The witch-hunt on public workers threatens the gains of the civil rights movement

[Hannah Bell]

Public-sector workers have been described as the "haves"--as an "elite" group of workers who are living high on the fat of tax dollars, while the rest of the workforce wallows in job insecurity, lack of health care, foreclosure and falling wages...

The fact that the billionaires and millionaires who populate the U.S. Congress and the corporate punditry are driving this debate should raise the first eyebrow. Rich white men, who make up the vast majority of the Congress, debating whether any group of workers makes too much money would be laughable, except these elite actually control the flow of dollars that determine the quality of life for millions of working people in this country.

But when the dreaded "public-sector employee" is unmasked, the accusations about their profligacy can be shown to be that much more unfounded. The Republican Party's vow to cut up to 15 percent of federal jobs while also demanding a wage freeze of up to five years on the salaries of federal employees threatens to have a disproportionately disastrous impact in African American communities--which are already straining under the weight of high unemployment and the foreclosure crisis.

Today, almost 45 percent of all Black women who are employed work in a public-sector job, and more than half of all African Americans professionals are employed by some sector of the state...

http://socialistworker.org/2011/01/27/brunt-of-a-new-witch-hunt

[annm4peace]

1. 45 percent of all Black women who are employed work in a public-sector job

good observation. I didn't even think of that.


I thought the attack on ACORN was basically an attack on strong black women.

[Hannah Bell]

2. The firings & layoffs of teachers have hit minorities much harder than whites;

number one, minorities are more likely to work in the kind of schools they're shutting down & "turning around" or converting to charters.

i posted some numbers on nyc a while back; it's substantial.

[eridani]

3. That was an attack on poor black women--the anti-public sector attack

--is aimed at middle class black women.

[Hannah Bell]

4. as the destruction of detroit was an attack on the black middle class.

[CarmanK]

5. It's an attack on Govt workers. The GOP divides and demonizes.......

The attack on govt workers is the GOP effort to take the heat
off Wall Street for the financial crisis they caused the
refusal of the GOp to close tax loop holes that allow
Corporate america to ship jobs overseas. It is also, a
political ploy to further weaken the position of american
LABOR in the national debate on how to stop the bleeding of
jobs in the american economy. As far as I am concerned that it
is really time for all american workers to find a way to join
forces to stop the politics of valuing money over work in this
nation and restore the middle class and make the rich pay
their fair share of rebuilding the economy. Even the father of
capitalism: Adam Smith believed that capitalism had to be
conducted in an ethical and socially responsible way. That
government had a role in curbing the tendency of business to
conspire against the public. David Hume in his treatise on
"Human Nature" Natural liberty- the cause of a
nations wealth is LABOR rather than the nation's quantity of
gold. The GOP wants to divide the workforce into US and them
and prevent our real strength in numbers at the polls from
interfering with Corporate and special interests' agenda for
our country.

[Hannah Bell]

6. of course it's an attack on gov't workers. it's also an attack on minorities, since the

public sector is a disproportionate source of jobs for minorities.

for various reasons.

[dkf]

7. Is that a comment on corporate America or a preference in employers?

I had no idea it was so high