In "White Poverty," William Barber II and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove challenge the persistent myth that poverty is solely a Black issue. They delve into the historical roots of this misconception, tracing its origins to the aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement and the ways in which policies have been manipulated to maintain racial divisions. The authors argue that understanding white poverty is crucial to dismantling systemic racism and uniting working-class Americans. They propose a "moral fusion movement" to bridge the divides created by politicians and billionaires who benefit from the status quo. Ultimately, the book offers a path towards a more just and equitable society.
The book details how Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II laid the groundwork for a moral movement that unites black, white, and brown, rich and poor, to work together for a better future. It mixes personal memoir with the history of the Moral Monday coalition, emphasizing the importance of collective action and moral public policy.
My guest today is Jonathon Wilson-Hartgrove. Wilson-Hartgrove is a writer, preacher, and moral activist. He is an assistant director at the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale Divinity School. Wilson-Hartgrove lives with his family at the Rutba House, a house of hospitality in Durham, North Carolina that he founded with H his wife, Leah. Wilson-Hartgrove directs the School for Conversion, a popular education center in Durham committed to "making surprising friendships possible," and is an associate minister at St. John's Missionary Baptist Church. Jonathan is the author or coauthor of more than a dozen books, including Reconstructing the Gospel, The Third Reconstruction, and Strangers at My Door.
About White Poverty: How Exposing Myths About Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy (Liveright, 2024):
One of the most pernicious and persistent myths in the United States is the association of Black skin with poverty. Though there are forty million more poor white people than Black people, most Americans, both Republicans and Democrats, continue to think of poverty--along with issues like welfare, unemployment, and food stamps--as solely a Black problem. Why is this so? What are the historical causes? And what are the political consequences that result?
These are among the questions that the Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II, a leading advocate for the rights of the poor and the "closest person we have to Dr. King" (Cornel West), addresses in White Poverty, a groundbreaking work that exposes a legacy of historical myths that continue to define both white and Black people, creating in the process what might seem like an insuperable divide. Analyzing what has changed since the 1930s, when the face of American poverty was white, Barber, along with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, addresses white poverty as a hugely neglected subject that just might provide the key to mitigating racism and bringing together tens of millions of working class and impoverished Americans.
Thus challenging the very definition of who is poor in America, Barber writes about the lies that prevent us from seeing the pain of poor white families who have been offered little more than their "whiteness" and angry social media posts to sustain them in an economy where the costs of housing, healthcare, and education have skyrocketed while wages have stagnated for all but the very rich. Asserting in Biblically inspired language that there should never be shame in being poor, White Poverty lifts the hope for a new "moral fusion movement" that seeks to unite people "who have been pitted against one another by politicians (and billionaires) who depend on the poorest of us not being here."
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