White Poverty

White Poverty: How Exposing Myths about Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy | William J. Barber, II

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The reverend speaks truth to power in this book. You could think of the book as a sermon that a lot of our ‘elected‘ members need to hear. Our oppression is rooted in white supremacy—this is a collective fight that we must all fight together. Capitalism, hatred, misogyny, racism—these are all built up every day on lies we have been told for centuries; the reverend lays it all out here. If we don‘t stop the ‘them v. us‘ and fight back ⬇️

JenniferEgnor together, we will not survive the mess we‘re in. I highly recommend reading Heather McGhee‘s The Sum of Us along with this book! (edited) 2w

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JenniferEgnor

White Poverty: How Exposing Myths about Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy | William J. Barber, II

The old myths are tricky, and they can catch any of us in their trap. Yes, it‘s racist to pass policies that we know will harm Black people. At the same time, it is also racist to ignore the ways those same policies hurt poor white people—because racism‘s myths are designed to keep Black and white people segregated so they cannot come together to transform a system that doesn‘t serve most of us. If we‘re going to be anti-racist and⬇️

JenniferEgnor reconstruct an America for all of us, we can‘t ignore this reality. We have to face the facts that emerge when we pay attention to white poverty‘s wounds and learn to make the connections between living wages, union rights, and voting rights. 3w

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JenniferEgnor

White Poverty: How Exposing Myths about Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy | William J. Barber, II

So-called “election integrity” measures have been introduced in states with long histories of voter suppression, using the contemporary tools of voter roll purges or voter ID requirements to narrow the voting pool and reduce the potential power of a multiethnic voting coalition. I call this reality James Crow, Esquire—the result of Jim Crow‘s son going to law school and coming back to undermine democracy through more sophisticated means. Is it⬇️

JenniferEgnor still racist? Yes. But we‘ve seen, racism is never just about limiting the rights of Black people. Racist voter suppression may target Black people, but it hurts most of us. If we‘re going to beat James Crow, we have to connect all the people who are impacted by these attacks. Jim Crow was brought down by a moral fusion movement during America‘s Second Reconstruction in the 1960s, but his son went to law school and came back to state⬇️ 3w

JenniferEgnor legislatures in a business suit. His data analysis and legal maneuvers are more sophisticated than the old Jim Crow‘s, but James Crow, Esquire‘s goal is the same: minority rule to preserve an unequal society while giving lip service to democracy. 3w

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JenniferEgnor

White Poverty: How Exposing Myths about Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy | William J. Barber, II

One of the most damnable features of our common life is the way we talk about poverty, as if it‘s an anomaly and not a feature of our economic system.
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dabbe 🎯🎯🎯 3w

TheBookHippie It‘s a feature. 3w

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