Monday, April 4 2011 marked the 43rd anniversary of the assassination of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Shot and killed at the age of 39 while standing on a balcony of the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis TN by the infamous James Earl Ray. Dr. King is most often venerated for being the spokesperson for the Montgomery bus boycott (1955), spearheading the Selma-to-Montgomery march (1965) and of course delivering his famous “I Have A Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963 at the historic March on Washington. There is a tendency, however, to keep Dr. King ‘s legacy nicely embalmed between 1955 and 1965 while paying very little attention to his stand against the Vietnam war, his conceptualization of the Poor People’s Campaign, and his support of labor rights and the sanitation workers in Memphis.
Dr. Cornell West describes most of the homage paid to Dr. King on his birth and death dates as “Santa Clausification” or the “sanitization.” In an interview with Tavis Smiley on PBS (January 12, 2007), Dr. West made this provocative statement:
“He [Dr. King] just becomes a nice little old man with a smile with toys in his bag, not a threat to anybody, as if his fundamental commitment to unconditional love and unarmed truth does not bring to bear certain kinds of pressure to a status quo. So the status quo feels so comfortable as though it's a convenient thing to do rather than acknowledge him as to what he was, what the FBI said, ‘The most dangerous man in America.’"
Professor James Cone, author of the book Martin & Malcolm & America articulated it this way:
"By making Dr. King’s birthday a national holiday, everybody claims him, even though they opposed him while he was alive. They have frozen King in 1963 with his 'I Have a Dream' speech. That is the one [speech] that can best be manipulated and misinterpreted.”
Towards the later years of his life, Dr. King’s world-wide public acclamation (remember he won the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 at the age of 35)—had waned to public disdain and contempt. Even those whom Dr. King considered among some of his closest allies began to abandon him and publicly denounce his strategies in the fight for poor people and his stand against the Vietnam War.
I can’t help but wonder—what if Dr. King were alive today? Would his answers to poverty, war, and human rights be the same? Would he have become a political insider or an elitist or would he still stand hand in hand with the “common folk” and still be considered “one of the most dangerous men in America?”
On the issue of America’s involvement in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya and our trigger-happy world leaders who are quick to go to war with very little regard for the innocent victims -- mostly the poor, women and children—I think Dr. King’s answer would be the same as he stated in his “Beyond Vietnam” speech:
“We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent co-annihilation. We must find new ways to speak for peace and justice throughout the developing world, a world that borders on our doors. If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight.”
On the issue of deepening poverty in the US which is now higher than it was in the 1960s when President Johnson declared a war on poverty, I think Dr. King would still say that it is a poverty of spirit that has led us back to this shameful place where many children and our elderly in America go to bed hungry amidst extravagant riches and often undeserved wealth (just ask the top 1 and 10%). Dr. King would probably refer back to a passage from his last book Where Do We Go From Here? Chaos or Community and reiterate:
“We must work passionately and indefatigably to bridge the gulf between our scientific progress and our moral progress. One of the greatest problems of mankind is that we suffer from a poverty of the spirit which stands in glaring contrast to our scientific and technological abundance. The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually.”
And to President Obama, while expressing how proud he is of his great accomplishments and showing that there is hope for his dream becoming a reality, he would also express some discontent and remind the President that his word is his bond to the people who elected him and that people are counting on him not to be the great friend maker on the play ground but a drum major for justice. He would probably remind President Obama that:
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others.”
Friday, April 8, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
Pulbic and Low-wage Workers Are Easy Prey for Political Predators
It is clear from Wisconsin to Ohio to North Carolina and places in between—the public-sector and low-wage workers have become targeted prey for a sociopolitical system that thrives off of predatory labor policies and practices that exploit the labor of public and low-wage workers. For example, policies that deny workers the rights to collective bargain or management practices that make it all too convenient to label and fire workers who protest unjust or unsafe working conditions as “difficult and unruly, insubordinate” or “confrontational” or exhibiting “detrimental personal conduct.” These were the major claims that were put forth by the town of Chapel Hill in its case against the two sanitation workers whom they fired—Clyde Clark and Kerry Bigelow. Bigelow and Clark became scapegoats for a myriad of problems plaguing the Public Works department in Chapel Hill; problems that started at the top with poorly trained, inept, and unqualified managers who demonstrate mastery in shifting the blame and passing the buck yet who show rudimentary skills in effective employee management.
Assassinating the character of public workers who protest or rating workers’ job performance as “unsatisfactory” or “poor” are methods used by managers and employers to devalue, discredit and undermine the rights of workers while also garnering public support and sympathy. After all, who wants a sanitation worker with a bad attitude on their route, right? Or who wants to supervise a worker who is disgruntled because his constant pleas to management to implement safety standards and measures on his route have repeatedly fallen on deaf ears. I mean who do these workers think they are complaining about bad working conditions-they should be glad they have a job right? WRONG!
The mechanisms used to politically disarm and shut down workers are manifold and in full play by the far Right and anti-union allies. Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor under the Clinton Administration was spot on when he wrote in a recent column (3/2011): “It's far more convenient to go after people who are doing the public's work -- sanitation workers, police officers, fire fighters, teachers, social workers, federal employees -- to call them "faceless bureaucrats" and portray them as hooligans who are making off with your money and crippling federal and state budgets.”
The “frontal assault” on America’s public-sector and low-wage workers is happening at a time when the income gap between the top earners and the middle and bottom is spiraling out of control. According to 2009 Census data, the income gap between the richest and poorest Americans has grown to its largest margin ever in American history (read Tim Noah’s The Great Divergence). The top-earning 20 percent of Americans – those making more than $100,000 each year – received 49.4 percent of all income generated in the U.S. , compared to the 3.4 percent earned by the bottom 20 percent—persons whose earnings are below the poverty threshold (which was 21834 for a family of four in 2008 and 21756 in 2009). The middle income earners ($50000 earners) saw their wages declining on a fast track to the bottom in 2008.
According to Tim Noah (Slate Magazine, 9/14/2010), the richest 1 percent account for 24% of the nation’s income University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Timothy Smeeding in an article by Hope Yen (9/2010 Huffington Post) made the following observation: "More than other countries, we have a very unequal income distribution where compensation goes to the top in a winner-takes-all economy."
While unimaginable and often undeserved wealth (wealth gained by birth right and very little individual labor) is converging at the top, poverty in America is deepening and at its highest level since the 1960s when President Lyndon Johnson launched a war on poverty. The poverty rate climbed from 39.8 million people in 2008 43.6 million people in 2009 and unfortunately, race does matter. Poverty rose among all race and ethnic groups, but was particularly higher for blacks (25.8) and Hispanics (25.3) than whites (9.4 percent) in 2009. And because poor children are often connected to poor families, the child poverty rate rose from 19 percent in 2008 to 20.7 percent in 2009.
Equally troubling is America’s current jobs’ crisis, which is occurring during one the worst economic recessions in American history. The average unemployment rate in the US in December 2010 was 9.6. For African American males was 18.4 at the end of 2010 and for African American women it was 13.8 compared to 9.4 for White males, and 7.7 for White females; and 12.7 for Hispanic males and 12.3 Hispanic females. The unemployment rate for African Americans in the general working age population (16 and older) at the end of 2010 was 16.0 and 8.7 for Whites.
The problem with wealth, income and even employment status is that often they are intricately interconnected to social capital and political power. Few public workers are well connected to the power establishment or have connections with the right social networks to be able to stop tyrannical elected officials (e.g. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker) or employers from enacting policies that work against the best interest of workers and neutralize workers’ rights. Without the right social capital—friends in powerful positions and the “right places” middle and low-wage workers going up against government and capitalists is like David going up against Goliath. The proverbial stones in workers’ sling shot are (1) their critical mass and strength in numbers that far outweigh their opponents; and (2)a voting populace that has not become apathetic or hoodwinked by a carefully constructed and often politically-motivated narrative e.g. the tale of two rebel sanitation workers who were supposedly out of control and terrorizing women in one of the more affluent areas of town or labor unions that are sucking the state’s budget dry (as argued by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker) or pitiful cries from undeserving beggars who simply want a hand out as others have suggested.
I am encouraged by the mobilization that is happening on the ground by and to support workers. I believe that while money and political power may trump a lot of things, they can never overtake the power of the people, united, mobilized and committed to justice. Just take a look through America’s history—it has ALWAYS been a movement of, by and for The People that have kept “big money” and scoundrel politicians from running amuck and swindling the public’s trust.
Assassinating the character of public workers who protest or rating workers’ job performance as “unsatisfactory” or “poor” are methods used by managers and employers to devalue, discredit and undermine the rights of workers while also garnering public support and sympathy. After all, who wants a sanitation worker with a bad attitude on their route, right? Or who wants to supervise a worker who is disgruntled because his constant pleas to management to implement safety standards and measures on his route have repeatedly fallen on deaf ears. I mean who do these workers think they are complaining about bad working conditions-they should be glad they have a job right? WRONG!
The mechanisms used to politically disarm and shut down workers are manifold and in full play by the far Right and anti-union allies. Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor under the Clinton Administration was spot on when he wrote in a recent column (3/2011): “It's far more convenient to go after people who are doing the public's work -- sanitation workers, police officers, fire fighters, teachers, social workers, federal employees -- to call them "faceless bureaucrats" and portray them as hooligans who are making off with your money and crippling federal and state budgets.”
The “frontal assault” on America’s public-sector and low-wage workers is happening at a time when the income gap between the top earners and the middle and bottom is spiraling out of control. According to 2009 Census data, the income gap between the richest and poorest Americans has grown to its largest margin ever in American history (read Tim Noah’s The Great Divergence). The top-earning 20 percent of Americans – those making more than $100,000 each year – received 49.4 percent of all income generated in the U.S. , compared to the 3.4 percent earned by the bottom 20 percent—persons whose earnings are below the poverty threshold (which was 21834 for a family of four in 2008 and 21756 in 2009). The middle income earners ($50000 earners) saw their wages declining on a fast track to the bottom in 2008.
According to Tim Noah (Slate Magazine, 9/14/2010), the richest 1 percent account for 24% of the nation’s income University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Timothy Smeeding in an article by Hope Yen (9/2010 Huffington Post) made the following observation: "More than other countries, we have a very unequal income distribution where compensation goes to the top in a winner-takes-all economy."
While unimaginable and often undeserved wealth (wealth gained by birth right and very little individual labor) is converging at the top, poverty in America is deepening and at its highest level since the 1960s when President Lyndon Johnson launched a war on poverty. The poverty rate climbed from 39.8 million people in 2008 43.6 million people in 2009 and unfortunately, race does matter. Poverty rose among all race and ethnic groups, but was particularly higher for blacks (25.8) and Hispanics (25.3) than whites (9.4 percent) in 2009. And because poor children are often connected to poor families, the child poverty rate rose from 19 percent in 2008 to 20.7 percent in 2009.
Equally troubling is America’s current jobs’ crisis, which is occurring during one the worst economic recessions in American history. The average unemployment rate in the US in December 2010 was 9.6. For African American males was 18.4 at the end of 2010 and for African American women it was 13.8 compared to 9.4 for White males, and 7.7 for White females; and 12.7 for Hispanic males and 12.3 Hispanic females. The unemployment rate for African Americans in the general working age population (16 and older) at the end of 2010 was 16.0 and 8.7 for Whites.
The problem with wealth, income and even employment status is that often they are intricately interconnected to social capital and political power. Few public workers are well connected to the power establishment or have connections with the right social networks to be able to stop tyrannical elected officials (e.g. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker) or employers from enacting policies that work against the best interest of workers and neutralize workers’ rights. Without the right social capital—friends in powerful positions and the “right places” middle and low-wage workers going up against government and capitalists is like David going up against Goliath. The proverbial stones in workers’ sling shot are (1) their critical mass and strength in numbers that far outweigh their opponents; and (2)a voting populace that has not become apathetic or hoodwinked by a carefully constructed and often politically-motivated narrative e.g. the tale of two rebel sanitation workers who were supposedly out of control and terrorizing women in one of the more affluent areas of town or labor unions that are sucking the state’s budget dry (as argued by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker) or pitiful cries from undeserving beggars who simply want a hand out as others have suggested.
I am encouraged by the mobilization that is happening on the ground by and to support workers. I believe that while money and political power may trump a lot of things, they can never overtake the power of the people, united, mobilized and committed to justice. Just take a look through America’s history—it has ALWAYS been a movement of, by and for The People that have kept “big money” and scoundrel politicians from running amuck and swindling the public’s trust.
Friday, February 18, 2011
"Distrust, Discontent, and Partisan Rancor"
Results from a survey conducted by the Pew Research Foundation published in an article titled "Distrust, Discontent, Anger and Partisan Rancor" deserves another look as we try to sort through this very politically hostile, economically unstable, and morally deficient climate. The report, published on April 18, 2010 proposed the following:
By almost every conceivable measure Americans are less positive and more critical of government these days. A new Pew Research Center survey finds a perfect storm of conditions associated with distrust of government – a dismal economy, an unhappy public, bitter partisan-based backlash, and epic discontent with Congress and elected officials.
Rather than an activist government to deal with the nation’s top problems, the public now wants government reformed and growing numbers want its power curtailed. With the exception of greater regulation of major financial institutions, there is less of an appetite for government solutions to the nation’s problems – including more government control over the economy – than there was when Barack Obama first took office.
This article then and still is now, a MUST read for any one who is trying to make sense out of a world that more and more is making very little.
For access to the article click on the following link: http://people-press.org/report/606/trust-in-government or the title of this blog post.
By almost every conceivable measure Americans are less positive and more critical of government these days. A new Pew Research Center survey finds a perfect storm of conditions associated with distrust of government – a dismal economy, an unhappy public, bitter partisan-based backlash, and epic discontent with Congress and elected officials.
Rather than an activist government to deal with the nation’s top problems, the public now wants government reformed and growing numbers want its power curtailed. With the exception of greater regulation of major financial institutions, there is less of an appetite for government solutions to the nation’s problems – including more government control over the economy – than there was when Barack Obama first took office.
This article then and still is now, a MUST read for any one who is trying to make sense out of a world that more and more is making very little.
For access to the article click on the following link: http://people-press.org/report/606/trust-in-government or the title of this blog post.
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