Rev. Dr. William Barber - “White Poverty” & Poor People’s Campaign March | The Daily Show

the Boogie is called White poverty I'm holding it up I don't know you say uh White poverty you sir are famously not white well so why why write white poverty well actually I come from Caucasian black and tuscaro and decended oh wow so and my people were free people in eastern North Carolina there a lot of those commun and so in some ways this book is me and so to deny any part of my reality would be to deny myself but here's the problem I'm concerned about the way we measure poverty in this country is not only a lie but I can say on this show it's a damn lie sir you can do more than that if you want okay okay okay okay we we got plenty more room for that I I only use the ones that are approved by the Bible okay R you're rever so so but we we say we we use the official poverty measure says that poverty if you make above $113,000 a year you're not poor if you make above about $133,000 a year you're not poor you're kind of in the lower lower middle class when was the last time they adjusted well it's been since the 60s really in some ways and so what happens with that is we marginalize poverty and then we racialize it whenever we have a a brief discussion about poverty because we very seldom have it in the news in political Arenas we put up a black woman with on welfare which racializes and demeans black people but then it dismisses tens of millions of of white poor people you're right there's 66 million 66 million of the 135 million poor and low-wage people in this country 60% of black people are poor in low well that's 26 million 30% of white but that's 66 million 40 million more right this book says we need to face all of our poor and recognize that we have something what uh Desmond who's a author out of Princeton calls poverty by America not the poverty in America but the particular kind of poverty by America that's unnecessary and abolish because it makes no sense in the richest nation in the world we have over 135 million poor and low wage people over 41% of our population and over 50% of our children and it's unnecessary so white poverty says we're not playing the game anymore let's not look at this through the the prism of race let's look at it through class and do you think that that division was a purposeful one I think so and and and and to expand race you have to deal with race in America but what you cannot allow someone to do for something this serious where 295,000 people are dying a year from poverty and low wage how many 295,000 people a day are dying are dying recent stud from what they would consider poverty poverty is the fourth leading cause of death in the country higher than respiratory disease High higher than gun it even impacts respiratory disease because if you're low wage and you're living in an area chances are the pollution and the toxic higher where you live all of those things and so here we have something that's a forth fleeing cause of death 800 people a day when seven people died from vaping it was a congressional hearing it was presidential level right imagine if 800 politicians were dying a day oh I have I well I can't do that but but my but my point is how the everybody would be just up and out or 800 middle class talking about 100,000 people that's clearly epidemic right you just talked about crime that's a crime that's a form of and when especially when is unnecessary it does not have to and entrenched it seems in in a lot of communities it just it's a cloud that never lives well the thing about it is John it's in every Community see that's the point we're making in the book whether it's Appalachia where I met women in in in in West Virginia who have to sell tacos on on Tuesday so they have a Community Fund to help women deal with their monthly issues or whether it's uh out in easn Kentucky uh where I met black and white coal miners who watched the mines be taken over by uh U multinational companies that move the union rights out of it or whether it's in the Delta it's everywhere there's not a county in this country now where a person making 725 that's what the minimum wage is federal minimum wage is 7 25 right it's been like that for 14 years John hasn't been raised for 14 years when they try and raise it to even 15 I mean the fight is everywhere you go uh there's a huge fight about trying to bring it to 15 and it's going to kill all the jobs as well which is a lie a you know three three three Nobel Peace Prize Economist said it wouldn't kill jobs fact it would put more money in the economy and it would actually expand jobs but here's the thing we had um 15 in the union proposed in 2020 eight Democrats and every Republicans stood against 55 million people 55 million people who make 52 million people who make less than a living wage of $15 out now here's the thing in 63 the marchall in Washington called for a raise of the minimum wage to $2 which index with inflation would be over 15 today really yeah and people forget the March on Washington 63 was titled for jobs and Justice and Justice it wasn't just about black civil rights it was about a broad inclusive just field democracy right and and so here we are are in this reality and people are hurting everywhere there's not a county where you can work a minimum wage job and before the basic two-bedroom apartment and waiters and waitresses on minimum wage on minimum wage not a county in the country not a county in the country you could if you had a minimum wage job there's not a county in this country where you could afford it to better not a federal federal no you couldn't and so this is the Working Poor this isn't you know I think in the country there's a sense of it's an entitlement mentality that's why there's a certain character flow law that keeps you there these are people that are working yeah the entitlement is and the politicians that keep raising their wages and giving corporations tax breaks but they won't help the working people that's the entitlement so so and we're talking about during co co did not exacerbate poverty it exposed it right and what we did a study called um the death during Co and we found that whether you were in a poor County in West Virginia or po County in the Delta poor people died at a rate three to five times higher during Co because of their poverty not because the the the the germ somehow discriminated but we did access to good healthare well 350,000 people died during Co so far one sto said study said from the lack of Health Care and and if you don't face this John that this is the point of the book we have to face this we have to look at it we had 15 presidential debates in the last election 40% of the adult population in poverty 800 people dying a day not one debate was focused on it we've not had an overal office discussion I think why don't politicians value what is an incredibly large population in many different I'm sure in swing States so why don't they do poor people need better lobbyists what what what are what is it that can be done to get a politician to listen well I think that what we're saying now is we just had a study I asked it to be done as a part of our movement waking the Sleeping Giant and this is what we found out that all of these numbers also tell us that poor and low-wage people now represent 30% of the electorate in the country 30% 30 and for over 40% in states where the margin of victory was less than 3% and in Texas where it's less than 5% so what we're saying to poor and low wage people every race it's time to mobilize your vote there's not a state where 20% of poor and low wage voters that didn't vote 57 million voted 30 million didn't in the last election but if 20% that didn't vote moved they could change every election and in Most states Michigan Wisconsin Pennsylvania Florida it's less than 4% so what we're doing is organizing a massive movement in fact on June 29th in Washington DC there's going to be a massive poor people low wage workers assembly at Mar March to on DC and to the polls saying that poor and low-wage people right have to find themselves white black brown Asian native and unite around attacking what we call five interlocking Injustice systemic racism systemic poverty ecological Devastation denial of Health Care the war economy and the false modat religious nationalism wow and and John you know in our agenda we're saying to col if you want these votes bring them in at the top level President Biden bring a group of poor low-wage folk and religious leaders to the White House do people even listen to them do they even he what has the response been when you reach out to our political class what's the response been well because we've been lied to so much you know these at first they said well it's not that big and then we Prov that it's actually 1354 and then they don't expect that people are going to organize you know in a in a democracy you have to engage Eng in agitation legislation litigation and voter participation so what we're saying to poor and low W folks let's use this power right and so we're we're having this gathering before the conventions we're going to touch 15 million poor and low-wage voters with the facts on where people stay in a nonpartisan where they stand on the issues and say let's mobilize and we because that's the true Swing Vote Cinda Lake who's a major uh poster says the truest most powerful biggest Swing Vote right now is pouring low wage people and you know John folk often ask me you and I've talked about this is does our current Society require that things be like this this this was the the real Crux of the issue and what this book says is well it's kind of like putting your hand in an an electric socket that's connected it requires that you get shocked because you put your finger there you don't have to do it but if you keep doing things the way you doing it you're going to get shot so if you keep paying less than a living wage if you keep denying people health care if you keep giving greedy wealthy folk trillion two trillion dollar tax cuts but you won't even spend the money to fully fund public education if we keep doing what we're doing we're going to keep having the level of poverty that we're having and we don't have to do it it is actually I believe criminal a form of a policy Ence to continue down the road and doesn't it weaken the system as a whole you know you could almost make the case that if the system is requiring a permanent entrenched underclass and it makes itself ripe for instability and I'm I'm wondering is there a way to change the mindset because the mindset in America is there is a mucher class these poor people are muches and they're taking resources from me I work hard they get poor people get Health Care they get food they get whatever they need I I don't get it is there a way to change the mentality to view things not as entitlements but Investments yeah and maybe to get labor not to be viewed as shareholders that that corporations have to view labor not as a means to an ends but as shareholders in that and and can that change the dynamic it can but one of the first things we believe we have to do and we talk about Fusion organizing is first of all we should be examining every policy not by the color of a president's hair or how many porn stars he touched or how he or what's the Gate of his walk does the policy you propos do they line up with establishing Justice do they line up with uh providing for the the uh common defense and promoting the general welfare do they line up with our deepest mod religious Val secondly we must expose the level of death that's happening because this is not benign thirdly we must make sure that folks see it all that it's not one group of people we've been lied to so much about this is an anomaly this is just a small group we cannot allow this to be marginalized anymore and then we must have massive organization of poor and low wage people of every place every GE Geographic and every race and in doing that we can put poverty and low wages at the center of our political discourse and then yes we have is isn't not America First is in that making America great again like if if you hollow out a country how can you expect it to be strong wouldn't that be the the absolute Acme of of strengthening a country from the bottom up as opposed to the top down you would think it would be but if you've got people that are still living when they first wrote the Constitution and said even poor white men that didn't own jobs or they didn't own land couldn't vote if you have people with that kind of mentality that this should be an exclusive democracy there than an inclusive but listen listen the D the numbers tell us though they're more of us the the thing is you can't be lazy in a democracy you got to fight like he [Applause] Heaven I mean country you got I mean you you and and and what we're trying to show people the numbers are there right listen Wisconsin marginal victory 20,000 vote number of poor low wage voters didn't vote over a million didn't vote didn't vote Michigan 10,000 votes the number poor low wage vote a million Pennsylvania uh 40,000 votes determin the president number poor low wage vote did about two million North Carolina right 160,000 over a million so so so it's not a big lift and the number one reason though we did a study called waking the sleeping giant that poor low wage people didn't vote nobody talks to them politicians don't go in those communities I've gone in communities and people literally cry and say r barber nobody comes back here and so what I say to them is we're back here now but let's mobilize to make sure they never forget you again that they never forget you ever again white poverty available now Reverend Barber will be leading the Poor People's campaigns March on Washington June 29th [Music]

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Length: 15min 16sec (916 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 18 2024