Steering Committee looks at intersection of Economic Justice and Racial Justice, prepares for ramped-up tax justice campaign

“Obviously there’s a connection between poverty and racism. In our work, there has to be a connection. If we address economic injustice but not racial injustice, we aren’t finished with our work,” noted Meta Mendel-Reyes of Madison County as the KFTC Steering Committee opened its spring retreat.

The Steering Committee gathered May 15 and 16 in Bowling Green to explore the intersectionality of economic justice and racial justice. The workshop built toward a discussion of KFTC’s campaign for progressive state tax reform and ways to ramp up and build public support for that campaign.

"If we address economic injustice but not racial injustice, we aren’t finished with our work"

The workshop began with an activity called “Lay It on the Line” in which the facilitator read statements and participants lined up according to whether they agreed or disagreed with the statement. Statements pertained to economic and racial justice such as, “The issues in Baltimore are really about poverty.” Participants reflected on where they landed on the spectrum, learning from one another and expanding their perspective.

Scott County representative Homer White was surprised to find such diversity in perspectives but thought much of the diversity was in how folks interpreted the statement and their personal life experience related to the statement.

“This brought home to me that when you are speaking with folks about a ‘hot-button’ topic, it’s important, before you launch into a debate with them, to afford them ample opportunity to expand on their view and to talk about how personal experiences have brought them around to that view,” said White. “In this way you can uncover unexpected common ground that may help everyone get around the usual log-jams.”

The next morning began with the Steering Committee creating a River of Justice in which they posted fish representing wins or important moments in economic and racial justice work and boulders representing the challenges. Some fish included the Broad Form Deed constitutional amendment, the Citizens’ Police Review Board in Louisville and local minimum wage campaigns. Boulders included the Kentucky legislature and federal policies after World War II that, for instance, denied opportunities like the GI Bill and FHA home loans to people of color.

Lee Ann Paynter of Danville and the Wilderness Trace chapter reflected, “It’s so important to understand where we’ve had successes and especially to be aware of the hard work that it took so many people to attain those goals. It gives us hope for the future and the Kentucky we all want to see.”

She went on to note, “We must also realize the obstacles in our path, otherwise we’ll keep bumping into them, unaware of what is keeping us back. Sometimes it is not the obvious boulder.”

Steering Committee members then participated in a wealth gap exercise that demonstrated how economic policies impact the opportunities available to folks across income levels and across racial identities. For instance, the GI Bill made housing loans available that helped build the white middle class. But black citizens were excluded from federal housing loans until the Fair Housing Act of 1968. 

Between 1934 and 1962, 98 percent of housing loans backed by the federal government went to white Americans. This was one of the policies that made it possible for whites to accumulate and pass down wealth and one of the roots of our present racial wealth divide. 

The committee continued to build a shared understanding of how these and other economic, tax and budget policies have impacted housing, education equity, and income and wealth in Kentucky. It was pointed out that nearly half of all wages paid in Kentucky between 1979 and 2007 went to the top 1 percent.  

Additionally, 30 percent of white working families in Kentucky are considered low-income while more than 50 percent of non-white working families are considered such. A United for a Fair Economy study was shared that demonstrates that the average net worth of whites is six times the average net worth of blacks and Latinos, and that for every $1 of wealth held by white families, black families have only 13 cents.

“I am beyond privileged and have never faced discrimination or hardship. I care about racial and economic justice simply because I have the ability as a privileged white male to stand with those who have been marginalized and treated unjustly. If we ever want to live in a society that truly cares for its citizens, we must en- sure that no citizen has been marginalized and treated as second class.”
- Jay Todd Richey, KFTC member

Committee members discussed the impacts of public policies that amplified the wealth gap and exacerbated the gap between whites and people of color. Systemic racism has caused economic injustice and is part of what must be tackled in our economic justice work.

“One thing to think about is the poverty of possibility,” noted Christian Torp of Lexington. “The systems barred opportunities for generations and now it’s hard for folks to navigate or see options.” 

“Another issue is the way in which racism shows up – even unintentionally – in how we network and how we pull people into our opportunities,” said Dana Beasley Brown of Bowling Green. “We don’t often reach beyond our own networks and communities and that leaves some groups out of important opportunities.”

In terms of Kentucky’s tax and budget landscape, the committee learned that Kentucky is now 39th in per pupil state/local school funding and, last year, had the nation’s largest per student funding cut to higher education.

“My son’s first grade teacher has 24 7-year-olds and no aid,” explained Beasley Brown. “I see how much she has to do to keep them focused and teach them what they need to learn. I’m amazed that as a society we’re okay with her doing that on her own all day long with no help in the classroom.”

The committee looked at other budget cuts and implications. White noted, “The workshop helped me see that there is no one ‘magic bullet’ solution for reducing income inequality in this country. You also have to pay attention to a myriad of laws, policies and programs that help remove barriers facing the poor, especially in terms of acquiring and holding on to non-college jobs that provide a living wage.”

Committee members learned about Kentucky’s tax structure and the ways in which it has eroded over the last decade. They drilled down on the Kentucky Forward Tax Plan, which would generate $500 million to $800 million a year by asking corporations and the wealthy to pay their fair share. It also would lower taxes for about 400,000 working families through a state earned income tax credit. KFTC helped develop this tax plan and has worked for years for its passage.

In the afternoon, committee members spent time thinking about their personal connections to economic and racial injustice and crafting statements of why they care about these issues. They discussed how these statements can be good springboards for having conversations with their neighbors, co-workers and others about the state budget cuts and the need for tax reform.  The committee discussed the importance of bringing a wide range of folks into the tax campaign in order to build support for the reforms that are needed.

The workshop concluded with Steering Committee members brainstorming strategies and activities for ramping up the KFTC tax plan through road shows, workshops, popular education tools for chapters, kitchen table packets and more.  

Reflecting on the retreat, White said, “Far too often, discussions of racial justice are conducted on the basis of the false assumption of a ‘zero-sum’ system: that anything you get comes out of my hide. But when you look at racial and economic justice in combination you see how deeply we are all in a mess together and that the only way to get out of the mess is to get out of it together.