The Oligarchy requires an indoctrinated population to maintain an economic system that screws them. Race is the catalyst that they use to divide and conquer.
Egberto, thanks for spotlighting the work of Rev Wm Barber and the Poor People’s Campaign. You write: “Statistically, while Black and other people of color disproportionately experience poverty...” but (you also point out) numerically there are more white people. (US pop. = roughly 60% white & 30% Black/Hispanic/other.)
But later you say, “...social safety nets are often stigmatized as programs that disproportionately benefit people of color.” This comment appears to contradict your earlier (correct) assertion. Safety net programs and some other public services do in fact **disproportionately** benefit people of color.
If whites benefit more because there are numerically more impoverished whites, then shouldn’t we just point this out to white people? Problem solved! Not so fast...
Racist hatred is so deeply ingrained, whites would rather cut off their nose to spite their face than concede any perceived advantage to Black folks. Evidence:
(1) The notorious swimming pool trend. Community pools used to be a centerpiece in many communities. But faced with laws to end racial segregation, towns drained their pools and filled them with dirt — even though numerically white families benefited much more.
(2) A Virginia school district closed its entire public school system for five years. Same reason.
(3) The town of Cairo, Illinois — home to many thriving businesses — dwindled to almost a ghost town for essentially the same reason. It never recovered.
(4) Arguably most significant of all, Congress never adopted universal healthcare because white racists saw it as a giveaway to Black folks, even though (you guessed it) whites would benefit much more.
Sunday morning is often called “America’s most segregated hour” because churches can’t be forced to integrate.
Thus you say, “Addressing poverty, healthcare, and labor rights without confronting the racial divisions that undergird these issues limits the effectiveness of any progressive movement. Multiracial solidarity is essential.”
Exactly. Otherwise it’s like filling pools with dirt.
No easy answers. To me, it boils down to marketing. But that, my friend, is a whole conversation.
Egberto, thanks for spotlighting the work of Rev Wm Barber and the Poor People’s Campaign. You write: “Statistically, while Black and other people of color disproportionately experience poverty...” but (you also point out) numerically there are more white people. (US pop. = roughly 60% white & 30% Black/Hispanic/other.)
But later you say, “...social safety nets are often stigmatized as programs that disproportionately benefit people of color.” This comment appears to contradict your earlier (correct) assertion. Safety net programs and some other public services do in fact **disproportionately** benefit people of color.
If whites benefit more because there are numerically more impoverished whites, then shouldn’t we just point this out to white people? Problem solved! Not so fast...
Racist hatred is so deeply ingrained, whites would rather cut off their nose to spite their face than concede any perceived advantage to Black folks. Evidence:
(1) The notorious swimming pool trend. Community pools used to be a centerpiece in many communities. But faced with laws to end racial segregation, towns drained their pools and filled them with dirt — even though numerically white families benefited much more.
(2) A Virginia school district closed its entire public school system for five years. Same reason.
(3) The town of Cairo, Illinois — home to many thriving businesses — dwindled to almost a ghost town for essentially the same reason. It never recovered.
(4) Arguably most significant of all, Congress never adopted universal healthcare because white racists saw it as a giveaway to Black folks, even though (you guessed it) whites would benefit much more.
Sunday morning is often called “America’s most segregated hour” because churches can’t be forced to integrate.
Thus you say, “Addressing poverty, healthcare, and labor rights without confronting the racial divisions that undergird these issues limits the effectiveness of any progressive movement. Multiracial solidarity is essential.”
Exactly. Otherwise it’s like filling pools with dirt.
No easy answers. To me, it boils down to marketing. But that, my friend, is a whole conversation.