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White Poverty: How Exposing Myths About Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy
An explosive work with far-ranging historical implications, White Poverty promises to be one of the most influential books of the 2024 election cycle.
When most Americans think of poverty, they imagine Black faces. As a teenager, Reverend William J. Barber II recalls seeing Black mothers interviewed on television whenever there was a story on food stamps or unemployment; poverty, then as now, was depicted as an essentially Black problem. In a work that promises to have lasting repercussions, Barber—now a leading advocate for the rights of our nation’s poor and the “closest person we have to Dr. King” (Cornel West)—addresses white poverty as a hugely neglected subject that might just be the key to mitigating racism and bringing together the tens of millions working-class and impoverished whites with low-income Blacks. Recognizing that angry social media posts have replaced food, education, and housing as a “salve” for the white poor, Barber contends that the millions of America’s lowest-income earners have much in common, and together with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, provides one of the most sympathetic and visionary approaches to endemic poverty in decades.
When most Americans think of poverty, they imagine Black faces. As a teenager, Reverend William J. Barber II recalls seeing Black mothers interviewed on television whenever there was a story on food stamps or unemployment; poverty, then as now, was depicted as an essentially Black problem. In a work that promises to have lasting repercussions, Barber—now a leading advocate for the rights of our nation’s poor and the “closest person we have to Dr. King” (Cornel West)—addresses white poverty as a hugely neglected subject that might just be the key to mitigating racism and bringing together the tens of millions working-class and impoverished whites with low-income Blacks. Recognizing that angry social media posts have replaced food, education, and housing as a “salve” for the white poor, Barber contends that the millions of America’s lowest-income earners have much in common, and together with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, provides one of the most sympathetic and visionary approaches to endemic poverty in decades.
278 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 11, 2024
250 people are currently reading
4191 people want to read
About the author
William J. Barber II
17 books111 followersWilliam J. Barber II is an American Protestant minister and political activist. He is a member of the national board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the chair of its Legislative Political Action Committee. Since 2006 he has been president of the NAACP's North Carolina state chapter, the largest in the Southern United States and the second-largest in the country.[1] Barber has served as pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Goldsboro, North Carolina since 1993.
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November 16, 2025
“We made the world we’re living in, and we have to make it over.” – James Baldwin
Senator Bernie Sanders described the author as a “leader in our country working to take on poverty and economic injustice. He knows that we can bring about great change by building a multi-racial, multi-generational coalition of working-class people. Building a mass movement of ordinary people is how we end today’s unprecedented levels of greed and economic inequality.”
So, how do we make people want to do that, especially if there is a faction out there that may only be concerned about their own interests to get rich?
I’m not sure there is an easy answer, other than to open our minds to books like this one. Where authors that care, and do the hard work also take time to study the problem.
The author opens with…
“This is a book by a Black man about white poverty in America. I’ve written this because I believe the racist images of Black mothers on welfare that have dominated the imaginations of Americans are not merely demeaning to Black people; they are also based on a myth that obscures the poverty of tens of millions of white people. Until we face the reality of white poverty in America, we cannot comprehend what is truly exceptional about the inequality that persists in the richest nation in the history of the world.”
The author has quite the extensive resume. He preached at President Biden’s 2020 inaugural prayer service. He has held a lot of prominent positions that gave him the opportunity whether on the pulpit or at the podium, to denounce injustice and economic disparity with righteous indignation. People have described his penetrating stare as someone looking into America’s soul.
And, this book is him in action doing just that, looking into America’s soul.
The author provides through this book a well-documented and informative discussion on poverty in the United States. He takes on the racial myths and he puts greed front and center.
“We are pitted against one another by politicians and billionaires who depend on the poorest among us not being seen…by cable news and social media memes and politicians who depend on tired narratives to rally their base against imagined enemies of their ‘values.’”
Even as he shares that white supremacy is a myth “as poisonous to white people as it is to people of color,” he is also letting us know that “it dehumanizes the people it claims to elevate; it uses the very people it claims to champion.”
But he doesn’t leave us hanging with this, he wants us to move on through understanding so that we can mitigate it. This comes through in his well-researched chapters.
His thoughts are compelling and insightful. He showcases personal stories that are heart-felt and inspiring. But mostly, he just doesn’t put it out there and leave it, he presents an action plan to help guide us, through uplifting chapters like, “why we must lift from the bottom,” and “rediscovering the ties that bind us.” He gives us hope that we can have meaningful change. Finding humanity. The potential to unite a movement for genuine change.
Senator Bernie Sanders described the author as a “leader in our country working to take on poverty and economic injustice. He knows that we can bring about great change by building a multi-racial, multi-generational coalition of working-class people. Building a mass movement of ordinary people is how we end today’s unprecedented levels of greed and economic inequality.”
So, how do we make people want to do that, especially if there is a faction out there that may only be concerned about their own interests to get rich?
I’m not sure there is an easy answer, other than to open our minds to books like this one. Where authors that care, and do the hard work also take time to study the problem.
The author opens with…
“This is a book by a Black man about white poverty in America. I’ve written this because I believe the racist images of Black mothers on welfare that have dominated the imaginations of Americans are not merely demeaning to Black people; they are also based on a myth that obscures the poverty of tens of millions of white people. Until we face the reality of white poverty in America, we cannot comprehend what is truly exceptional about the inequality that persists in the richest nation in the history of the world.”
The author has quite the extensive resume. He preached at President Biden’s 2020 inaugural prayer service. He has held a lot of prominent positions that gave him the opportunity whether on the pulpit or at the podium, to denounce injustice and economic disparity with righteous indignation. People have described his penetrating stare as someone looking into America’s soul.
And, this book is him in action doing just that, looking into America’s soul.
The author provides through this book a well-documented and informative discussion on poverty in the United States. He takes on the racial myths and he puts greed front and center.
“We are pitted against one another by politicians and billionaires who depend on the poorest among us not being seen…by cable news and social media memes and politicians who depend on tired narratives to rally their base against imagined enemies of their ‘values.’”
Even as he shares that white supremacy is a myth “as poisonous to white people as it is to people of color,” he is also letting us know that “it dehumanizes the people it claims to elevate; it uses the very people it claims to champion.”
But he doesn’t leave us hanging with this, he wants us to move on through understanding so that we can mitigate it. This comes through in his well-researched chapters.
His thoughts are compelling and insightful. He showcases personal stories that are heart-felt and inspiring. But mostly, he just doesn’t put it out there and leave it, he presents an action plan to help guide us, through uplifting chapters like, “why we must lift from the bottom,” and “rediscovering the ties that bind us.” He gives us hope that we can have meaningful change. Finding humanity. The potential to unite a movement for genuine change.
Read
December 12, 2024Everyone should read this book. No matter your political leaning, you should read this book. It's written by the President of Repairers of the Breach and founding director of the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale Divinity School. It's an eye-opening explanation of how political forces in the US managed--over decades--to change the voting patterns of socio-economic groups so that those in poverty were positioned to blame and to hate people who had nothing to do with their poverty in the first place. By examining the issue of poverty, the author reveals that the largest racial demographic within the group defined as America's poor is white and hiding in plain sight as: "...the mother who bags your groceries in the check-out line but doesn't know how she's going to feed her kids if she pays to fix the car that's her only ride to work tomorrow" or "the construction day laborer without health insurance for him and his family" or "the worker...who is forced to choose between buying her medication or paying her rent." He explodes the myth that poverty is the fault of the people who are poor. One by one, he takes four of the major myths about poverty in America and he explains how the myth came about. He also explains how the division between people in the country serves the interests of powerful and the wealthy while doing nothing at all to solve problems which have always been solvable. This is a book that corporate interests, billionaires, elected officials whose interest is only staying in power do not want you to read. This is a book that will be banned from school and college libraries. But it's not sensational, it's not even "woke". What it is is an indictment of the system that casts blame instead of engaging in the kind of self-examination that would bring about change. As I said in my first sentence: everyone should read this book.
July 11, 2025
A nice, soothing read. Reverend Barber has a gentle writing style, weaving in personal anecdotes and stories with historical analysis and a few data points. Which is frustrating if you are reading solely for analysis or data, but enjoyable if you like storytelling in Sunday preacher style.
Like a true man of God, the good pastor is not angry with anyone, but that does not mean he does not take a position, for he very clearly does. And it is based on the clear evidence that the actions of a relatively few billionaires and multimillionaires, primarily on the right, but also among moderate Dems, have been not merely impeding help for the working class, but have in fact been fighting against the interests of the working class since the time of the Civil War. They have accomplished this by repeating ad nauseum myths about race and class via every media communication channel they can utilize. The section of the book on what happened with worker-friendly legislation stopped by Senators Manchin and Sinema in 2021 was heart breaking.
Along the way, Reverend Barber explains a few myths:
1. Being white is, in itself, a shared interest. This is the worst, and oldest myth, having its roots in the sugar barons of the Caribbean, who needed to get the poor whites there on their side for protection against slave revolt. This myth has been greatly effective in restraining white voters from caring too much about better wages and stronger rights.
2.Only Blacks want Change in America. Voting rights is not only a Black issue. Better wages is not only a Black issue.
3.Poverty is only a Black issue Wrong. See 1 and 2 above.
Rev. Barber explains how these myths do not match the facts on the ground by describing his visits to poor areas of North Carolina, West Virginia and Kentucky, where poor white people have been fighting, and continue to fight, for better treatment, better wages and better representation. Does the mainstream media ever cover this? Mostly they just echo the myths. (But you can get some better information from the channel, A More Perfect Union, Democracy Now and others, on Youtube).
As a bonus, Rev. Barber peppers his prose with Old Testament prophets for support. E.g.,
Ezekiel: There is “a conspiracy of princes within [the country] like a roaring lion tearing its prey. … They shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain. …. Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them… They say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says,’ – when the Lord has not spoken.”
Jeremiah ”Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his own people work for nothing, not paying them for their labor.”
Amos paraphrased: If we engage in a general lament, God would hear from heaven and act to bring justice.
Isaiah ”If you loose the bands of wickedness, then your light will break forth like the dawn and your healing will be complete.” … Only then will you be called “a repairer of the breach.”
And, to close, a Fun Fact: At the time of the Civil War, fully two-thirds of all wealthy people in America lived in the South, and just before it voted to succeed from the Union, South Carolina had the wealthiest population in the United States. So, the Civil War really was about money. This bullshit never gets old.
Five stars for insight and real life effort.
Like a true man of God, the good pastor is not angry with anyone, but that does not mean he does not take a position, for he very clearly does. And it is based on the clear evidence that the actions of a relatively few billionaires and multimillionaires, primarily on the right, but also among moderate Dems, have been not merely impeding help for the working class, but have in fact been fighting against the interests of the working class since the time of the Civil War. They have accomplished this by repeating ad nauseum myths about race and class via every media communication channel they can utilize. The section of the book on what happened with worker-friendly legislation stopped by Senators Manchin and Sinema in 2021 was heart breaking.
Along the way, Reverend Barber explains a few myths:
1. Being white is, in itself, a shared interest. This is the worst, and oldest myth, having its roots in the sugar barons of the Caribbean, who needed to get the poor whites there on their side for protection against slave revolt. This myth has been greatly effective in restraining white voters from caring too much about better wages and stronger rights.
2.Only Blacks want Change in America. Voting rights is not only a Black issue. Better wages is not only a Black issue.
3.Poverty is only a Black issue Wrong. See 1 and 2 above.
Rev. Barber explains how these myths do not match the facts on the ground by describing his visits to poor areas of North Carolina, West Virginia and Kentucky, where poor white people have been fighting, and continue to fight, for better treatment, better wages and better representation. Does the mainstream media ever cover this? Mostly they just echo the myths. (But you can get some better information from the channel, A More Perfect Union, Democracy Now and others, on Youtube).
As a bonus, Rev. Barber peppers his prose with Old Testament prophets for support. E.g.,
Ezekiel: There is “a conspiracy of princes within [the country] like a roaring lion tearing its prey. … They shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain. …. Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them… They say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says,’ – when the Lord has not spoken.”
Jeremiah ”Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his own people work for nothing, not paying them for their labor.”
Amos paraphrased: If we engage in a general lament, God would hear from heaven and act to bring justice.
Isaiah ”If you loose the bands of wickedness, then your light will break forth like the dawn and your healing will be complete.” … Only then will you be called “a repairer of the breach.”
And, to close, a Fun Fact: At the time of the Civil War, fully two-thirds of all wealthy people in America lived in the South, and just before it voted to succeed from the Union, South Carolina had the wealthiest population in the United States. So, the Civil War really was about money. This bullshit never gets old.
Five stars for insight and real life effort.
April 16, 2024
This is a powerful argument that the current divisions in our society are based on myths that are propagated and reinforced by those who benefit from these divisions. These myths drive a wedge between the white poor and the poor of color, when, in reality, they should be natural allies against those who would keep them all poor so as to continue to reap the profits. The author also notes that our official definitions of who is poor are utter inaccurate and that an accurate assessment of poverty in America would show that as much as 40% of the population can be considered poor. He argues strongly that the only way to improve the situation for those trapped in this life of poverty is for them to see the myths for what they are and to unite to force our elected leaders to truly address their needs.
I am not, personally, someone who finds strong religious or biblical language compelling, and so I was initially a little put off by the amount of this language the author uses in making his case. But as an ordained minister, this is his way of being in the world, and ultimately, I found his arguments to be quite persuasive, even if I would have preferred them to have been presented without the trappings of his religious point-of-view.
The take away from this book is that the economy of the United States has been, at least since the late 1970s, fundamentally stacked against the poor in favor of large corporate interests and the handful of elites who control them. This structure is unfair (and immoral, in the author's language) and is only sustainable because we (as a society) have bought into certain myths about race and poverty that keep us from truly seeing this disparity for what it is. But the author is optimistic that change can happen, that the poor can come together to fight for their economic rights and for justice.
I am not, personally, someone who finds strong religious or biblical language compelling, and so I was initially a little put off by the amount of this language the author uses in making his case. But as an ordained minister, this is his way of being in the world, and ultimately, I found his arguments to be quite persuasive, even if I would have preferred them to have been presented without the trappings of his religious point-of-view.
The take away from this book is that the economy of the United States has been, at least since the late 1970s, fundamentally stacked against the poor in favor of large corporate interests and the handful of elites who control them. This structure is unfair (and immoral, in the author's language) and is only sustainable because we (as a society) have bought into certain myths about race and poverty that keep us from truly seeing this disparity for what it is. But the author is optimistic that change can happen, that the poor can come together to fight for their economic rights and for justice.
Read
September 21, 2024DNF. Extremely important message about how racism is a strategy of oppression to keep poor people divided against each other. Unfortunately, the book is very repetitive.
July 21, 2024
I think that without a doubt the country does not pay enough attention to white poverty. Poor, rural white folks have a tough lot in life and few obvious avenues for betterment or to escape the cycle of poverty they are in. We need to find ways to improve that, but it often seems beyond me how we'd start. How do you create economic activity with incredibly low population densities? Without economic activity how do you have income, a tax base, quality schools, or anything else you need to have a functioning 21st century society? How do you provide healthcare or other social services over such huge distances? Providing services to urban poor has always seemed more tractable solely on the basis of concentration and population density.
If you've never contemplated white poverty, shame on you - but I suppose you can read the first few chapters to learn some things. The back half is mostly a rehash of the first. There is danger in statistics: by focusing on the fact that a higher percentage of people of color are poor, we lose track of the fact that the majority of actual poor people are white. Spend time driving around the country - like I do - and you know that there are a lot of poor white people out there in small towns.
I was excited when I heard about this book on NPR, and thrilled when I had a chance to pick it up in an airport (at words in MSP) when I found myself about to finish my previous book sooner than expected. White Poverty promised to explain the problem and provide policy solutions that have been developed over the years to solve it.
Unfortunately, there were no policies. Merely increasing the minimum wage is not a policy. It will make keeping rural hospitals open harder, not easier. Just hoping that unions will negotiate higher wages and better benefits isn't a policy. Policies are things like eliminating the cap on taxable social security income, increasing tax rates on earned and/or unearned income, restoring government funding of schools at the primary, secondary, and post-secondary levels. It seems to me that the problem is that all of this requires money, and this book didn't offer even a single suggestion for how to do it. The problem is compounded when we consider the matter of policy that we need to increase expenditures while also reducing the deficit, thus exacerbating the demand on increased revenues. How? From where? How do we create the political will to do that?
I'm disappointed with this book specifically because it promised policies and offered none. By all means, look around you and recognize the problems caused by housing prices and low wages for unskilled labor. My personal preference is that we focus on developing skills in young people so that they grow up to have skilled jobs that earn them higher wages and salaries, not just increase the amount of money we pay people to do unskilled, menial things. Developing skills requires better schools and more stable homes for children so that they can arrive into kindergarten in a position to learn, accrue skills, and be successful. Trade schools are a perfectly viable path to accruing skills that can demand higher incomes and enhance life outcomes. None of these things help the current adults trapped in their lives of quiet desperation, but we can strive to do better for the next generation. That's what the American Dream used to be about, and we can dream again if we choose to embrace our fellow Americans.
If you've never contemplated white poverty, shame on you - but I suppose you can read the first few chapters to learn some things. The back half is mostly a rehash of the first. There is danger in statistics: by focusing on the fact that a higher percentage of people of color are poor, we lose track of the fact that the majority of actual poor people are white. Spend time driving around the country - like I do - and you know that there are a lot of poor white people out there in small towns.
I was excited when I heard about this book on NPR, and thrilled when I had a chance to pick it up in an airport (at words in MSP) when I found myself about to finish my previous book sooner than expected. White Poverty promised to explain the problem and provide policy solutions that have been developed over the years to solve it.
Unfortunately, there were no policies. Merely increasing the minimum wage is not a policy. It will make keeping rural hospitals open harder, not easier. Just hoping that unions will negotiate higher wages and better benefits isn't a policy. Policies are things like eliminating the cap on taxable social security income, increasing tax rates on earned and/or unearned income, restoring government funding of schools at the primary, secondary, and post-secondary levels. It seems to me that the problem is that all of this requires money, and this book didn't offer even a single suggestion for how to do it. The problem is compounded when we consider the matter of policy that we need to increase expenditures while also reducing the deficit, thus exacerbating the demand on increased revenues. How? From where? How do we create the political will to do that?
I'm disappointed with this book specifically because it promised policies and offered none. By all means, look around you and recognize the problems caused by housing prices and low wages for unskilled labor. My personal preference is that we focus on developing skills in young people so that they grow up to have skilled jobs that earn them higher wages and salaries, not just increase the amount of money we pay people to do unskilled, menial things. Developing skills requires better schools and more stable homes for children so that they can arrive into kindergarten in a position to learn, accrue skills, and be successful. Trade schools are a perfectly viable path to accruing skills that can demand higher incomes and enhance life outcomes. None of these things help the current adults trapped in their lives of quiet desperation, but we can strive to do better for the next generation. That's what the American Dream used to be about, and we can dream again if we choose to embrace our fellow Americans.
July 23, 2024
“White Poverty: How Exposing Myths About Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy”. It’s by the leader of the Poor People’s Campaign is very inspiring.
Rev. Dr William J Barber who is African American writes about Moral Fusion movements to combat poverty
in which minority groups and poor white people work together on many issues.
I learned in the book that even Democrats are encouraged not to use the word poor but to focus on words like “aspiring middle class “ Barber details how black people are called poor but whites are called working class. But he focuses on claiming the word poor and also emphasizes that the words “the working poor”usually only refers to white people; the implication is black, native etc are on welfare and not working.
“Working Poor “ also should be eliminated as a phrase he suggests. It should be the “underpaid” working poor.
It is a blue print of how all races can work together to eliminate poverty. His organization already has accomplished amazing things.
Highly recommended.
Rev. Dr William J Barber who is African American writes about Moral Fusion movements to combat poverty
in which minority groups and poor white people work together on many issues.
I learned in the book that even Democrats are encouraged not to use the word poor but to focus on words like “aspiring middle class “ Barber details how black people are called poor but whites are called working class. But he focuses on claiming the word poor and also emphasizes that the words “the working poor”usually only refers to white people; the implication is black, native etc are on welfare and not working.
“Working Poor “ also should be eliminated as a phrase he suggests. It should be the “underpaid” working poor.
It is a blue print of how all races can work together to eliminate poverty. His organization already has accomplished amazing things.
Highly recommended.
June 23, 2024
The fact poverty is the fourth leading cause of death in the richest country in the history of the world is shameful. As Americans we see and ignore poverty almost constantly. Every person needs to be a poverty abolitionist like the Reverend Barber proposes.
The Reverend writes about the need to acknowledge white poverty and use that knowledge to build coalitions. We can no longer let race divide the working class because that benefits the powerful.
The ideas are great, I did feel the book was not structured very well. It felt like the message of each chapter should have been honed in a more organized fashion.
The Reverend writes about the need to acknowledge white poverty and use that knowledge to build coalitions. We can no longer let race divide the working class because that benefits the powerful.
The ideas are great, I did feel the book was not structured very well. It felt like the message of each chapter should have been honed in a more organized fashion.
November 25, 2024
Review forthcoming.
July 4, 2024
Compliment Sandwich:
The Good: Rev. Barber is right on with the premise: the more we associate poverty with communities of color, the easier it is to demonize poor white people and to make them go against their own interests. And that's especially true because they are the largest benefactors of what programs could help them. The book serves as a good counter to the myths of JD Vance's Hillbilly Elegy (which rightfully takes a few hits) and that stupid Oliver Anthony song Rich Men North Of Richmond.
The Bad: I wasn't entirely sold on some of the autobiographical details that he shared about his multiracial family exemplifying black-white unity. Some were okay (the "aunt" story and the interracial marriage). But far too many were a bit mawkish and sentimental to me. That may be because I was more interested in hearing the facts or historical notes (like the genesis of "Lift Every Voice and Sing".)
The Good: He lays out a fantastic vision when he sticks to his theme. He's right about a multicultural fusion being able to tackle any problem. While he mainly stays on poverty, he touches upon voting rights, the environment, and gun control in fantastic ways. I also think the entire book functions as a spiritual twin to Bob Dylan's "Only A Pawn In Their Game".
Still, recommended.
The Good: Rev. Barber is right on with the premise: the more we associate poverty with communities of color, the easier it is to demonize poor white people and to make them go against their own interests. And that's especially true because they are the largest benefactors of what programs could help them. The book serves as a good counter to the myths of JD Vance's Hillbilly Elegy (which rightfully takes a few hits) and that stupid Oliver Anthony song Rich Men North Of Richmond.
The Bad: I wasn't entirely sold on some of the autobiographical details that he shared about his multiracial family exemplifying black-white unity. Some were okay (the "aunt" story and the interracial marriage). But far too many were a bit mawkish and sentimental to me. That may be because I was more interested in hearing the facts or historical notes (like the genesis of "Lift Every Voice and Sing".)
The Good: He lays out a fantastic vision when he sticks to his theme. He's right about a multicultural fusion being able to tackle any problem. While he mainly stays on poverty, he touches upon voting rights, the environment, and gun control in fantastic ways. I also think the entire book functions as a spiritual twin to Bob Dylan's "Only A Pawn In Their Game".
Still, recommended.
March 15, 2025
Five years ago, I wore my North Carolina Poor People’s Campaign T-shirt at the apartment complex where we were living. A young man entrusted with management of the facility looked befuddled as he saw my shirt, which seemed nonsensical to him. After all, I’m not poor. Also, he assumed poor people are Black, whereas I’m white. For my part, his perplexity puzzled me. I naively assumed most people knew about the Moral Mondays which the Reverend Dr. William Barber had organized for political leaders in our state capital to hear the voices of the poor.
That encounter awakened me to the need to spread the message expressed so clearly in Barber’s recent book, White Poverty. My household and my extended family have been familiar with William Barber for many years. For one thing, he’s an ordained minister in my denomination, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). For another, until recently, he was the pastor of a church within the region where I live, North Carolina. He now teaches at Yale Divinity School, where my oldest brother studied. We've attended a few of his rallies and seen him on the news.
The dust cover says his book tells “how exposing myths about race and class can reconstruct American democracy.” That description seems accurate though abstract. A broad summary statement can’t substitute for the interplay of statistics and stories White Poverty includes.
The starting point of the discussion is the need for us to take off our blinders; that is, to see poverty, to see the poor. Misleading statistics understate how widespread the crisis of poverty is. Speaking of it merely as an abstract phenomenon fails to see it as violence, as Coretta Scott King told her audience during the summer after the assassination of her husband, who started the first Poor People’s Campaign:
“I must remind you that starving a child is violence…Neglecting school children is violence. Punishing a mother and her family is violence. Discrimination against a working man is violence. Ignoring medical need is violence. Ghetto housing is violence. Contempt for poverty is violence." (p. 14f.)The next step in the discussion is recognition that more poor people are white than are Black (or from any other minority group). Barber emphasizes this point with an abundance of statistics and stories. Then he proceeds to refute four long-term lies that have blinded people to white poverty. (1) The lie of racism, which over time was invented to justify the economic domination and enslavement of Black people, and which has been used to make white and Black people afraid of each other. (2) The lie that only Black people need, want, or care about economic change to end poverty, a lie stemming from the “divide and conquer” strategy of segregationists. (3) The lie that poverty is only a Black issue, which “obscures the fact that white folks are potentially the largest single base for a movement of poor people that could demand our government address the crisis of poverty in America.” (p. 95) And (4) the lie that we cannot overcome division in our country. While it’s true that actions lead to reactions, just as Reconstruction was followed by Jim Crow, and the “Second Reconstruction” of the civil rights movement and War on Poverty was followed by the backlash of the religious right and culture wars, this lie merely seeks to persuade the poor that their plight is hopeless, whereas specific experiences have shown that it’s not.
Barber argues that those who resist changes that would help the poor are only hurting themselves. An economy that puts profits over people and normalizes greed will kill democracy. Two key issues in this argument are accessible voting rights and sustainable wages. There has been plenty of tire spinning and not much traction in advancing these causes at a federal level. These two factors, however, will build the economy from the bottom up to the benefit of everyone. The Biden administration made some economic progress using this philosophy despite meeting resistance. Yet, as Pete Buttigieg confessed to William Barber in 2019, even within the Democratic Party consultants advise politicians against talking about poverty or talking directly with poor people. Nevertheless, Barber’s campaigns have pulled together poor people and their advocates, Black, white, and brown, into huge rallies from coast to coast, from Texas to Wisconsin. A rally to confront Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia about his decision not to support the wages or voting access for poor people drew a gathering where 90 percent of the demonstrators were white.
White Poverty appeals to poor people and their advocates to become a “moral fusion,” a movement for change. As a fusion, such a movement would unite people of any and every skin tone, religious persuasion, and previous political point of view. Barber concludes with a water metaphor—streams flowing long distance from many places but coming together with great force, like the waters he witnessed at Niagara Falls.
Barber's inauguration sermon for President Biden is at the book's end, along with 20 pages of notes and an epilogue by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Barber's co-author and Yale colleague. The sermon lists the justice “stones” that need to be lifted from the bottom for everybody to rise (p. 237f.): racial, economic, healthcare, ecological, disability, housing, wages, and immigration. These are the causes that will flow together into a mighty river when peace and justice come.
Any American of any skin color and any economic or educational status will benefit from reading White Poverty. I pray that this message will reach and encourage poor white people to rise up and work with others for a democracy where there is justice for all.
April 11, 2025
For my course work, we were assigned two chapters and decided to read the entire book! Definitely still
processing and looking forward to class on Tuesday. I’ll update more later. Probably! Ha!
processing and looking forward to class on Tuesday. I’ll update more later. Probably! Ha!
September 27, 2024
A strong religious tone and southern geography focus the thesis presented in the title, but for those who already read this genre, there isn’t much that’s new.
July 21, 2024
White Poverty is the most important book everyone should read about the United States today. If every voter in the U.S. read this book, and listened closely to Rev. Barber, our world would change dramatically for the better. For the first time in months, I feel a glimmer of hope.
As noted within its pages:
“Yes, the history of America, like the history of the world, is filled with stories of powerful people who’ve stolen from the poor and used their power to pit poor people against one another so the masses would not rise up against them.”
“We are not a nation divided by racial identity and political ideology. We are, instead, a people who have been pitted against one another by politicians and billionaires who depend on the poorest among us not being seen.”
“Reactionary conservatives – the so-called ‘New Right’ – ...turned to violence and terror, killing four little girls in a Birmingham church; civil rights workers like Mickey Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman in Mississippi; and many of the leaders of the Second Reconstruction. But they also reworked the script of the old myth. The electoral attacks of this era were developed by Kevin Phillips, a Nixon campaign aide and Republican strategist. He said the secret to American Politics was knowing who hates who, and he developed a ‘Southern Strategy’ to persuade Southern whites to leave the Democratic Party out of their opposition to the Civil Rights movement. Republican strategist Lee Atwater later described how it worked. He said this: “You start out in 1954 saying ‘N-word, N-word, N-word’ but in 1968 you cannot say the N-word – that hurts you, that backfires. So you say stuff like ‘forced busing,’ ‘states rights,’ all that stuff. You’re getting abstract now. You talk about cutting taxes. And these things sound total economic, but the byproduct of them is that blacks get hurt worse than whites and whites blame their problem on blacks and those whom they taught are getting free things for nothing.”
“Backing Ronald Reagan in 1980, the New Right rallied white conservatives with talk about traditional and family values while they pushed a policy that benefited corporations and slashed government programs that has lifted millions of people out of poverty. In a place where race had shaped identity for generations, the public appeals of this movement were no longer explicitly racist. Reagan made Martin Luther King Jr. Day a federal holiday and, at the same time, worked to undermine the federal antipoverty programs that King was working to expand through the Poor People’s Campaign when he was gunned down in 1968. In the name of our values – and in ways that often suggested immorality among ‘those people’ – we were invited to sell out the most vulnerable among us.”
The way rich/powerful people have treated everyone who is not rich/powerful has been going on for centuries and has obviously been very successful. The rich/powerful are more rich/powerful than ever before. The rest of the country remains deeply divided while the rich/powerful count their money and snicker at their success.
But what if? What if “They knew the system wasn’t working for them, and they could see through the lies of the politicians who told them that Black people or gay people or immigrants were their enemies. They needed a new community to belong to, and they needed an agenda they could pursue together with a new coalition of unlikely allies.”
Let it be so.
As noted within its pages:
“Yes, the history of America, like the history of the world, is filled with stories of powerful people who’ve stolen from the poor and used their power to pit poor people against one another so the masses would not rise up against them.”
“We are not a nation divided by racial identity and political ideology. We are, instead, a people who have been pitted against one another by politicians and billionaires who depend on the poorest among us not being seen.”
“Reactionary conservatives – the so-called ‘New Right’ – ...turned to violence and terror, killing four little girls in a Birmingham church; civil rights workers like Mickey Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman in Mississippi; and many of the leaders of the Second Reconstruction. But they also reworked the script of the old myth. The electoral attacks of this era were developed by Kevin Phillips, a Nixon campaign aide and Republican strategist. He said the secret to American Politics was knowing who hates who, and he developed a ‘Southern Strategy’ to persuade Southern whites to leave the Democratic Party out of their opposition to the Civil Rights movement. Republican strategist Lee Atwater later described how it worked. He said this: “You start out in 1954 saying ‘N-word, N-word, N-word’ but in 1968 you cannot say the N-word – that hurts you, that backfires. So you say stuff like ‘forced busing,’ ‘states rights,’ all that stuff. You’re getting abstract now. You talk about cutting taxes. And these things sound total economic, but the byproduct of them is that blacks get hurt worse than whites and whites blame their problem on blacks and those whom they taught are getting free things for nothing.”
“Backing Ronald Reagan in 1980, the New Right rallied white conservatives with talk about traditional and family values while they pushed a policy that benefited corporations and slashed government programs that has lifted millions of people out of poverty. In a place where race had shaped identity for generations, the public appeals of this movement were no longer explicitly racist. Reagan made Martin Luther King Jr. Day a federal holiday and, at the same time, worked to undermine the federal antipoverty programs that King was working to expand through the Poor People’s Campaign when he was gunned down in 1968. In the name of our values – and in ways that often suggested immorality among ‘those people’ – we were invited to sell out the most vulnerable among us.”
The way rich/powerful people have treated everyone who is not rich/powerful has been going on for centuries and has obviously been very successful. The rich/powerful are more rich/powerful than ever before. The rest of the country remains deeply divided while the rich/powerful count their money and snicker at their success.
But what if? What if “They knew the system wasn’t working for them, and they could see through the lies of the politicians who told them that Black people or gay people or immigrants were their enemies. They needed a new community to belong to, and they needed an agenda they could pursue together with a new coalition of unlikely allies.”
Let it be so.
October 25, 2024
Great topic but was hoping for a bit more meat on the bone.
December 5, 2024
While the premise of bringing White/Black folks together is a good thing...a great thing...the book was unfortunately one sided and needed some concrete solutions. Delving into the real economics of the poor and how inefficient the government is at implementing policy and dollars would have been nice. And...in my humble opinion, citing race baiters as doing good doesn't wash. Who are the race baiters in the book? Read it and find out. While I gave this a low mark, I believe it was worth the read and it is well written. This issues that Mr. Barber addresses are much more complex and...I would argue, more corrupted than any of us could imagine. It's almost as if he thinks government has or should have all the answers, when the fact remains that their tendency is to make things worse.
June 30, 2024
Barber does a fantastic job of picking apart how we (the masses) have been kept apart by the ruling elite since roughly 1667. I can only hope that the people who need this message are willing to open their hearts and minds. The sober truth is that, until we come to realize that we have far more in common with each other than we don’t, we are destined to be divided and distracted from the real issues afflicting this country. Just as the Southern aristocracy used poor white farmers to die for their right to own other human beings under the guise of “state’s rights”, we are now being used as pawns in a game of wealth concentration that only benefits the uber-wealthy and the politicians beholden to them. By putting the crosshairs on the LGBTQ, black, and immigrant communities, they are intentionally weakening our collective power. The goal of the moral fusion movement described in these pages is to help us see our commonalities so that we may guide the ship of America toward her as-yet unfulfilled promise.
September 4, 2024
I first listened to Dr. Rev. William Barber on a Zoom presentation and was transformed by his lecture. From that point forward, I tried to listen and read him whenever I could. This work is important and pivotal to any discussion about realizing a true democracy in our country. So often in the conversation about racism, the damage it does to white people is often overlooked but essential is finding true justice. They keep us fearful and at odds so we do not realize the power we would have if we united against them. Rev. Dr. Barber exposes this and I truly admire his work to unite us all and bring an end to poverty in America. A great read!
August 28, 2025
Interesting book for those interested in systems, how the world works, and the myths that prop up the continuation of the current systems. Highly recommend for everyone in general as it will challenge your conscious or unconscious bias and thinking of what "poor" or "poverty" is, who you imagine they are (race, ethnicity, religion, education level), the situations that they find themselves in, and what lead to that situation. We have this strong belief in America that we have full control over our lives, but that's just not true. We don't live in a vacuum and the theories, debates, and policies that people with power make- have real impacts on the least of society.
April 1, 2025
Really solid and accessible writing that makes a clear case for class solidarity, even if it did emphasize "non-violent" resistance in a tone that I have increasingly less patience for
May 12, 2025
"The problem cannot be that America doesn't know how to reduce poverty. Our peer nations in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East have dramatically lower rates of poverty than the United States and our best social scientists regularly produce peer-reviewed studies that outline policies that have reduced poverty here and elsewhere. Neither can the problem be that the United States lacks resources. We are the single largest economy in the world. When we want to go to war, we pay for it. When congress decides to bail out banks, they can do it. What we lack is a matter of conscience."
Rtc
Rtc
June 28, 2024
White Poverty will give readers a shock of optimism in a time of political uncertainty and pessimism. Rev. Barber, deeply inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.‘s Poor People’s Campaign, strives to make Coretta Scott King’s Beloved Community a national socio-political reality. Throughout this book, Barber explains the lies we’ve been told that keep us divided and outlines all that we have lost. There is not a single group in America that holds a monopoly on policy, despite what political media will attempt to make you believe. The same policies that uphold the racial wealth gap and keep black people poor in inner cities are also the root causes of deaths of despair for poor white people in Appalachia. I pray for a talented politician, regardless of party, the internalize Barber’s message and truly unite the masses of our country and help us realize our shared interests and vulnerabilities.
February 17, 2025
I have been thinking a lot since the election about the lasting effects of the Supreme Court ruling in Citizen’s United (2010). I had some quite hopeless catastrophizing thoughts about where this would lead us. I envisioned a world where corporations had more rights than human women. I thought that income inequality would grow as labor protections and unions would be increasingly under attack.
Some people have consistently gaslit those canaries in the coal mine who have seen the warning signs and tried to speak out. I remember we were on an international cruise when I turned on the news and saw Hilary Clinton had announced Tim Kaine as her running mate. I turned to Ben and said, Donald Trump is going to become the next president and this is the end of Roe v. Wade. He told me I was being dramatic. That is probably the first and last time he ever said that to me.
Obviously America has never been perfect. There have always been pain points and flashes of deep pain and discomfort as we have strived for a more perfect union. We cannot confront something unless we name it, and slavery was the one of the original sins and blood on the hands of this nation. Slavery and indigenous genocide are quite literally being written out of textbooks this very moment. We cannot confront what is not seen. History is written by the victors.
With the ruling in Citizens, America dropped all pretenses of government being “for the people” and said the quiet parts out loud that government is “for the corporate interests of evil men.”
This book continues the legacy of Dr. King and the Poor People’s Campaign. As a Black moral leader, Reverend Barner exposes the simple truth: in our racist society, we cannot confront poverty without recognizing it as a white issue. That so much animosity has been created, maintained, and exacerbated to get white folks to consistently support policies against their own interests out of fear and hate, while corporations profit.
Reverend Barner traces the history, policy decisions, and divisive rhetoric that has lead to polarization between poor white people and poor people of other races and ethnicities. He calls for a moral movement to bring people together to fight for a more just society.
As someone that does not have any religious affiliation, I do recognize that so many social protections came from the direct and sustained action from Black churches. It is refreshing to read a faith leader that actively calls out and resists the hypocrisy of white Christian nationalism.
This book should be read by people from every socioeconomic background and of all places on the political spectrum. It was a beacon of hope during very bleak times.
“If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you” - Lyndon B. Johnson
Some people have consistently gaslit those canaries in the coal mine who have seen the warning signs and tried to speak out. I remember we were on an international cruise when I turned on the news and saw Hilary Clinton had announced Tim Kaine as her running mate. I turned to Ben and said, Donald Trump is going to become the next president and this is the end of Roe v. Wade. He told me I was being dramatic. That is probably the first and last time he ever said that to me.
Obviously America has never been perfect. There have always been pain points and flashes of deep pain and discomfort as we have strived for a more perfect union. We cannot confront something unless we name it, and slavery was the one of the original sins and blood on the hands of this nation. Slavery and indigenous genocide are quite literally being written out of textbooks this very moment. We cannot confront what is not seen. History is written by the victors.
With the ruling in Citizens, America dropped all pretenses of government being “for the people” and said the quiet parts out loud that government is “for the corporate interests of evil men.”
This book continues the legacy of Dr. King and the Poor People’s Campaign. As a Black moral leader, Reverend Barner exposes the simple truth: in our racist society, we cannot confront poverty without recognizing it as a white issue. That so much animosity has been created, maintained, and exacerbated to get white folks to consistently support policies against their own interests out of fear and hate, while corporations profit.
Reverend Barner traces the history, policy decisions, and divisive rhetoric that has lead to polarization between poor white people and poor people of other races and ethnicities. He calls for a moral movement to bring people together to fight for a more just society.
As someone that does not have any religious affiliation, I do recognize that so many social protections came from the direct and sustained action from Black churches. It is refreshing to read a faith leader that actively calls out and resists the hypocrisy of white Christian nationalism.
This book should be read by people from every socioeconomic background and of all places on the political spectrum. It was a beacon of hope during very bleak times.
“If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you” - Lyndon B. Johnson
October 18, 2025
We are one of the wealthiest nations on the planet, so why do we have so many low wealth (read poor or poverty stricken) people in this country? It could be because white folks have been brought up on a series of myths about poverty: it’s made up of mostly Black and “welfare queen” single moms, that only Black people want poverty addressed and is only a Black issue, and that we can’t get over what is dividing us. Bishop William J. Barber wrote white Poverty.
Everyone needs to read it.
I continue to learn. I knew that Blacks were brought here against their will in 1619. What I didn’t know is that, at first, they lived among white indentured servants. I learned that “white” and “black” weren’t designated until the Southern plantation owners wanted to enslave people of color because, somehow, Blacks were inferior. Thus began the myths we’ve lived with ever since.
Bishop Barber supports the idea of a Third Reconstruction, using a moral fusion of people—no matter the color, religion, gender, ability, or income. In the book, he writes that more white people are living in poverty than there are people of color.
In the First Reconstruction after the Civil War, whites and Blacks worked together to provide for civil rights, property, and a living wage. Blacks weren’t the only beneficiaries. Poor white people benefited too. It lasted only a few years, and then white Southern Republicans took power and reversed the gains made. Thus began the Jim Crow laws and unchecked lynchings.
The Second Reconstruction took place in my lifetime, beginning with the Civil Rights Movement. Again, Blacks and whites came together and worked to bring about change with nonviolent “good trouble” protests. So, we saw schools desegregated and Civil Rights laws passed. Poor whites benefited too. Now, everyone in need could apply for Medicare and Medicaid. Every worker saw an increase in minimum wage. Not only that, from the Civil Rights Act, the Fourteenth Amendment expanded to include interracial and same sex marriage, protection of LGBTQ rights, and the rights of people with disabilities.
Again, there was backlash—again, from the Republican party. Every Republican president since Nixon and the Republican party has done everything they could to gut our Civil Rights. They believe they are hurting Democrats, transgender and LGBTQ folks, and Blacks. They did not know or care that by gutting these rights, they were also injuring poor people and those living in poverty.
He writes that determining whether people are poor uses measures that are far outdated and need to be revised. Who are the poor? You may be surprised. The poor are made up of any people who have trouble paying their mortgage, rent, utilities, prescription, medical, insurance, and grocery bills.
TB and I make just over the income limit to receive any assistance. Yes, we are poor. Someone you know is poor.
Bishop Barber has been collaborating with volunteers of all colors, sexes, and genders to get this Third Reconstruction off the ground.
You know what? We are ready for this. We are saying enough is enough and are coming together to say NO MORE HURTING EVERYONE.
Everyone needs to read it.
I continue to learn. I knew that Blacks were brought here against their will in 1619. What I didn’t know is that, at first, they lived among white indentured servants. I learned that “white” and “black” weren’t designated until the Southern plantation owners wanted to enslave people of color because, somehow, Blacks were inferior. Thus began the myths we’ve lived with ever since.
Bishop Barber supports the idea of a Third Reconstruction, using a moral fusion of people—no matter the color, religion, gender, ability, or income. In the book, he writes that more white people are living in poverty than there are people of color.
In the First Reconstruction after the Civil War, whites and Blacks worked together to provide for civil rights, property, and a living wage. Blacks weren’t the only beneficiaries. Poor white people benefited too. It lasted only a few years, and then white Southern Republicans took power and reversed the gains made. Thus began the Jim Crow laws and unchecked lynchings.
The Second Reconstruction took place in my lifetime, beginning with the Civil Rights Movement. Again, Blacks and whites came together and worked to bring about change with nonviolent “good trouble” protests. So, we saw schools desegregated and Civil Rights laws passed. Poor whites benefited too. Now, everyone in need could apply for Medicare and Medicaid. Every worker saw an increase in minimum wage. Not only that, from the Civil Rights Act, the Fourteenth Amendment expanded to include interracial and same sex marriage, protection of LGBTQ rights, and the rights of people with disabilities.
Again, there was backlash—again, from the Republican party. Every Republican president since Nixon and the Republican party has done everything they could to gut our Civil Rights. They believe they are hurting Democrats, transgender and LGBTQ folks, and Blacks. They did not know or care that by gutting these rights, they were also injuring poor people and those living in poverty.
He writes that determining whether people are poor uses measures that are far outdated and need to be revised. Who are the poor? You may be surprised. The poor are made up of any people who have trouble paying their mortgage, rent, utilities, prescription, medical, insurance, and grocery bills.
TB and I make just over the income limit to receive any assistance. Yes, we are poor. Someone you know is poor.
Bishop Barber has been collaborating with volunteers of all colors, sexes, and genders to get this Third Reconstruction off the ground.
You know what? We are ready for this. We are saying enough is enough and are coming together to say NO MORE HURTING EVERYONE.
August 25, 2024
In this book, William Barber provides essential corrective focus on the common cause of both Black and white people and all other categories that separate us as well—exposing the fatal error within conservative and progressive thinking alike that white and black people have fundamentally different and often opposing aspirations. Barber consistently refutes the lie that white people can never understand what others have gone through—such a canard only keeps people divided and ineffective. And Barber demonstrates throughout this book (arguably it's the main point) that poor people (and all people) of all races and backgrounds have an overwhelming amount in common.
Among the many poignant points that Barber makes is that one cannot be truly antiracist without searching for the ties that bind, while countering the forces (from all directions) that pit us against each other. This approach has practical effects that have materially changed elections from previously expected outcomes, such as in the case of the Kentucky governor's election. Barber describes how this movement is creating a Hillbilly Rhapsody rather than an Elegy—it's a song black and white people from all walks of life are singing together harmoniously.
Instead of waiting for a top-down initiative to come along, Barber illustrates how to build from the bottom—not by an insurrection but through a resurrection. One of the groups that Barber champions is Repairers of the Breach—an organization that actively works to expose and remove false differences between divided peoples, specifically poor whites and their black neighbors suffering under the same oppression even as so many additional obstacles are thrown at black people because of their race. Barber points out that race is an artificial construct (that is crumbling even today), and we cannot make white people our enemy (even for white people) if the current oppression of black people is to be stopped and corrected.
Barber demonstrates through accounts of actual events that fusion of black and white poor people is a viable and effective counter to the mystery money funding (divisive) disinformation. Although Nathaniel Bacon's famous rebellion had its motivational flaws, it demonstrated that white and black people can join together in common cause. All through this book, Barber describes our current progress toward another Reconstruction era benefiting all people—this time, let's ensure it is never rolled back.
Among the many poignant points that Barber makes is that one cannot be truly antiracist without searching for the ties that bind, while countering the forces (from all directions) that pit us against each other. This approach has practical effects that have materially changed elections from previously expected outcomes, such as in the case of the Kentucky governor's election. Barber describes how this movement is creating a Hillbilly Rhapsody rather than an Elegy—it's a song black and white people from all walks of life are singing together harmoniously.
Instead of waiting for a top-down initiative to come along, Barber illustrates how to build from the bottom—not by an insurrection but through a resurrection. One of the groups that Barber champions is Repairers of the Breach—an organization that actively works to expose and remove false differences between divided peoples, specifically poor whites and their black neighbors suffering under the same oppression even as so many additional obstacles are thrown at black people because of their race. Barber points out that race is an artificial construct (that is crumbling even today), and we cannot make white people our enemy (even for white people) if the current oppression of black people is to be stopped and corrected.
Barber demonstrates through accounts of actual events that fusion of black and white poor people is a viable and effective counter to the mystery money funding (divisive) disinformation. Although Nathaniel Bacon's famous rebellion had its motivational flaws, it demonstrated that white and black people can join together in common cause. All through this book, Barber describes our current progress toward another Reconstruction era benefiting all people—this time, let's ensure it is never rolled back.
September 21, 2024
I'm already in the choir that Rev. Barber is preaching to. I so much wanted this book to be terrific.
I have not heard Rev. Barber speak, but I reckon he's a better orator than writer.
His style is digressive, with long rambling sentences. He does eventually meander back to the topic he seems to have left. Although this book is short (which is good) it also needs to have been tighter. The people who most need to read this book - and might indeed pick it up - are those white folks who think "they built this." Who think poverty is entirely or even mostly the result of an individual's own doing. But most of these well-off white folks will not wade through this writing style.
I appreciate anecdotes, examples, facts, statistics, and descriptions of events of recent history. (For me, history is recent if it is after about 1945...).
A mix of quibbles and celebrations:
1. Rev. Barber interchangeably uses "multiethnic" and "multiracial." From the context - he never means "multiethnic," since all parties that he describes are from the same national culture, and speak the same language, with mutual intelligibility.
2. Chapter 5's use of the concept and phrase "policy murder" overstates the situations, plural - (which are shameful, and need to be reported) and therefore invites backlash.
3. p. 103 - the encounter between RNC headquarters and the Barber group: sadly hilarious. And outrageous. Prophets continue to demonstrate hypocrisy in the nation they're preaching to. Keep at 'em!
4. p. 134 at the bottom to p. 135 at the top - This seems to be the kernel of the book.
5. Alas, in the next paragraph, Rev. Barber frames poverty as a form of violence. "Violence" is a word that means sudden, extreme, physical, negative, intentional impact. Usually from an individual. The word needs to mean that, and that alone, because we need a word for that phenomenon. Poverty is the result of oppression (and sometimes other causes) but it does not occur immediately after someone uses violent action against another.
6. bottom of p 147: "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.." (emphasis in the original). I enjoyed that observation and am grateful for it.
I remain very grateful to the life and work of Rev. Barber and hope he moves from strength to strength.
I have not heard Rev. Barber speak, but I reckon he's a better orator than writer.
His style is digressive, with long rambling sentences. He does eventually meander back to the topic he seems to have left. Although this book is short (which is good) it also needs to have been tighter. The people who most need to read this book - and might indeed pick it up - are those white folks who think "they built this." Who think poverty is entirely or even mostly the result of an individual's own doing. But most of these well-off white folks will not wade through this writing style.
I appreciate anecdotes, examples, facts, statistics, and descriptions of events of recent history. (For me, history is recent if it is after about 1945...).
A mix of quibbles and celebrations:
1. Rev. Barber interchangeably uses "multiethnic" and "multiracial." From the context - he never means "multiethnic," since all parties that he describes are from the same national culture, and speak the same language, with mutual intelligibility.
2. Chapter 5's use of the concept and phrase "policy murder" overstates the situations, plural - (which are shameful, and need to be reported) and therefore invites backlash.
3. p. 103 - the encounter between RNC headquarters and the Barber group: sadly hilarious. And outrageous. Prophets continue to demonstrate hypocrisy in the nation they're preaching to. Keep at 'em!
4. p. 134 at the bottom to p. 135 at the top - This seems to be the kernel of the book.
5. Alas, in the next paragraph, Rev. Barber frames poverty as a form of violence. "Violence" is a word that means sudden, extreme, physical, negative, intentional impact. Usually from an individual. The word needs to mean that, and that alone, because we need a word for that phenomenon. Poverty is the result of oppression (and sometimes other causes) but it does not occur immediately after someone uses violent action against another.
6. bottom of p 147: "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.." (emphasis in the original). I enjoyed that observation and am grateful for it.
I remain very grateful to the life and work of Rev. Barber and hope he moves from strength to strength.
March 26, 2025
This amazing book by a Black preacher highlighted the problem of white poverty in America. He said we need to stop avoiding the word “poor” and using polite euphemisms. He traveled to many poor districts and talked to citizens about his “fusion” movement to unite white and Black poor people, to work together against the wealthy class that keep them divided. The book was published in June 2024, a few months before the election in November 2024.
A few notable quotes:
Page 112: To push back against the New Deal in the 1930s, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce discovered that preachers had the highest public confidence. So they set up a network of clergy to proclaim a gospel of individual responsibility and blame poor people for their poverty rather than exploitative practices. The new evangelists for free enterprise promoted a vision of ‘Christian Libertarianism.’
Page 113: After the 60s and 70s, “the New Right understood that … they needed to organize white people around their religion rather than their race.” … “A political operative named Paul Weyrich” … “knew that segregation was not a winning issue.” … “Weyrich convinced [Jerry] Falwell that he could mobilize angry white Christians as a ‘pro-life’ movement focused on demonizing the federal government because it allowed abortions, not because it mandated desegregation.”
Page 114: In 1980, Weyrich said, “I don’t want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of the people.” … “Our leverage in the elections goes up as the voting populace goes down.” He targeted white faith communities to convince them that the narrow agenda of reactionary conservative politics represents their “traditional values.”
Page 136: “White poverty’s wounds call us to tell the truth about an economic system that is killing us.”
Page 140: “No single demographic has suffered more from the decline in union membership than white men without a college degree. Between 1979 and 2017 … white men … saw their earnings decrease by 13 percent” which increased morbidity and what two economists called the “depths of despair.” That has led to a spike in liver diseases, drug overdose, and suicide. Some farmers try to make their suicides look like accidents so their families could collect enough to survive off their life insurance policies.
An enlightening book, both disturbing and heartfelt. And highly recommended!
A few notable quotes:
Page 112: To push back against the New Deal in the 1930s, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce discovered that preachers had the highest public confidence. So they set up a network of clergy to proclaim a gospel of individual responsibility and blame poor people for their poverty rather than exploitative practices. The new evangelists for free enterprise promoted a vision of ‘Christian Libertarianism.’
Page 113: After the 60s and 70s, “the New Right understood that … they needed to organize white people around their religion rather than their race.” … “A political operative named Paul Weyrich” … “knew that segregation was not a winning issue.” … “Weyrich convinced [Jerry] Falwell that he could mobilize angry white Christians as a ‘pro-life’ movement focused on demonizing the federal government because it allowed abortions, not because it mandated desegregation.”
Page 114: In 1980, Weyrich said, “I don’t want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of the people.” … “Our leverage in the elections goes up as the voting populace goes down.” He targeted white faith communities to convince them that the narrow agenda of reactionary conservative politics represents their “traditional values.”
Page 136: “White poverty’s wounds call us to tell the truth about an economic system that is killing us.”
Page 140: “No single demographic has suffered more from the decline in union membership than white men without a college degree. Between 1979 and 2017 … white men … saw their earnings decrease by 13 percent” which increased morbidity and what two economists called the “depths of despair.” That has led to a spike in liver diseases, drug overdose, and suicide. Some farmers try to make their suicides look like accidents so their families could collect enough to survive off their life insurance policies.
An enlightening book, both disturbing and heartfelt. And highly recommended!
July 5, 2024
Borrowed this on a whim because I was intrigued by the title. I am familiar with Barber, although I don't believe I've read anything by him beyond news articles and editorials, etc. As there are myths about poverty, this seemed like a good book to inform myself and better understand some of the persistent tropes, stories, etc.
There is a persistent myth and/or framing that poor people tend to be non-white (which, of course, is true, they exist!) but not so much about poor white people and this book aims to dismantle that. It's also unfortunately a good "wedge" issue (these poor people of color are seeking to steal your jobs, resources paid by "good" paying taxpayers, etc. This, of course, is not true but remains a storyline and an attack line for many.
Barber also talks about his own family as an example of both what the United States looks like (a diverse group of people) and what that can mean going forward. That the approach is something that is multi-pronged and includes people from many groups as well as approaching this from multiple angles (you can't just throw money at a problem, you have to vote for elected officials who will continue to work on these issues, etc.).
Overall, I have to say that this book was genuinely awful. It appears he had a co-writer/ghostwriter and honestly that got in the way. The underlying message is important. But the stuff about his family was distracting and overall the writing style was very messy. I found I had to skim and sometimes it was really difficult to follow what he was trying to get at. I am unsure if this is a reflection of having two writers, a lack of editing or what.
Ultimately there are important ideas in here but unfortunately they're lost in the text. I would recommend it if you are interested in Barber's story and how he relates his own background to the title but I would say it is skippable and there are probably better books out there.
Borrowed from the library and that was best for me.
There is a persistent myth and/or framing that poor people tend to be non-white (which, of course, is true, they exist!) but not so much about poor white people and this book aims to dismantle that. It's also unfortunately a good "wedge" issue (these poor people of color are seeking to steal your jobs, resources paid by "good" paying taxpayers, etc. This, of course, is not true but remains a storyline and an attack line for many.
Barber also talks about his own family as an example of both what the United States looks like (a diverse group of people) and what that can mean going forward. That the approach is something that is multi-pronged and includes people from many groups as well as approaching this from multiple angles (you can't just throw money at a problem, you have to vote for elected officials who will continue to work on these issues, etc.).
Overall, I have to say that this book was genuinely awful. It appears he had a co-writer/ghostwriter and honestly that got in the way. The underlying message is important. But the stuff about his family was distracting and overall the writing style was very messy. I found I had to skim and sometimes it was really difficult to follow what he was trying to get at. I am unsure if this is a reflection of having two writers, a lack of editing or what.
Ultimately there are important ideas in here but unfortunately they're lost in the text. I would recommend it if you are interested in Barber's story and how he relates his own background to the title but I would say it is skippable and there are probably better books out there.
Borrowed from the library and that was best for me.
July 8, 2024
William J. Barber II writes in the lyrical and soaring style of a southern preacher (which, of course, he is) and here he uses his voice to explain that America's poor, of all skin tones and demographic descriptors, have more in common than the myths of mainstream thought have portrayed. The title "White Poverty" sets the premise that there are a greater number of poor white people than poor people of color and, he posits, poverty is largely under counted/under reported. The failure to accurately report the extent of poverty in our country has led to policies that avoid addressing poverty issues or, in fact, help to sustain mass poverty. The failure to acknowledge the large number or poor whites allows certain political groups to propagate the myths that divide us along racial lines, preventing the poor from coalescing to form a powerful voice and voting bloc to influence policy. Barber includes anecdotes that identify some political players as unfeeling and duplicitous. He shares a historical perspective of how we have gotten here while also sharing a personal perspective of how to mobilize and unite those who are economically suffering here in the richest nation on earth. Neither Red Hats nor the Blues will be totally comfortable with Barber's viewpoint but this feels like a must read in the summer of 2024.
September 23, 2024
With a title like White Poverty, I didn’t expect the author to be a Black pastor and a fairly famous activist and NAACP board member. But that was kind of the point.
This book made three arguments:
▪️ most poor Americans are white, by a lot
▪️ race and racism play a central role in American poverty—by making white poor people think they have more in common with their white wealthy exploiters than with their fellow POC poor people, politicians are able to push policies that hurt all poor people (poor white people included)
▪️ poor people of all races must work together to fight inequality (with examples from his own work in white communities with the NAACP)
This book was Christian socialism, Civil Rights movement revivalism, plus the argument that poverty trends in the US have got to change. Love all that.
43% of Americans are ‘poor’—which, seriously, wtf?? You guys are the only wealthy country to have a stat even close to that. And you’re not just a wealthy country, you’re ✨the wealthiest✨ country in the world. Sooo, you’re massively F-ing it up. Just saying.
The only thing that kept this book from being perfect was its moderation. Barber pushes boundaries with his activism, but not so much so that he doesn’t regularly get invited to the White House and I feel like we could have gone further.
This book made three arguments:
▪️ most poor Americans are white, by a lot
▪️ race and racism play a central role in American poverty—by making white poor people think they have more in common with their white wealthy exploiters than with their fellow POC poor people, politicians are able to push policies that hurt all poor people (poor white people included)
▪️ poor people of all races must work together to fight inequality (with examples from his own work in white communities with the NAACP)
This book was Christian socialism, Civil Rights movement revivalism, plus the argument that poverty trends in the US have got to change. Love all that.
43% of Americans are ‘poor’—which, seriously, wtf?? You guys are the only wealthy country to have a stat even close to that. And you’re not just a wealthy country, you’re ✨the wealthiest✨ country in the world. Sooo, you’re massively F-ing it up. Just saying.
The only thing that kept this book from being perfect was its moderation. Barber pushes boundaries with his activism, but not so much so that he doesn’t regularly get invited to the White House and I feel like we could have gone further.
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