P.G. Smith Author

The US is the richest nation on earth (by quite a lot) and yet our poverty rate (by the government’s own figures) hovers at about 12%, which is worse than all of Western Europe and many other first world countries as well. It goes up and down but not much. That’s roughly where it was in 1962 when Michael Harrington’s ground-breaking book, The Other Americans jarred President Johnson into a “war on poverty,” only to see many of his innovative and humane programs gutted just four years later when the Nixon administration took office. This, of course, foreshadows one of our biggest problems today, with two parties that can no longer negotiate and compromise with one another. A feature that should be a benefit of our system has become a blockade that threatens to strangle our system.

Into this churning battlefield steps the Rev. Dr. William Barber II with a call for moral reason. Rev. Barber’s new book, White Poverty proposes to show How Exposing Myths About Race and Class Can Reconstruct Democracy.

And myths there are. One is the venerable Horatio Alger rags to riches myth that in America, the land of the free, anyone, even those from the humblest of beginnings can succeed with will and persistence. The unspoken implication is that if you don’t succeed, it’s your fault. The frontier of Horatio Alger is long gone but the myth persists and provides a rationale (however mythological) to withhold aide from the needy.

Another myth (totally false but widely believed) is that most welfare recipients are Black–or Hispanic or some other group, that is to say, they are some OTHER. Barber believes that as long as we can tell ourselves that this is a Black problem, or Hispanic, or inner-city, or southern, or immigrant problem–a THEM problem, we can dismiss it. So he wrote this book “to ask Americans to look at its poor–ALL its poor–in the face.”

It’s a good move because the poor at not all alike, misconceptions about them are rampant, and it’s harder to dismiss people if you have to look at them, hear their stories and understand that they too are people, human beings with hopes and dreams however brittle or broken or beaten down.

This issue is personal to me because I was a single mother on welfare for two years and lived in poverty for much longer. In my own case, it was not so bad living in poverty myself for a while, but it was gut-wrenching to have no more than that to offer my children. Like Barber I hope that telling the stories will connect people who might not otherwise feel those connections. Connection is crucial, Acknowledging the problem as a common problem, our problem, not someone else’s problem is critical to solving it.

And why does Barber think this can reconstruct democracy? In this country a large number of people don’t vote. (For example, in 2024 75 million people voted for Harris; 77 million voted for Trump; but 89 million didn’t vote.) This is typical. It’s estimated that 60% of those who don’t vote are low-income households. The poor are ignored because they don’t vote. But imagine if they did.

Barber is not only calling for moral discussion; he is calling for moral action. He is calling for a movement. (For a fascinating history of his own life as a moral activist see his memoir The Third Reconstruction.)

One might wonder about his timing. A lot of people are hurting right now with high prices and low pay. They don’t want to hear about someone else’s problems. But that’s exactly the point. We have to recognize more of these problems as common problems in need of common solutions. We have been divided against each other for far too long. Atomistic individualism hurts almost all of us.

This is not a new fight for Barber, nor a partisan one. He cautions against political extremism that pit the hate and fear of the right against the grievance of the left. We need to get past that. This is about building a movement, making connections, and recognizing that we are ALL members of a community, that a wealthy nation morally owes ALL its members a decent living. Forty million don’t have that, and fifty million more are living paycheck to paycheck, just one small crisis away from the downward spiral of destitution. We need to recognize that we’in this together. If enough people joined this movement, it could transform our society beyond politics.

In a time of cynicism and anger Barber’s powerful book is well worth reading. Maybe it will inspire you.