Class, Race and the Trump Administration
A May 2018 report by Philip G. Alston, a U.N. special rapporteur, examines poverty in the United States. The report findings were based on 40... Read More
Janus v AFSCME:
What the Supreme Court May Strip from Workers The roar of the approaching storm can be both heard and felt in workplaces across the United... Read More
Malnourishment: A Case Study on U.S. Food Insecurity
The final report of the 1996 World Food Summit states that food security “exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access... Read More
Mirroring Administrative Attitudes: One Year Into Trump’s Rhetoric
Kalkaska, or Trout Town USA, is a picturesque northern Michigan town touting a population of just over 2,000. Located in the snow belt with its... Read More
Trump Supporters: Why Our Attitude Towards Them Matters
Not Stupid. Not Crazy. Those are the two most important things for progressives to remember about rightwing people, says Chip Berlet. He has tracked U.S.... Read More
Trump One Year Later: Most of Us Live in Dread
I had a discussion with my doctor late spring 2017. I was having gastrointestinal issues, and I said to him that I kept wondering whether... Read More
President Trump, One Year Later
After 12 months that have felt like an eternity, Mr. Trump remains as greedy and volatile as ever. Donald Trump campaigned on the pledge to... Read More
Trump’s First Year: Did the Working-Class Benefit?
Donald Trump ran for president on a populist and inclusionary platform. As he campaigned across the country, he appealed to increasingly larger numbers of Americans... Read More
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley’s Statement Voted 2017 Most Classist Comment
For Immediate Release: December 31, 2017 Contact: Anne Phillips, 617.477.8635; Denise Moorehead, 781.608.4608 BOSTON – For the eighth consecutive year, Class Action has asked people... Read More
Trump’s War on the Poor, Working-Class and …
When explaining why his cabinet is filled with billionaires, President Donald Trump uttered what might just earn him Class Action’s 2017 Most Classist Comment of... Read More
Trump’s Presidency: What We Deserve
Type “Trump voters deserve” into your search bar, and the two suggestions that pop up are “Trump voters deserve what they get” and “Trump voters... Read More
Class in Crisis
Usually when I sit down to write out my thoughts on a political event, I write because I want to express an idea to resolve an... Read More
Five Classist Pitfalls to #Resist in Your Activism
In a moment of potentially revolutionary activism and mobilization, don’t let classism undermine your efforts. The past few weeks have been both terrifying and inspiring.... Read More
Witness Web
A group of members – currently 20 and growing – at First Parish in Framingham Unitarian Universalist is going to be staying abreast of various issues... Read More
Resistance Is Critical
The election outcome was a shock – but wasn’t something new. Throughout U.S. history we’ve had waves of right-wing populism, when people bought into explanations... Read More
Safe, Affordable Housing Is a Human Right
On the morning of December 3rd, 2016, the deadly effects of the affordable housing crisis became clear. If housing were treated as a human right,... Read More
Building Bridges, Not Walls
Class Action was founded by visionaries who realized that they had grown up at different ends of the class spectrum, but who had arrived in... Read More
The Demise of Neoliberalism
And What It Means to U.S. Communities The election of Donald Trump and the Bernie Sanders campaign made it clear that people are rejecting “business... Read More
Beyond Trump: Creating Class-Race Alliances
Part of the White, Working Class, and Worried about Trump (#WhiteWorkingClassVsTrump) Campaign*: I grew up in economically depressed, though beautiful, northeastern Vermont. My family was on... Read More
Beyond Trump: Donald Trump Needs Our Racism
Part of the White, Working Class, and Worried about Trump (#WhiteWorkingClassVsTrump) Campaign*: Throughout the 2016 election cycle, the U.S. electorate has subjected to overt and systemic racism... Read More
Beyond Trump: Building a Coalition for Change
Part of the White, Working Class, and Worried about Trump (#WhiteWorkingClassVsTrump) Campaign*: I grew up in South St. Louis City in a multi-racial, working-class neighborhood. My... Read More
Brexit: Race and Class
I had very mixed emotions about the Brexit vote. Having watched the manner in which the European Union strangled Greece, I have not been very... Read More
Brexit – A Class Issue
Two weeks on, a lot of progressive people in Britain are still in deep shock or fury or despair – or alternating rapidly between all three... Read More
SCOTUS: Public Sector Unions Safe for Now
This week, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it was deadlocked in the case of Friedrichs v California Teachers Association (representing 325,000 teachers in 1,000 school... Read More
Championing Postal Workers Is Good Class and Economic Sense
I watched the second Democratic debate hoping that Senator Bernie Sanders would clearly articulate an economic policy that would differentiate him from Hillary Clinton, that... Read More
Election Day 2015
Despite “get out the vote” efforts by civic groups, nonprofit organizations, religious institutions and political parties, millions of registered voters in towns and cities across... Read More
Voting Today Means Democracy Tomorrow
I don’t think so! Democracy is often measured by free and fair elections. Free and fair generally means that individuals vote one time every two... Read More
Class Consciousness and College Education: 529 Plan Strikes Nerve
President Obama released his budget proposal this week outlining a number of commonsense ideas to reduce inequality and create an even playing field. One provision... Read More
Labor Day, American Values and the Status Quo
For the past two years I’ve traveled across the country to film festivals, labor events and public forums to show my documentary, “Farewell to Factory... Read More
Another Supreme Court decision threatens workers
If you are like me you may have had trouble keeping up with all the bad news U.S. Supreme Court opinions issued in recent months.... Read More
Beneath the Veneer of Harris v. Quinn
Harris v. Quinn is a recent Supreme Court opinion, featured often on the news, holding that “partial” public employees – home health care providers –... Read More
WANTED: Hospitals That Fully Serve Their Communities
What happens to a poor, working class rural community when its hospital closes — with three days notice? That’s what residents of North Adams, Massachusetts... Read More
Your Public Freeway: First Class or Coach?
I have to pinch myself lately because it seems the U.S. has been infiltrated by post-Soviet Russian gangsters bent on turning every public good into... Read More
Snob Zones
Long known as an affluent suburban oasis just to the north of New York City, Westchester County has lately gained infamy as a bastion of... Read More
Race and Class: The more we get together the stronger we are
Labor unions, welfare rights campaigns, and the fight for pay equity are historical struggles for justice that have impacted the shape of the wealth distribution... Read More
Memorial Day: It’s the Least Wealthy Who Serve and Suffer the Most in War
“People like us don’t have children in the military”. I come in contact with a lot of military families. What is notable is the majority... Read More
Cautionary notes about liberals’ election self-congratulations
The election and reelection of Obama is a historical milestone in race relations. It is a definitely an achievement we should be proud of. We... Read More
A Forty Hour Week From the Other Side
As this election nears, I find myself passionate about a local issue: San Jose, following the stronger leads of San Francisco, Seattle, and Albuquerque, is... Read More
The Invisible Majority: Class and the National Election
Working class people are approximately 63% of our population, but they are all but invisible in the upcoming national election. What you don’t see can... Read More
Who Are Congress’s Protectors of Class Privilege?
Mitt Romney and I both grew up in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a wealthy suburb of Detroit. For much of our childhoods, we were represented in... Read More
To Care or Not to Care About Obamacare
When the Supreme Court approved “Obamacare,” most of my Facebook friends had joyful statuses about the ruling. And it is something to cheer about: millions... Read More
What’s needed at this political moment? 5 well-known leftists, 5 strong opinions
At the Working-Class Studies conference last weekend, I heard an amazing dialogue about class, race and movement-building by five progressive journalists and activist scholars: Juan... Read More
Why do we avoid class?
All of my life I have seen the effects of class around me, but never truly understood what “class” really means. Until recently I had... Read More
Overlooking luck
Can someone please explain to Newt Gingrich that people not wanting a job typically doesn’t cause poverty; being unable to get a job causes poverty. ... Read More
The most classist comment of 2011
Last January Classism Exposed asked for your votes on which was the most classist comment by a public figure in 2010, offering eight options. Readers... Read More
Taxing the Rich Isn’t Enough: Family Dynasties in America
My family has been wealthy for hundreds of years – with a lot of government help along the way. My ancestors had a plantation with... Read More
Have pity on the rich
Rich people must protest the way they are treated here in the US of A. And Marin County is THE place to start, cuz we... Read More
A 4th of July Declaration of Dependence
It’s no small irony that on the 4th of July weekend our nation’s largest union surrendered a chunk of its independence. At their annual meeting... Read More
Query: How to open discussion with a poor-basher?
Dear Class Action, What should I do? My neighbor in my conservative rural town emailed this racist/classist piece of junk to me. I need some... Read More
Economists can’t be rapists? Hotel maids are lunatics?
In rushing to the defense of accused rapist and head of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn, well-known conservative commentator Ben Stein has stooped to... Read More