
White Poverty
How Exposing Myths About Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 months free
Buy for $17.19
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Bill Andrew Quinn
A generational work with far-ranging social and political implications, White Poverty promises to be one of the most influential books in recent years.
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.
©2024 Reverend Dr. William J. Barber (P)2024 HighBridge, a division of Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...




















People who viewed this also viewed...


















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.
Cannot be antiracist without the ties that bind
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loaded book!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Insightful
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Confirmation of my childhood teachings.🙎🏼♀️
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Very good
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The Rev Barber is a personal hero
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The stories that connected white Americans to poverty.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Love in Action!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.