May I, 2013
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Stuck Between Rich and Poor
An economic
divide closely
tied to race •
by
B enjamin T odd J ealous
Coming the day after the 45 th
anniversary of the assassina­
tion of Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr., the new unemploym ent
numbers show that unemploy­
ment is still high - and remains
much higher for African Ameri-
cans.
One thing hasn't changed in the
last half century: if you're a person
of color, you’re more likely to be
unemployed. Even though the black
unemployment rate fell by .05 per­
cent last month, it still sits at nearly
13.3 percent nearly double the over­
all rate.
This gap in employment has led
to an economic divide between the
richest and the poorest in America
that is about as bad as in the divide
in Rwanda and Serbia. The top 20
percent of Americans earn 50.2 per­
cent of income,
while the bottom
20 percent earns
just 3.3 percent.
Y et C o n g re ss
continues to do
nothing to directly
a d d re ss u n e m ­
ployment.
This is a dan­
gerous trend. Recent studies - in­
cluding one by the International
Monetary Fund - show that coun­
tries with higher levels of economic
inequality have slower growth rates,
and that "economic inclusion corre­
sponds w ith ro b u st econom ic
growth." Urban economies affect
the prosperity of the entire sur­
rounding region, and ultimately the
country as a whole.
As our country grows more
diverse, we must also acknow l­
edge that econom ic inequality is
closely tied to race, due to de­
cades o f past and ongoing dis­
crim ination. And this inequality
underm ines the racial progress
that we have achieved.
As Dr. King asked in 1968,
"W hat does it profit a man to be
able to eat at an integrated lunch
counter if he doesn't earn enough
m oney to buy a ham burger and a
cup o f coffee?"
In the last year of Dr. King's life,
he w as o rg a n iz in g the P o o r
People's Cam paign. He endorsed
the Freedom Budget, a docum ent
that called for m assive invest­
m ents in public works and infra­
structure, jo b training and educa­
tion program s, and a higher m ini­
mum wage. The budget insisted
that smart investm ents with our
m ost vulnerable citizens will spur
econom ic growth.
U nfortunately, this plan never
moved forward. But its m essage
proved prophetic, and Dr. King's
econom ic agenda is still relevant
today.
A strong and sustainable eco­
nomic recovery requires an eco­
nomic clim ate in which all A m eri­
cans - regardless o f race or class
- can expect hard work to be re­
warded with a steady job. This is
not a partisan issue, it is an A m eri­
can issue. And Congress needs
to act now.
Earlier this year the National
Black Leaders C oalition cam e up
with solutions for fixing the cur­
rent unem ploym ent crisis. The
proposals included im plem enting
im portant parts o f the A m erican
■M
Jobs Act to revitalize urban areas;
funding the U rban Jobs Act to
create youth jo b s program s; and
increasing the m inim um wage.
These policies echoed King's rec­
om m endations 45 years earlier.
In 1962 Dr. King said, "There are
three major social evils in our world
today: the evil o f war, the evil of
economic justice, and the evil of
racial injustice."
Fifty years later, we need to rec­
ognize that inaction is not a policy
option; it has been tried; and it hasn't
worked. Let's try something new.
Let's recommit ourselves to Dr.
King's economic principles and ad­
vance an economic agenda that
bridges our nation's divides and
fosters an economic recovery in
which all can benefit.
Benjamin Todd Jealous is presi­
dent and chief executive officer of
the NAACP.
HHNH
■HMHM
Parallels from Birmingham to Boston
Justice means
more than
punishment
by
J ose -A ntonio O rosco
Last month marked the
50th anniversary of Martin
Luther King ’ s ‘‘Letter from a
Birmingham City Jail.” This
letter is now a classic docu­
ment in American history
and compelling testimony
to the power of nonviolence
and the struggle for equality.
April was also marred by the
horrific events at the Boston M ara­
thon. At first glance, it may seem
there is very little to connect the
two: What does a document dealing
with civil rights have to do with a
terrorist bombing?
We ought to remember that, for
decades, African Americans lived
under constant threat of terrorist
violence at the hands of white su­
premacist groups such as the KKK.
Those that were not victims of
lynchings often had to live with the
psychological scars of being treated
as second-class citizens. Few people
could understand, King wrote, how
heartbreaking it is to explain to one ’ s
own children why they can’t attend
an amusement park because of seg­
regation, or to try to come up with an
answer to the question “Daddy, why
do white people treat colored people
so mean?” experiences that will not
somehow harden that child’s heart
forever.
In his letter, Dr. King tries to
remind moderate white Americans
who were concerned
about m arches and
rallies getting out of
hand that, in staging
d e m o n s tra tio n s
around the country,
civil rights activists
were not trying to stir
up trouble. Instead,
they were trying to
traffic in “a superficial kind of
social analysis that deals m erely
with effects.”
Toward the end of his life, King
taught us that our world is rife with
various injustices— racism, milita­
rism, poverty, and a culture of com­
petitive materialism— that damage
the flourishing of millions of people
around the world and are the causes
for much misery and anger.
For many of those suffering those
conditions, violence seems to be
the only way to give voice to their
* For many o f those suffering those
conditions, violence seems to be the only
way to give voice to their frustrations. King
did not mean to justify the use of violence,
but only to explain why so many people in
despair might be tempted to pick up the gun
or the bomb.
Such observations ought not to
diminish the pain and suffering of
the victims in Boston, but to remind
us, as King did in his letter, that
there is but a thin veneer o f civiliza­
tion over a world plagued with mis­
ery.
The task o f people of good con­
science, King would counsel, is not
to dismiss the perpetrators of vio­
lence by pathologizing them as
“crazy” but to take a good, hard look
at how the world’s institutions are
structured to reward war and ag-
gression.
Terrorists ought to be brought to
account and victims deserve com ­
passion; but justice means more
than punishment. It also means we
have to consider how to think about
building a world in which “in some
not too distant tomorrow the radi­
ant stars of love and brotherhood
will shine.”
Jose-Antonio Orosco is associ­
ate professor o f philosophy and the
director o f the Peace Studies pro­
gram at Oregon State University.
tlanb (f)hsvrticr
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deal with the trouble that already
existed in the United States and
were overlooked by most people.
In using nonviolent civil dis-
obedience, the activists were not
attem pting to create tension, but
to find a way to give expression to
the anger and hidden tension”
that boiled underneath the thin
layer o f norm alcy generated by
racist segregation. He called upon
people to deal with the underly-
ing causes o f violence and not
frustrations. King did not mean to
justify the use of violence, but only
to explain why so many people in
despair might be tempted to pick up
the gun or the bomb,
Some o f the first responders in
Boston commented that the scene
at the finish line looked like a war-
zone. Media commentators pointed
out that on the same day that the
marathon bombings occurred there
were several terrible explosions in
Iraq and Afghanistan.
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