opposite of Dr King's vision, which is why I will vote for Dr Cornel West. Don't worry, I would never ever share in the shame and guilt of voting for Biden or Trump.
The best post this year, Professor Reich. I remember the March on Washington, Dr, King's inspirational speech, his voice ringing across the Nation, I was already engaged in the Civil Rights movement, getting out the vote, registering voters, marching, and anything I could do. I remember the pride and elation we felt when the Voting Right Act passed. When all my fellow students could be accepted as Americans. Then came the Vietnam War Protests. We tried to stay involved in both but as the war raged and male students would disappear from classes, protesting the war seemed more important than what we thought we'd already won. I've often wondered if Johnson and Nixon increased the war to hold back the Civil Rights wins. The damned war was illegitimate as much as the Iraqi War. Our own government lied to us and the press in both wars. But the bleating sheep always listened and insisted it was their patriotic duty to fight wars - legitimate or shameful. Now I worry about my dark skinned, beautiful granddaughter and her delightful family. We should have kept on fighting for civil rights and never stopped.
Yes, and of course Dr. King eventually took a strong stand against that war, and people accused him of being out of his lane. He could see that our lives are bound up with other humans everywhere, and after receiving the Nobel Prize for peace, he recommended Thich Nhat Hanh, the Buddhist monk in Vietnam who never took sides, for that same prize. The monk never received that award, but he lived until last year, which was a lot longer than Dr. King was granted.
ProgWoman, I was very concerned back in 1966 and 67 when Dr. King took his stand against what was from beginning to end a racist war. I admired him for doing it and found white leaderships protests that Dr. King was out of his sphere ridiculous, but they were worried if protests became strong, Black people would refuse the draft, and they were drafted at high rates. Rich white men wanted the war because it made them rich and they and their family members rarely had to fight, and if they did, they were heroes. Dr. King was murdered before he could really get going with the anti-war protesting. President Johnson, though saw the "writing on the wall" and started peace talks which Nixon promptly sabotaged and we ended up fighting, killing, and dying in Vietnam for another 4 and a half years on the ground and 2 more years before we were driven out. A lot of lives in all sides were lost and wrecked because Nixon needed power.
Absolutely. And you have to wonder about the pent-up rage that resulted in the destruction after King's assassination of Black neighborhoods where much of the property was in the hands of white owners. It was years before many of them recovered.
If the great Dr. King had lived in the current times now, i wonder how he would have reacted to Donald TUMP? In my opinion, i believe Dr. King could have silenced TUMP and would have the courage to stand up to him much better that what the current leadership have done.
Soon after the march, most civil rights laws were passed. Many supporters at that time were northern Republicans. In the late 60's the Nixon administration used civil rights to split the FDR Democratic coalition. The white people at the top take advantage of a cultural means to reach their economic ends.
MAGATs are oblivious to this fact and 90% vote against their own economic and physical well being.
Thank you for your informative and useful reply. The last sentence in your reply made me think of a comment i read by a member on the ''Daily KOS'' website when i was a regular member on that site, the guy that made the comment said, '' I have a friend that is a huge MAGA wingnut, and i told him TUMP and the Fascist Rethugs are wanting to take your Social Security away from you, and you still worship these people? and his MAGA nut friend replied, '' if they take it away, i will just move into a homeless shelter'' that is a prime example of a MAGA wingnut voting against his own economic and physical well being. To me, that is bordering on someone that is so entrenched in a cult personality that they can't even think for themselves. These people are like the Jim Jones cult, but on a much larger scale. It is very alarming that there are so many of them here in America.. This kind of thing is especially prevalent here in the South. I would estimate that over half the people here in Georgia are like that. I live in Northwest GA, one county down from Maggot Traitor Goon's district and that's how that tramp got elected so easily, her district is loaded down with MAGA nuts. My House Rep. , Drew Ferguson is a MAGA too, and is not much better than Maggot Traitor Goon. I told him off in an email about 2 years ago. Our 2 Senators are great though, Raphael Warnock and John Ossoff, those 2 are dedicated Democrats, thank goodness!!
I was 12 years old when I saw that speech on TV. It gave me so much hope. I was a little white girl, but I had no voice. We were to be seen, not heard. We could only dream of becoming someone’s wife. We were not allowed to have any dreams for ourselves. I was 30 years old before I used the would I. Prior it was always we because I could only think in terms of what would benefit my husband or children. It was tyranny and it was awful. I believe the civil rights movement allowed me to slowly break free from JaneCrow stereotypical expectations and develop who I really am. I had to deal with sexism. Your beautiful granddaughter has to deal with sexism and racism, but with a grandparent like you she is well protected and seen. You will teach her that as long as she knows who she is, no one can make her feel bad about herself. She is lucky to have you.
@Gloria. Yes, Nixon took the counter-lesson from Eisenhower's warning about the Military-Industrial Complex. What a great profit-making opportunity! Sad to say both were right...
"I look forward to the day when my children will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character". Those words resonate with me. I was young when Martin Luther King made that speech. I watched it on television. I also watched what happened at the Selma Street Bridge. When our school was integrated, I remember moms of my friends with signs standing along the bus route that brought the first black students to our school. I couldn't understand the anger and hatred that was palpable in the air. We lived in a small wood frame house close to the "quarters" where the blacks of our towns lived. I learned that it was called the "quarters" from back in the slave days. I had many black friends and played at their houses and they played at mine. My mother was ahead of her time as far as being "liberal"! She was so wise. She explained to me that people were scared of change and that what was happening was a big change. As I grew older and learned more, I understood what so many black Americans have to endure every single day of their lives. The unfairness and just plain hate makes my skin crawl. At this point in my life, I can relate with the struggles that Black people have endured for so long. I struggle constantly to make ends meet living on a very fixed income. But there is hope in my soul because I know that if all of us stagnating down here on the bottom rungs of the ladder came together and began to fight for the America that Martin Luther King, John Lewis, John F. Kennedy, Harvey Milk, Gloria Steinem, Shirley Chisholm, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and so many others spoke so eloquently and powerfully about, you would see the America that stands around the world as a beacon of freedom, equality and acceptance for everyone.
Peggy--Until every person living in this country enjoys the same rights and freedoms, our lives and this country will stay divided. We are a people in need of equality and until we find a way to make that happen social unity will be a dream not a reality.
"Meanwhile, white people at or near the top have gained so much wealth they’ve been able to effectively secede from the rest of America into wealthy enclaves. They don’t any longer see the struggles of the bottom half. Being rich in America today means not coming across anyone who isn’t."
I remember growing up in the 50's/60's in a small town in western PA where doctors, lawyers, and millworkers all lived in the same neighborhood, which was all white. Now, the wealthy white people have moved into "gated communities", but many lower class neighborhoods have become more integrated, at least slightly.
I think the suburban, car-driven landscape of America has done a lot to socially disintegrate America. Your observation is right on.
I was ten when Martin Luther King led the March on Washington. My dad was in the Air Force so we had lived in quite a few different places by then.
When I was seven we lived in Montgomery Alabama. It was there that I got an education on the bigotry in the south. My school was being integrated. Because of that our school had frequent bomb scares. The alarm would go off and we would line up single file and stand in line outside while the police, the bomb squad and their dogs searched the school for bombs.
I remember a black girl in the third grade across from our second grade class. She was wearing a white dress and white shoes, we looked at each other and shyly smiled at each other. I remember looking at that shy girl in her pretty dress and I couldn’t imagine how she must have felt knowing that there were people who threatened to bomb our school because she was in it. I felt so ashamed.
So I was very interested in what Martin Luther King had to say. I felt hope seeing all those people standing up for what our founding fathers said, that all men were created equal.
And yet....sixty years later we still have politicians who are creating laws to stifle the right to vote for people who don’t have the right shade of flesh.
We have right wing Christian Nationalists who if Jesus walked in the registrars office to register to vote they would find a way to block him because his skin is suspiciously dark and rumor has it, he’s Jewish.
When I was ten I had hope that bigotry would end. When Obama was elected I felt proud. I thought things were finally starting to change.
And then came trump. Now all hell has broken loose. There is more bigotry and hate than ever. Or maybe his foul mouth has emboldened other bigots to spout off. He has brought out the worst of people and people in power are afraid of him. He’s running for president again when clearly he is ineligible as per Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment. And nobody is stopping him.
It’s clear to me I won’t see the end of the bigotry that mocks our Constitution in my lifetime. I will still demand it from my friends associates and the people who represent me but so far the Dream is still just a dream.
Actually, TUMP is running to be Dictator, there is no two ways about it. He is ineligible to run according to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. But i am wondering now who is going to enforce that? It seems to me that the authorities are reluctant to even put him in jail after the Judge told him to not to be posting threats and calling the judges names and spouting other hateful remarks about the DA and tampering with witnesses. They hint they are afraid violence is going to break out if he is jailed, that is a poor excuse in my opinion. If these MAGA goons start ANY kind of violence, they should be stopped by force like they did the BLM thing where they used very unnecessary force on innocent victims and should be arrested, indicted and sent to prison where these MAGA goons belong. I hate and despise Donald TUMP more than anything in my 68 years of existence. Him and Adolf Hitler are the worst two human beings that have ever existed in the past 200 years. Those 2 are horrible freaks of nature.
I agree with you 100% John. Trump is the epitome of evil like his predecessor Adolf Hitler. I also hate and despise this beast. No human being with a conscience would act the way he does. It’s
sad that people can’t see that he is professional con and should be in jail now.
@John T. Secretaries of State have processes whereby candidates are confirmed able to run for offices, including federal offices, within that particular State. The way the Electoral College works it will only require a few Secretaries of State to respect and enforce the 14th. In fact, if only Georgia disqualified Trump he would have a hard time putting together 270 Electoral votes to win.
States can enforce it and the federal government. But it’s a wait and see game. trumpet 🎺 will point to his piles of money and will claim success based upon his wealth he charges $35 for a booking photo of himself with an Emoji Orange face 😡. From a dollar and cents reference point
When you were growing up in Beaver Falls, a Black man, Tookie James, was the assistant D,A. in Beaver County. He was a Republican. In those days, most Pennsylvania Republicans supported civil rights.
These days, there are virtually no Pa Republicans who support civil rights.
What happened to us was the effectuation of the southern strategy. Beaver County. once reliably Democrat, is now a hotbed of MAGATs.
Yep. I remember when JFK came to BF in 1960. Big crowds, union town, Dems were the power. Great family friend Ronnie Lench was assistant DA in Beaver County. https://archives.house.state.pa.us/people/member-biography?ID=1433. Things took a turn for the worse when Georgie Wallace showed up in Pennsyltucky in '68 and got a lot of support. The Rust Belt, like many other victimized places of global capitalism, has indeed been fertile ground for bloodthirsty nationalist fascism.
He was before my time. My dad was DA in Lawrence County. The Republicans imposed integration, busing, affirmative action to piss off the workers. After Reagan was elected, Gene Atkinson, many others in Beaver switched parties.
It all went to hell by the early 70's. Plant closings, boarded up shop windows, depopulated towns. All a part of the American Dream, boom and bust, moving on. Climate change will be the next big thing.
Susan, I suspect there are not any more racists and misogynists percentage wise than before President Obama was elected, they have just found their community again and are doing their best to reconnect over the hatred such racists and misogynists have been cooking in their souls for their whole lives. They learned from their racist misogynistic families just what to think (if they think at all), to say, and to do to get the most out of their anti-social behavior. The media love it because they already know hatred can fan violence, a mainstay for them. Social media lets them seem larger and more powerful than they are. ?They are able to get their boys and girls elected (child-men and child-women) because our districts have been permitted to be gerrymandered by our courts which should be standing against the racism and misogyny, but have joined it instead.
I heartily agree with most everything Robert laid out.... EXCEPT this paragraph: "The average income of Black households, after growing through the 1960s and 1970s, seemed to hit a ceiling. It is now around 65 percent of that of white households, where it’s been for some 40 years." The way this reads, it sounds like Black households are being deliberately targeted to stagnate their incomes. But in that same 40 years, the wages of blue collar workers -- and many lower echelon white collar workers as well, have had their wages stagnating (when adjusted for inflation).. That is, pretty much below Wealthy have about same buying power that they had 40 years ago.
I was fortunate to attend college when it was actually affordable. (1970-75) Tuition was less than $300 per semester. These days, the only way most students can "afford" to attend college is to bury themselves in debt that will take _decades_ to pay off. With few assurances that their degree **will** land them a better-paying job. In this regard, "getting a better Education" has been stripped away from most anyone that is NOT Wealthy.
Looking back over the years, and comparing them to NOW, superficially is seems like We are doing better than We were doing 20-30-40 years ago. Now We have computers, game consoles, cell phones, cable-TV, nicer cars that aren't all rusted out, longer life expectancy, and rarely do most of Us ever have to go to bed hungry because rent was due and Mom had to skimp on the groceries. But it's an illusion, a deliberate one, made to make Us complacent and less likely to start building barricades. (The old political phrase is "bread and circuses". Keep Us entertained and fewer people will turn out for the protests. So _some_ things ARE cheap. But the things that matter? Robert mentioned the difference in household savings between Blacks and Whites. But what he didn't mention is just how much debt those households are simultaneously carrying. Theoretically, 67.4% of households occupy their own homes. But when you factor in the mortgages they're still paying off..... Added to the debt for Higher Education. And if there is a major Medical catastrophe... The #1 reason for declaring bankruptcy is because of major Medical bills from traumatic injuries or lingering diseases. And remember just how many millions of Americans had their homes foreclosed during the Great Recession.
"The more things Change, the more they stay the same." Our lives have been given a nice shiny coat of paint. But underneath that paint, We still find the same old crap that has always been there. For EVERYONE who isn't Wealthy.
Dr. Reich made it very clear that the wages of lower & middle class Whites had also stagnated & their lack of progress was inextricably linked to the lack of progress for Blacks.
AND, given that they had already started far back of the mark, the effect of this Middle Class Hollowing Out and Stagnation means a larger proportion of the POC demographic remains more disenfranchised and economically stuck. They’re not alone in poverty, but they are more numerous there, which is the point. {And, because it is easier for the wealthy to relax and enjoy their riches, a great many wealthy people continue to think it’s a meritocracy…. For a scant few, it actually is something they struggled and earned, pulling themselves up from the poorer classes. But for WAY more, they walk in their parents’ footsteps, and they had a leg up from day one, not to mention the right skin color for another great many … }
Keeping those realizations clouded is a goal for those who promote racial division. Keep us arguing among ourselves and NOT seeing what truly holds us down.
Prof. Reich tells us, but most of us here already know. We need to spread his words …
We need to stop thinking about the problem in racial terms as King came to understand it. The lower classes have nearly everything in common and should be allies. The media feeds the narrative that the struggle is racial instead of a class struggle.
Precisely! This situation isn't _actually_ about race. Racism is just a tool "They" use divide We The People at the bottom of the heap. This is all about Wealth: the struggle between the Haves and the Have Nots -- and between the Have Nots because of how the Haves keep nudging Us to fight among Ourselves. And unfortunately, the Haves have THE tool that most effectively stirs up division: their money. Buy some legislators here, acquire some major Media outlets there, steer some money towards some White Supremacy groups, etc. How can We _effectively_ do battle with "Them" when ALL Our money combined -- most needed to pay the bills -- doesn't even amount to their pocket change?
"NOW, superficially is seems like We are doing better than We were doing 20-30-40 years ago. Now We have computers, game consoles, cell phones, cable-TV..." I actually think we were better off before!
I am going to say in the 1970s and 1980s the big lie was told by the oligarchs that Americans did not want jobs in convenience stores or construction jobs. And some of the big manufacturing companies they wouldn't even hire black American engineers or black American technicians. I know this for a fact because I saw it happen and I was in those industries as a woman trying to get work as a technician. Before I finish school becoming a technician I tried to get a job while I had a little baby girl at a convenience store. I passed the interview but I did not get hired because I'm an American. And the person that was the father of my child was also trying to get a job as a convenience store worker and he was a Vietnam veteran. I want people to read what I said because I want you to understand that this is not just black and white this has a lot to do with the lie that we've all been told and so many people believe that BS. It is the people who run these companies and who are managers who do this crap to all of us. It is wrong and it has to stop and if the American people don't stand up and understand about what's going on here then we will lose and that's what's happening because we're allowing ourselves to vote for these creeps.
The fear of a revolution must be felt indeed by the oligarchs. Why not acknowledge that prosperity shared is prosperity secured for all. Clinging on to power and wealth will become more difficult in the end and the solutions will become more dramatic
I don’t think the guys behind the Trump “movement” are afraid of a revolution, as long as they can foment one of race against race …. They want that, so they can abridge the current constitution and laws and usher in their military-and-police-supported oligarchy.
I once heard a man say 3 words, not sure if they were his words or someone else's, but they were so profound I haven't forgotten them, " Awareness precedes unity.". For me, his words meant learning about the suffering of others is the awareness which awakens us to our common cause. I absolutely agree Dr. Reich that unity tremendously scares the big rascals, however I would add that, therefore the necessary preceding awareness does also. They purge books, curriculums. academics, liberals, etc because they are afraid that we might identify with the suffering of each other, help one another locate the origin of it, and unite in great numbers to change it, which the big rascals' big egos perceive as the greatest threat to their power.
“One of my mother’s friends, visiting at the time, called Dr. King a ‘troublemaker.’ That was the last I ever saw of her.
“He was a troublemaker, in the sense that the late civil rights leader and Congressman John Lewis used the term: He was a maker of ‘good trouble.’”
The writer Peter Finley Dunne wrote of journalists that their job was to “comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.” I’d argue that it’s every good citizen’s job. Dr King surely saw it as his.
I take it that "a multiracial, multiethnic political coalition" means a pressure group for fairer wealth distribution. That may be a good idea, but I would suggest that the priority in the next 18 months is to save American democracy itself, given that any political force that could split the Democrat vote could also enable Trump to return to power.
Absolutely! We can dream of a better America for all and that is beautiful; however, we must approach that dream at the level we are now. We must vote. We must inform. We must fight against the encroaching fascism.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke 60 years ago and a country listened. The world was a troubled place back then and to me it has only gotten worse. Great men were being killed in threes. It was a time of mourning for hope itself lay bleeding in our streets. Have we learned anything since that period so filled with sorrow, I wonder.
I can definitely relate to this sentiment. Although I was five years old during the March on Washington, I've heard stories about it from my family and learned about it in school. It's interesting to think about how different things were back then and how far we've come since then. However, as you mentioned, it's clear that there is still much work to be done when it comes to achieving true equality and justice. It can be discouraging at times, but it's important to keep trying and pushing for change. I hope that someday we can create a society where everyone is truly valued and treated with respect.
"With wealth and power now more concentrated at the top of America than at any time in the last 60 years, the only way the bottom half can advance is if the poor and working class join together with what’s left of the middle class in a multiracial, multiethnic political coalition."
Even that will not suffice. What is needed is doing so across borders - something MLK Jr could barely hope to dream of 60 years ago, but in these days where our worlds flow around the world faster than they do across our own towns - we MAY be able to achieve...if we keep daring and dreaming.
I need my Black sisters and brothers to prosper. I need my Mexican and Canadian sisters and brothers to prosper. If we do not prosper together, an American power broker can exploit and arbitrage every opportunity that emerges - and if none do emerge here, do so with China, or Africa, or any other corner of the world anywhere. Every piece of poverty makes me poorer. Every person starving elsewhere is a chance for avarice to enslave and abuse.
Martin Luther King Jr had the right dream for the 20th century. But our 21st century dreams must build on the biggest pieces of his dreams - labor unions that cross language groups, activism that honors utterly distinct contexts - identities that stretch and expand to cover experiences.
The example of the "ladder" with too many people trying to get on at the bottom and too many of the middle rungs missing; we can see how black people and other minorities are impacted by this lack of social mobility more even than formerly middle class whites. It's truly a shame. However, social mobility is at least partially economic mobility. What we should all remember is that Corporations are the functional arms of global capitalism. Trump knows this but his base does not. What they need to realize is that every time a corporation exports a good job to a person in a low-labor-cost venue overseas, they effectively import a bad job (or no job) into one of our heartland communities. I wish the MAGA types could get enough sense to penetrate the media hype that blames it all on people coming here. Get real folks - it's not the people coming here that are taking away jobs! It's the jobs being taken away by corporations, and your favorite uncle Trump is behind the cover story that blinds his base to the reality that they are being taken to the cleaners by the same people they are voting into power!
The operative word in your post is "corporations". I can think of 2 remedies to break the power of the corporations. 1. Initiate massive trust busting worthy of the 19th century. 2. Repeal Citizens United.
My son has also suggested that all elected officials should divest themselves of all wealth above a certain level before taking office. Candidates should only be able to accept money from individuals and the amounts should be limited. Oh I almost forgot PACs should be illegal.
How about HEALTH CARE FOR ALL? This is often the reason people seek work. As we age, we fear dying in poverty, because ALL will be taken from us, no matter how wealthy! Sad commentary on a once great country!
I agree with everything said in the article. However, you make no mention of how immigration of people from other cultures legally and illegally has profoundly affected wages and job opportunities for both white and black workers.
I disagree, Marlene, it is not immigration from other cultures that affected wages. It was and remains greedy, rich, mostly white people who have stolen our wealth, destroyed unions, and are hell bent on reducing us all to the level of serfdom of the middle ages. You can believe their lies if that pacifies you. But in the long run your beliefs will destroy you. And I am ashamedly white and old.
Those greedy white people would rather pay people "under the table" cheap wages and risk employer sanctions than pay the "going" wage. There is no doubt that the use of illegal workers in say, construction, are used to reduce wages.
That is part is the problem Daniel. But look at it from the other angle. If those greedy white people were willing to reduce their obscene profits, by say 2% to 5%, they could have kept their well trained and available American workers. The dairy industry in Wisconsin has been employing - almost exclusively undocumented workers, rather than pay union wage level to skilled Americans they "let go". Why blame the poor destitute unskilled and undocumented workers escaping drug gang ridden poverty stricken countries. Decent people willing to work for subsistence wages. It is the greedy mostly white who are the main cause. We've also had an influx of equally greedy would-be aristocrats from other countries - especially in the hotel/apartment/senior living facilities, who come in, end all promised services, fire American staff and either replace with imported workers or none at all. In construction, they bring in unskilled crews to do major reconstruction with no building permits, not following local building codes, and get away with it, because the people running our State Legislatures allow it. Yes, even in California.
There is no other angle. Most employers who hire illegals are in violation of federal law and if no one objects no one will be sanctioned.
The poster boy for sanctions was Donald J. Trump, who was fined by my agency for using them on his worksites. His organization is expert in using temporary work visas to bring in workers especially from the Balkans, to displace Americans on his properties.
Nationally, Koch industries has been caught many times using them.
We have mechanisms, generally unreported by the media where foreign workers are brought to the US. I heard 22 kinds of work visa cases, and at one time I was on the BALCA board. Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/oalj/contacts/BALCA
Fay Reid ; don't be ashamed about things about which you had no choice , like your age or skin color. You were and are doing everything you can to be part of the solution.
Fay, that shame is not yours. Please let it go. Perhaps one of the worst things is that the people who should really own that shame seem incapable of feeling it.
“many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.” This is the concept that the GOP is fighting so hard to obfuscate for the Republican voter. If enough people understand this it will destroy the GOP. The GOP have no idea how to solve America’s problems, they are stuck in the last century.
Their base is aging out of the electorate and soon there will not be enough Republican voters to support them.
That will be a good day.
I am a white woman in my 70's, I have followed and supported MLK and my POC friends since I was 9. I am sick with disgust at the GOP and their friends, the white supremacists and yes, the (KKK is still active). Trying to drag us back to before POC & women could vote (and you could tie that to abortion rights where white men control women). I will never give up the fight!
I am also a white woman in my 70's. I stand with you.
As do I.
Same!
same
I'm an 'old' white - man (Scottish/Brittish heritage) - and grew up in the midwest in a household that held (back then = 50's to 80's) very repuGlican attitudes and racism. At one time my parents were for George Wallace for Pres ~ (wha ?). I came to 'see the light' when the family moved to the west coast (Seattle) in the late 60's and we became 'acquainted' with a plethora of - POC and religious peoples. I make friends by - personality traits, NOT skin color & have made friends all across the - spectrum !
So, Kathryn, I totally agree with what you said above. I also think MLK was the TRUE
"very stable genius'! and a brilliant speaker (no matter what his personal foibles might hvae been or happened to be).
I'm with you.
Ms Kathryne, thank you for your continued vigilance and service. I'm of similar age and wonder if you might share with the rest of us what things you have done and/or are doing to engage with the fight? I'm looking for suggestions of ways to engage if you have any.
I protest at republicans offices. From Pennsylvania, so my target has/is Scott Perry and anything Maga. I write postcards for democrats. I support dems in all states by donating. I am on SS so my contributions are small but I give what I can. I join groups to decide what or who to target/support. My health has been a problem lately but I make sure I read the Post, Times, and join groups such as this one . I am very vocal and relentless.
If we can hold back the barbarians until that day…
Keep poorer classes fighting among themselves for scraps is a way to keep them from fighting the system for their rights …
Pat, getting the poorer and disenfranchised folks to fight among themselves has been the strategy for centuries to keep the have nots from demanding a check for their rights from being paid by the haves. If the "poor" can be blamed for all sorts of crimes and for fighting other poor people, you even get a workforce which our Constitution permits. It's a win-win for the rich empowered. Dr. King and the others 60 years ago tried to point this out, but the media found other things to focus on, the things that even rich folks could use as sound bites to make them seem like uniters rather than the dividers they actually are. It is rather amusing and ridiculous to hear Republicans quoting MLK as they work to take away people's rights to vote, to bodily autonomy, to compete in the world where we have permitted monopolistic corporations to rule.
Again, absolutely agreeing.
The tactic — “Distract them from what you’re doing, and get them to fight among themselves” - has been a winning strategy, as you say, and has been probably for millennia.
Once one establishes resentment among and between disparate groups, it’s very difficult to extinguish that. Much easier, then, to manipulate the antagonisms. This is a sad bit of human and group psychology.
Works in labor disputes as well. Get a wedge between union members to fight amongst themselves, and they forget that they’re fighting against the corporation.
Eileen, I saw that when I was young. My dad was in a good union, but still little lies were planted among workers that some other companies were paying less, so their union couldn't expect any better than what their company was offering (which was never a truly fair amount and that was a good union). Fortunately, their union leadership didn't buy it and instead of caving, they went after the other ununionized companies and got many of them to join. We need leadership like that to stand against the Wall Street liars and cheaters who are only out for themselves. We know a majority of people in this nation want to do something to curb their power, but we need a leader who has nothing to lose if they stand in opposition to the super rich.
Yes, for sure. Tactic is a multi-use tool. In the end, it is “Divide and conquer.”
Well said !
😎
Pat ; Yes ; poverty and the culture wars, while they pay their criminal lawyers and political hacks to raid our treasury and keep us from having rights, like medical care and housing, and even a vote that is counted!
MMMM, just cannot put “like” on that, but can totally agree!!
It’s what we’re up against, those of us of modest means but not struggling hand-to-mouth {at least, not at the moment}. If we can spare a moment to care about the world beyond our doorstep, and about people we may never meet — can we pull the fat out of the fire one more time? For all of us?
The upcoming election is truly seminal …
I don't know. I hope you are right, but I see a lot of young people at those Trump rallies.
@ Cyrano. Don't be fooled by media impressions. Republicans, the "right" in general, small town church attendance, small town populations, and the number of young people without college are all declining. The country is getting bluer and bluer.
Benjamin ; Even some small town church goers are getting bluer. Non college people, young and old are getting blue. Who wouldn't have the 'blues' now, with what is going on?
You do on dumptys media hype. You see a narrow shot of young folks and the two black people, with the majority white haired folks relegated out of the shot.
I am suspicious that he pays them (with OPM) to be there.
@Jen. You have it figured out tho!! "two black people" in the center of the shot. My, my, how diverse we are...
There are even a few POCs who have been bamboozled by the orange shitgibbon.
Janet, yes, hatred can fill in for a lot of emotions the scared white people choose not to express. Loving one's neighbor is hard and loving one's enemies, impossible for them. The kids pick it up early and with nothing to counter their parents' world view, even their churches, they become clones of the adults until some of those clones want something better. Hatred, in my experience, does not sustain and has to be fed all the time. Right now, Fox et al are doing a pretty good job of feeding the hatred, but then what? When one's job doesn't pay enough, hatred doesn't get one a better job and as long as the haters keep putting fools in office who hate better than they do, their lives will never improve.
Numerically the GOP ( Lincoln’s Party I bet he is spinning in the grave) might reduce but percentage wise it will stay the same.
Restricting the Voting process is a traditional American way of maintaining all the way back to the Colonial days.
This is why the MAGA Clan wants a one-party state--White, John Wayne Christian, with a strong leader/fuhrer.
It's not the Republicans whose policies incarcerated more black males than any previous policy, that was Joe Biden. Democrats are now the part of the perpetual war and militarism that Dr King spoke so boldly against, and Biden's addition of 100,000 police officers to a militarized and brutal force is not exactly what Dr King was striving for. Democrats espouse the opposite of Dr King's vision, which is why I will vote for Dr Cornel West. Don't worry, I would never ever share in the shame and guilt of voting for Biden or Trump.
The best post this year, Professor Reich. I remember the March on Washington, Dr, King's inspirational speech, his voice ringing across the Nation, I was already engaged in the Civil Rights movement, getting out the vote, registering voters, marching, and anything I could do. I remember the pride and elation we felt when the Voting Right Act passed. When all my fellow students could be accepted as Americans. Then came the Vietnam War Protests. We tried to stay involved in both but as the war raged and male students would disappear from classes, protesting the war seemed more important than what we thought we'd already won. I've often wondered if Johnson and Nixon increased the war to hold back the Civil Rights wins. The damned war was illegitimate as much as the Iraqi War. Our own government lied to us and the press in both wars. But the bleating sheep always listened and insisted it was their patriotic duty to fight wars - legitimate or shameful. Now I worry about my dark skinned, beautiful granddaughter and her delightful family. We should have kept on fighting for civil rights and never stopped.
Yes, and of course Dr. King eventually took a strong stand against that war, and people accused him of being out of his lane. He could see that our lives are bound up with other humans everywhere, and after receiving the Nobel Prize for peace, he recommended Thich Nhat Hanh, the Buddhist monk in Vietnam who never took sides, for that same prize. The monk never received that award, but he lived until last year, which was a lot longer than Dr. King was granted.
Progwoman, Thich Nhat Hanh, is another of my deeply courageous non-violent heroes. Thank you for bringing him forward in my mind. ♡
ProgWoman, I was very concerned back in 1966 and 67 when Dr. King took his stand against what was from beginning to end a racist war. I admired him for doing it and found white leaderships protests that Dr. King was out of his sphere ridiculous, but they were worried if protests became strong, Black people would refuse the draft, and they were drafted at high rates. Rich white men wanted the war because it made them rich and they and their family members rarely had to fight, and if they did, they were heroes. Dr. King was murdered before he could really get going with the anti-war protesting. President Johnson, though saw the "writing on the wall" and started peace talks which Nixon promptly sabotaged and we ended up fighting, killing, and dying in Vietnam for another 4 and a half years on the ground and 2 more years before we were driven out. A lot of lives in all sides were lost and wrecked because Nixon needed power.
Wish there was a "sad" button. I'm not happy responding "like" to a situation that is terrible. But I do like that you did write it.
Thanks Cathie.
Absolutely. And you have to wonder about the pent-up rage that resulted in the destruction after King's assassination of Black neighborhoods where much of the property was in the hands of white owners. It was years before many of them recovered.
We are all interconnected. The sooner we all realiz
If the great Dr. King had lived in the current times now, i wonder how he would have reacted to Donald TUMP? In my opinion, i believe Dr. King could have silenced TUMP and would have the courage to stand up to him much better that what the current leadership have done.
Soon after the march, most civil rights laws were passed. Many supporters at that time were northern Republicans. In the late 60's the Nixon administration used civil rights to split the FDR Democratic coalition. The white people at the top take advantage of a cultural means to reach their economic ends.
MAGATs are oblivious to this fact and 90% vote against their own economic and physical well being.
Thank you for your informative and useful reply. The last sentence in your reply made me think of a comment i read by a member on the ''Daily KOS'' website when i was a regular member on that site, the guy that made the comment said, '' I have a friend that is a huge MAGA wingnut, and i told him TUMP and the Fascist Rethugs are wanting to take your Social Security away from you, and you still worship these people? and his MAGA nut friend replied, '' if they take it away, i will just move into a homeless shelter'' that is a prime example of a MAGA wingnut voting against his own economic and physical well being. To me, that is bordering on someone that is so entrenched in a cult personality that they can't even think for themselves. These people are like the Jim Jones cult, but on a much larger scale. It is very alarming that there are so many of them here in America.. This kind of thing is especially prevalent here in the South. I would estimate that over half the people here in Georgia are like that. I live in Northwest GA, one county down from Maggot Traitor Goon's district and that's how that tramp got elected so easily, her district is loaded down with MAGA nuts. My House Rep. , Drew Ferguson is a MAGA too, and is not much better than Maggot Traitor Goon. I told him off in an email about 2 years ago. Our 2 Senators are great though, Raphael Warnock and John Ossoff, those 2 are dedicated Democrats, thank goodness!!
Dr. King would have been great. But as always, it's "pass the torch." Succeeding generations have to take on these battles. God bless them.
Succeeding generations AND those of us who are older and remember and vote.
I also believe that Dr. King raised his fist in solidarity for 'The Tennessee Three'.
Justin & Justin look & sound like they come from the 1960s. They're very inspiring!
Jaime Ramirez, I agree. I love to hear the young men J and J speak -- they are inspiring!
I was 12 years old when I saw that speech on TV. It gave me so much hope. I was a little white girl, but I had no voice. We were to be seen, not heard. We could only dream of becoming someone’s wife. We were not allowed to have any dreams for ourselves. I was 30 years old before I used the would I. Prior it was always we because I could only think in terms of what would benefit my husband or children. It was tyranny and it was awful. I believe the civil rights movement allowed me to slowly break free from JaneCrow stereotypical expectations and develop who I really am. I had to deal with sexism. Your beautiful granddaughter has to deal with sexism and racism, but with a grandparent like you she is well protected and seen. You will teach her that as long as she knows who she is, no one can make her feel bad about herself. She is lucky to have you.
That is not why Johnson and Nixon increased the Vietnam war effort. It was about making and selling war products. Capitalism.
@Gloria. Yes, Nixon took the counter-lesson from Eisenhower's warning about the Military-Industrial Complex. What a great profit-making opportunity! Sad to say both were right...
"I look forward to the day when my children will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character". Those words resonate with me. I was young when Martin Luther King made that speech. I watched it on television. I also watched what happened at the Selma Street Bridge. When our school was integrated, I remember moms of my friends with signs standing along the bus route that brought the first black students to our school. I couldn't understand the anger and hatred that was palpable in the air. We lived in a small wood frame house close to the "quarters" where the blacks of our towns lived. I learned that it was called the "quarters" from back in the slave days. I had many black friends and played at their houses and they played at mine. My mother was ahead of her time as far as being "liberal"! She was so wise. She explained to me that people were scared of change and that what was happening was a big change. As I grew older and learned more, I understood what so many black Americans have to endure every single day of their lives. The unfairness and just plain hate makes my skin crawl. At this point in my life, I can relate with the struggles that Black people have endured for so long. I struggle constantly to make ends meet living on a very fixed income. But there is hope in my soul because I know that if all of us stagnating down here on the bottom rungs of the ladder came together and began to fight for the America that Martin Luther King, John Lewis, John F. Kennedy, Harvey Milk, Gloria Steinem, Shirley Chisholm, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and so many others spoke so eloquently and powerfully about, you would see the America that stands around the world as a beacon of freedom, equality and acceptance for everyone.
Peggy--Until every person living in this country enjoys the same rights and freedoms, our lives and this country will stay divided. We are a people in need of equality and until we find a way to make that happen social unity will be a dream not a reality.
Yes, you are right. I would so love to be alive to see that happen!
Peggy--We can hope.
Peggy Freeman, bless your mother for passing on wisdom and bless you for your story and words of hope, you have brought tears to my eyes.
I’d like to keep thinking that
"Meanwhile, white people at or near the top have gained so much wealth they’ve been able to effectively secede from the rest of America into wealthy enclaves. They don’t any longer see the struggles of the bottom half. Being rich in America today means not coming across anyone who isn’t."
I remember growing up in the 50's/60's in a small town in western PA where doctors, lawyers, and millworkers all lived in the same neighborhood, which was all white. Now, the wealthy white people have moved into "gated communities", but many lower class neighborhoods have become more integrated, at least slightly.
I think the suburban, car-driven landscape of America has done a lot to socially disintegrate America. Your observation is right on.
I was ten when Martin Luther King led the March on Washington. My dad was in the Air Force so we had lived in quite a few different places by then.
When I was seven we lived in Montgomery Alabama. It was there that I got an education on the bigotry in the south. My school was being integrated. Because of that our school had frequent bomb scares. The alarm would go off and we would line up single file and stand in line outside while the police, the bomb squad and their dogs searched the school for bombs.
I remember a black girl in the third grade across from our second grade class. She was wearing a white dress and white shoes, we looked at each other and shyly smiled at each other. I remember looking at that shy girl in her pretty dress and I couldn’t imagine how she must have felt knowing that there were people who threatened to bomb our school because she was in it. I felt so ashamed.
So I was very interested in what Martin Luther King had to say. I felt hope seeing all those people standing up for what our founding fathers said, that all men were created equal.
And yet....sixty years later we still have politicians who are creating laws to stifle the right to vote for people who don’t have the right shade of flesh.
We have right wing Christian Nationalists who if Jesus walked in the registrars office to register to vote they would find a way to block him because his skin is suspiciously dark and rumor has it, he’s Jewish.
When I was ten I had hope that bigotry would end. When Obama was elected I felt proud. I thought things were finally starting to change.
And then came trump. Now all hell has broken loose. There is more bigotry and hate than ever. Or maybe his foul mouth has emboldened other bigots to spout off. He has brought out the worst of people and people in power are afraid of him. He’s running for president again when clearly he is ineligible as per Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment. And nobody is stopping him.
It’s clear to me I won’t see the end of the bigotry that mocks our Constitution in my lifetime. I will still demand it from my friends associates and the people who represent me but so far the Dream is still just a dream.
Actually, TUMP is running to be Dictator, there is no two ways about it. He is ineligible to run according to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. But i am wondering now who is going to enforce that? It seems to me that the authorities are reluctant to even put him in jail after the Judge told him to not to be posting threats and calling the judges names and spouting other hateful remarks about the DA and tampering with witnesses. They hint they are afraid violence is going to break out if he is jailed, that is a poor excuse in my opinion. If these MAGA goons start ANY kind of violence, they should be stopped by force like they did the BLM thing where they used very unnecessary force on innocent victims and should be arrested, indicted and sent to prison where these MAGA goons belong. I hate and despise Donald TUMP more than anything in my 68 years of existence. Him and Adolf Hitler are the worst two human beings that have ever existed in the past 200 years. Those 2 are horrible freaks of nature.
I agree with you 100% John. Trump is the epitome of evil like his predecessor Adolf Hitler. I also hate and despise this beast. No human being with a conscience would act the way he does. It’s
sad that people can’t see that he is professional con and should be in jail now.
@John T. Secretaries of State have processes whereby candidates are confirmed able to run for offices, including federal offices, within that particular State. The way the Electoral College works it will only require a few Secretaries of State to respect and enforce the 14th. In fact, if only Georgia disqualified Trump he would have a hard time putting together 270 Electoral votes to win.
Deeply appreciate your input Benjamin.
States can enforce it and the federal government. But it’s a wait and see game. trumpet 🎺 will point to his piles of money and will claim success based upon his wealth he charges $35 for a booking photo of himself with an Emoji Orange face 😡. From a dollar and cents reference point
Thanks for posting your memory and reflections.
When you were growing up in Beaver Falls, a Black man, Tookie James, was the assistant D,A. in Beaver County. He was a Republican. In those days, most Pennsylvania Republicans supported civil rights.
These days, there are virtually no Pa Republicans who support civil rights.
What happened to us was the effectuation of the southern strategy. Beaver County. once reliably Democrat, is now a hotbed of MAGATs.
Yep. I remember when JFK came to BF in 1960. Big crowds, union town, Dems were the power. Great family friend Ronnie Lench was assistant DA in Beaver County. https://archives.house.state.pa.us/people/member-biography?ID=1433. Things took a turn for the worse when Georgie Wallace showed up in Pennsyltucky in '68 and got a lot of support. The Rust Belt, like many other victimized places of global capitalism, has indeed been fertile ground for bloodthirsty nationalist fascism.
He was before my time. My dad was DA in Lawrence County. The Republicans imposed integration, busing, affirmative action to piss off the workers. After Reagan was elected, Gene Atkinson, many others in Beaver switched parties.
It all went to hell by the early 70's. Plant closings, boarded up shop windows, depopulated towns. All a part of the American Dream, boom and bust, moving on. Climate change will be the next big thing.
I won't live to see it either but I will always hold out hope that we can and will overcome.
Susan, I suspect there are not any more racists and misogynists percentage wise than before President Obama was elected, they have just found their community again and are doing their best to reconnect over the hatred such racists and misogynists have been cooking in their souls for their whole lives. They learned from their racist misogynistic families just what to think (if they think at all), to say, and to do to get the most out of their anti-social behavior. The media love it because they already know hatred can fan violence, a mainstay for them. Social media lets them seem larger and more powerful than they are. ?They are able to get their boys and girls elected (child-men and child-women) because our districts have been permitted to be gerrymandered by our courts which should be standing against the racism and misogyny, but have joined it instead.
I heartily agree with most everything Robert laid out.... EXCEPT this paragraph: "The average income of Black households, after growing through the 1960s and 1970s, seemed to hit a ceiling. It is now around 65 percent of that of white households, where it’s been for some 40 years." The way this reads, it sounds like Black households are being deliberately targeted to stagnate their incomes. But in that same 40 years, the wages of blue collar workers -- and many lower echelon white collar workers as well, have had their wages stagnating (when adjusted for inflation).. That is, pretty much below Wealthy have about same buying power that they had 40 years ago.
I was fortunate to attend college when it was actually affordable. (1970-75) Tuition was less than $300 per semester. These days, the only way most students can "afford" to attend college is to bury themselves in debt that will take _decades_ to pay off. With few assurances that their degree **will** land them a better-paying job. In this regard, "getting a better Education" has been stripped away from most anyone that is NOT Wealthy.
Looking back over the years, and comparing them to NOW, superficially is seems like We are doing better than We were doing 20-30-40 years ago. Now We have computers, game consoles, cell phones, cable-TV, nicer cars that aren't all rusted out, longer life expectancy, and rarely do most of Us ever have to go to bed hungry because rent was due and Mom had to skimp on the groceries. But it's an illusion, a deliberate one, made to make Us complacent and less likely to start building barricades. (The old political phrase is "bread and circuses". Keep Us entertained and fewer people will turn out for the protests. So _some_ things ARE cheap. But the things that matter? Robert mentioned the difference in household savings between Blacks and Whites. But what he didn't mention is just how much debt those households are simultaneously carrying. Theoretically, 67.4% of households occupy their own homes. But when you factor in the mortgages they're still paying off..... Added to the debt for Higher Education. And if there is a major Medical catastrophe... The #1 reason for declaring bankruptcy is because of major Medical bills from traumatic injuries or lingering diseases. And remember just how many millions of Americans had their homes foreclosed during the Great Recession.
"The more things Change, the more they stay the same." Our lives have been given a nice shiny coat of paint. But underneath that paint, We still find the same old crap that has always been there. For EVERYONE who isn't Wealthy.
Dr. Reich made it very clear that the wages of lower & middle class Whites had also stagnated & their lack of progress was inextricably linked to the lack of progress for Blacks.
AND, given that they had already started far back of the mark, the effect of this Middle Class Hollowing Out and Stagnation means a larger proportion of the POC demographic remains more disenfranchised and economically stuck. They’re not alone in poverty, but they are more numerous there, which is the point. {And, because it is easier for the wealthy to relax and enjoy their riches, a great many wealthy people continue to think it’s a meritocracy…. For a scant few, it actually is something they struggled and earned, pulling themselves up from the poorer classes. But for WAY more, they walk in their parents’ footsteps, and they had a leg up from day one, not to mention the right skin color for another great many … }
Keeping those realizations clouded is a goal for those who promote racial division. Keep us arguing among ourselves and NOT seeing what truly holds us down.
Prof. Reich tells us, but most of us here already know. We need to spread his words …
We need to stop thinking about the problem in racial terms as King came to understand it. The lower classes have nearly everything in common and should be allies. The media feeds the narrative that the struggle is racial instead of a class struggle.
Precisely! This situation isn't _actually_ about race. Racism is just a tool "They" use divide We The People at the bottom of the heap. This is all about Wealth: the struggle between the Haves and the Have Nots -- and between the Have Nots because of how the Haves keep nudging Us to fight among Ourselves. And unfortunately, the Haves have THE tool that most effectively stirs up division: their money. Buy some legislators here, acquire some major Media outlets there, steer some money towards some White Supremacy groups, etc. How can We _effectively_ do battle with "Them" when ALL Our money combined -- most needed to pay the bills -- doesn't even amount to their pocket change?
This division has been going on since Colonial times.
"NOW, superficially is seems like We are doing better than We were doing 20-30-40 years ago. Now We have computers, game consoles, cell phones, cable-TV..." I actually think we were better off before!
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I am going to say in the 1970s and 1980s the big lie was told by the oligarchs that Americans did not want jobs in convenience stores or construction jobs. And some of the big manufacturing companies they wouldn't even hire black American engineers or black American technicians. I know this for a fact because I saw it happen and I was in those industries as a woman trying to get work as a technician. Before I finish school becoming a technician I tried to get a job while I had a little baby girl at a convenience store. I passed the interview but I did not get hired because I'm an American. And the person that was the father of my child was also trying to get a job as a convenience store worker and he was a Vietnam veteran. I want people to read what I said because I want you to understand that this is not just black and white this has a lot to do with the lie that we've all been told and so many people believe that BS. It is the people who run these companies and who are managers who do this crap to all of us. It is wrong and it has to stop and if the American people don't stand up and understand about what's going on here then we will lose and that's what's happening because we're allowing ourselves to vote for these creeps.
The fear of a revolution must be felt indeed by the oligarchs. Why not acknowledge that prosperity shared is prosperity secured for all. Clinging on to power and wealth will become more difficult in the end and the solutions will become more dramatic
I don’t think the guys behind the Trump “movement” are afraid of a revolution, as long as they can foment one of race against race …. They want that, so they can abridge the current constitution and laws and usher in their military-and-police-supported oligarchy.
….sadly, they even have a name for it — Boogaloo — and the no-neck-brain-dead supporters of White Supremacy encourage it …
I once heard a man say 3 words, not sure if they were his words or someone else's, but they were so profound I haven't forgotten them, " Awareness precedes unity.". For me, his words meant learning about the suffering of others is the awareness which awakens us to our common cause. I absolutely agree Dr. Reich that unity tremendously scares the big rascals, however I would add that, therefore the necessary preceding awareness does also. They purge books, curriculums. academics, liberals, etc because they are afraid that we might identify with the suffering of each other, help one another locate the origin of it, and unite in great numbers to change it, which the big rascals' big egos perceive as the greatest threat to their power.
“One of my mother’s friends, visiting at the time, called Dr. King a ‘troublemaker.’ That was the last I ever saw of her.
“He was a troublemaker, in the sense that the late civil rights leader and Congressman John Lewis used the term: He was a maker of ‘good trouble.’”
The writer Peter Finley Dunne wrote of journalists that their job was to “comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.” I’d argue that it’s every good citizen’s job. Dr King surely saw it as his.
I take it that "a multiracial, multiethnic political coalition" means a pressure group for fairer wealth distribution. That may be a good idea, but I would suggest that the priority in the next 18 months is to save American democracy itself, given that any political force that could split the Democrat vote could also enable Trump to return to power.
Absolutely! We can dream of a better America for all and that is beautiful; however, we must approach that dream at the level we are now. We must vote. We must inform. We must fight against the encroaching fascism.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke 60 years ago and a country listened. The world was a troubled place back then and to me it has only gotten worse. Great men were being killed in threes. It was a time of mourning for hope itself lay bleeding in our streets. Have we learned anything since that period so filled with sorrow, I wonder.
I can definitely relate to this sentiment. Although I was five years old during the March on Washington, I've heard stories about it from my family and learned about it in school. It's interesting to think about how different things were back then and how far we've come since then. However, as you mentioned, it's clear that there is still much work to be done when it comes to achieving true equality and justice. It can be discouraging at times, but it's important to keep trying and pushing for change. I hope that someday we can create a society where everyone is truly valued and treated with respect.
"With wealth and power now more concentrated at the top of America than at any time in the last 60 years, the only way the bottom half can advance is if the poor and working class join together with what’s left of the middle class in a multiracial, multiethnic political coalition."
Even that will not suffice. What is needed is doing so across borders - something MLK Jr could barely hope to dream of 60 years ago, but in these days where our worlds flow around the world faster than they do across our own towns - we MAY be able to achieve...if we keep daring and dreaming.
I need my Black sisters and brothers to prosper. I need my Mexican and Canadian sisters and brothers to prosper. If we do not prosper together, an American power broker can exploit and arbitrage every opportunity that emerges - and if none do emerge here, do so with China, or Africa, or any other corner of the world anywhere. Every piece of poverty makes me poorer. Every person starving elsewhere is a chance for avarice to enslave and abuse.
Martin Luther King Jr had the right dream for the 20th century. But our 21st century dreams must build on the biggest pieces of his dreams - labor unions that cross language groups, activism that honors utterly distinct contexts - identities that stretch and expand to cover experiences.
The example of the "ladder" with too many people trying to get on at the bottom and too many of the middle rungs missing; we can see how black people and other minorities are impacted by this lack of social mobility more even than formerly middle class whites. It's truly a shame. However, social mobility is at least partially economic mobility. What we should all remember is that Corporations are the functional arms of global capitalism. Trump knows this but his base does not. What they need to realize is that every time a corporation exports a good job to a person in a low-labor-cost venue overseas, they effectively import a bad job (or no job) into one of our heartland communities. I wish the MAGA types could get enough sense to penetrate the media hype that blames it all on people coming here. Get real folks - it's not the people coming here that are taking away jobs! It's the jobs being taken away by corporations, and your favorite uncle Trump is behind the cover story that blinds his base to the reality that they are being taken to the cleaners by the same people they are voting into power!
The operative word in your post is "corporations". I can think of 2 remedies to break the power of the corporations. 1. Initiate massive trust busting worthy of the 19th century. 2. Repeal Citizens United.
My son has also suggested that all elected officials should divest themselves of all wealth above a certain level before taking office. Candidates should only be able to accept money from individuals and the amounts should be limited. Oh I almost forgot PACs should be illegal.
How about HEALTH CARE FOR ALL? This is often the reason people seek work. As we age, we fear dying in poverty, because ALL will be taken from us, no matter how wealthy! Sad commentary on a once great country!
I agree with everything said in the article. However, you make no mention of how immigration of people from other cultures legally and illegally has profoundly affected wages and job opportunities for both white and black workers.
I disagree, Marlene, it is not immigration from other cultures that affected wages. It was and remains greedy, rich, mostly white people who have stolen our wealth, destroyed unions, and are hell bent on reducing us all to the level of serfdom of the middle ages. You can believe their lies if that pacifies you. But in the long run your beliefs will destroy you. And I am ashamedly white and old.
Those greedy white people would rather pay people "under the table" cheap wages and risk employer sanctions than pay the "going" wage. There is no doubt that the use of illegal workers in say, construction, are used to reduce wages.
That is part is the problem Daniel. But look at it from the other angle. If those greedy white people were willing to reduce their obscene profits, by say 2% to 5%, they could have kept their well trained and available American workers. The dairy industry in Wisconsin has been employing - almost exclusively undocumented workers, rather than pay union wage level to skilled Americans they "let go". Why blame the poor destitute unskilled and undocumented workers escaping drug gang ridden poverty stricken countries. Decent people willing to work for subsistence wages. It is the greedy mostly white who are the main cause. We've also had an influx of equally greedy would-be aristocrats from other countries - especially in the hotel/apartment/senior living facilities, who come in, end all promised services, fire American staff and either replace with imported workers or none at all. In construction, they bring in unskilled crews to do major reconstruction with no building permits, not following local building codes, and get away with it, because the people running our State Legislatures allow it. Yes, even in California.
There is never ever going to be a time when immigrants stop moving to other places AND with global warming there will be more.
There is no other angle. Most employers who hire illegals are in violation of federal law and if no one objects no one will be sanctioned.
The poster boy for sanctions was Donald J. Trump, who was fined by my agency for using them on his worksites. His organization is expert in using temporary work visas to bring in workers especially from the Balkans, to displace Americans on his properties.
Nationally, Koch industries has been caught many times using them.
We have mechanisms, generally unreported by the media where foreign workers are brought to the US. I heard 22 kinds of work visa cases, and at one time I was on the BALCA board. Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/oalj/contacts/BALCA
If you see problems and fail to report them, you may be leaving money on the table. I don't stand by this ad, but you'll get the idea. https://www.whistleblowers.org/faq/whistleblower-rewards-faq/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwi7GnBhDXARIsAFLvH4mT6pG0ze2b0zDzOldvZdhbvS6ABL79zXXHOXuajD7oQ65NH4cg7kgaAjUIEALw_wcB
Daniel Solomon ; True, paying "under the table" allows them to avoid taxes associated with having employees and also engage in wage theft.
Fay Reid ; don't be ashamed about things about which you had no choice , like your age or skin color. You were and are doing everything you can to be part of the solution.
Fay, that shame is not yours. Please let it go. Perhaps one of the worst things is that the people who should really own that shame seem incapable of feeling it.