Courthney

“When asked why many Americans weren’t returning to work as fast as some people would have liked, why was our answer Because they are getting $300 extra each week?”
― Matthew Desmond, Poverty, by America

“Massive tax cuts, which fundamentally reshaped the agendas of the nation’s two major political parties and resulted in the rise of private fortunes alongside public poverty, were not simply a response to government overreach. They were a response to white people being ordered to share public goods with Black people.”
― Matthew Desmond, Poverty, by America

“(Where did the concept of subminimum wage come from? It’s a vestige of slavery. After emancipation, restaurant owners hired formerly enslaved Black workers for free. They had to rely on customers’ charity.)”
― Matthew Desmond, Poverty, by America

“But I do wonder why the federal government fashions its welfare policies this way, even as many of its elected officials present marriage as the solution to the nation’s deep and persistent poverty.”
― Matthew Desmond, Poverty, by America