Book Review: White Poverty: How Exposing Myths About Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy
by William J. Barber, II
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.