truthout--2020-06-20--A Giant Plastics Company Tried to Halt a Juneteenth Ceremony for Buried Slaves

St. James Parish , Louisiana — Death Alley activists gathered near the hamlet of Welcome on Friday to celebrate Juneteenth , which observes the date when news of the end of slavery reached enslaved Black people in Texas .
About 40 people danced , prayed and sang gospel songs at a cemetery of unmarked graves on the grounds of a former plantation where nearby residents firmly believe their Black ancestors were buried after working the land as slaves .
The celebration paid homage to those who founded their rural community along the Mississippi River and lived through one of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had Formosa Plastics gotten its way , the ceremony would never have happened .
Formosa is a Taiwanese mega-corporation building a $ 9.4 billion petrochemical complex known as the Sunshine Project at the site , a swath of former plantation fields a couple miles from a church and elementary school on the outskirts of Welcome .
The company ’ s attorneys were in court Thursday attempting to prevent residents from accessing the cemetery on land it now owns .
A local judge rejected the company ’ s arguments and upheld a temporary restraining @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hallowed grounds .
In a statement , the company cited concerns over “ health and safety.
” The ruling comes as communities across the U.S. contend with the brutal reality of state violence against Black people , with waves of protest against ongoing police killings continuing in cities across the country .
“ Formosa has a fight on its hands , ” said Sharon Lavigne , the founder of the local , faith-based environmental justice group RISE St. James , during the ceremony .
Lavigne and other nearby residents are bitterly opposed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to turn fossil fuels into the chemicals used to make plastics such as throwaway bottles and AstroTurf .
They say St. James Parish and the heavily-industrialized river corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans — long dubbed “ Cancer Alley ” — is already inundated with pollution .
The Sunshine Project would significantly increase the concentration of cancer-causing chemicals and other harmful air pollutants in majority-Black neighborhoods located along the riverside , which are already surrounded by petrochemical facilities .
Friends and neighbors have died of cancer , and activists have renamed the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Alley has become an internationally recognized landmark of environmental racism , and research shows that cancer rates are higher in lower-income , majority-Black neighborhoods than in higher-income , whiter areas of the region .
In Death Alley and across the U.S. , polluting industries are known to locate near to communities of color like Welcome .
Nationally , Black people are three times more likely to die from air pollution than the overall population .
“ Formosa , you have been declared an enemy , because God said , ‘ Let my people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Manning , an organizer with the Coalition Against Death Alley , during a roaring sermon at the gravesite .
Lavigne and members of RISE St. James say their neighborhoods would become unlivable due to high concentrations of pollution if the Sunshine Project is completed .
With the discovery of the burial grounds during state-mandated archaeological survey last year , they are fighting not only their own displacement , but for the dignity of their ancestors .
In Welcome , residents of Black neighborhoods trace their roots to the first people of color to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
During the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in southern Louisiana , St. James and surrounding parishes had some of the highest per capita death rates attributed to the virus in the U.S. A landmark Harvard study linked long-term exposure to air pollution to higher COVID-19 death rates .
Using similar models , researchers at Tulane University mapped the correlation between air pollution levels and the high death rates from the virus in Cancer Alley .
In April , Black people accounted for 70 percent of COVID-19 deaths in Louisiana , though they compromise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Temperatures were taken before the Juneteenth ceremony at the burial grounds , and everyone wore a mask .
After completing an initial , state-mandated archaeological survey of the Sunshine Project site , Formosa concluded that a suspected gravesite on one former plantation had likely been destroyed by a previous owner and there were no “ cultural resources ” in the area .
However , an independent archaeological firm used 19th century maps to conclude that gravesites were present , and Black Americans were likely buried there , because the graves of whites and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in historical records .
State regulators asked Formosa to look again , and the discovery of graves on the property was confirmed in 2019 .
Lavigne and other members of RISE St. James , who believe they are descendants of those buried here , have previously visited the site to lay flowers , pray , sing and share the cultural significance of the cemetery with their community .
Despite state laws guaranteeing access to cemeteries , local law enforcement threatened Lavigne with arrest if she returned , according to Lavigne and the Center @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a legal aid group representing RISE St. James .
Formosa does not plan on building on the area where the confirmed graves are located and erected a barbed wire fence around the cemetery .
“ The audacity that you would keep us out , ” Manning said , reflecting on the bondage that slaves endured during the plantation days .
“ The audacity that they would threaten us with barbed wire .
God is on our side !
” Working with the independent archaeologists , RISE St. James and CCR released a report @ @ @ @ @ @ @ six cemeteries likely containing the remains of enslaved people may exist across the 2,400 acres of former plantation fields where Formosa is in the beginning stages of building the chemical and plastics complex .
The plant would be one of the largest in the area and has received massive tax breaks from the state .
Formosa has repeatedly attempted to cast doubt on claims that enslaved ancestors of local residents are buried at the confirmed gravesite .
In its most recent public statement , the company said that “ despite assumptions ” made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no archaeologist has confirmed the “ identity or ethnicity ” of the remains on its property .
However , slaves were forced to bury their dead in the same fields where they worked without permanent stones or markings .
Based on a review of maps drawn up in 1877 and 1878 , the independent archeologists concluded that the people buried in these unmarked cemeteries are most likely Black , which suggests they either lived and died as slaves , were freed before their deaths , or are the descendants of survivors of slavery @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ancestors down there ; we all know that , from St. James .
I ’ m from St. James , I know my ancestors are from St. James , ” Lavigne said in a previous interview with Truthout .
“ And I don ’ t think that Formosa should deny us from going to visit our ancestors .
And the people in the public I talk to , they feel the same way , I am speaking myself and the community.
” CCR attorneys say they are deeply concerned about the police threatening @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the cemetery because an underground pipeline runs through the grounds — and may have already disturbed some of the graves .
Amid recent protests against oil pipelines , Louisiana passed an “ anti-protest law ” pushed by the fossil fuel industry that makes trespassing on so-called “ critical infrastructure ” a felony offense .
The law applies to pipelines , refineries and other facilities privately owned by the industry .
Louisiana Gov .
John Bel Edwards , a Democrat , vetoed an amendment to the law last week that would have increased the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in prison .
The existing law is currently being challenged on First Amendment grounds .
“ On February 1 , a police officer came to my house and told me Formosa said I could not come their property , ” Lavigne said during the Juneteenth ceremony .
“ Well , I am here today .
See what God can do ?
”

St. James Parish, Louisiana — Death Alley activists gathered near the hamlet of Welcome on Friday to celebrate Juneteenth, which observes the date when news of the end of slavery reached enslaved Black people in Texas. About 40 people danced, prayed and sang gospel songs at a cemetery of unmarked graves on the grounds of a former plantation where nearby residents firmly believe their Black ancestors were buried after working the land as slaves. The celebration paid homage to those who founded their rural community along the Mississippi River and lived through one of the nation’s darkest periods.
But had Formosa Plastics gotten its way, the ceremony would never have happened.
Formosa is a Taiwanese mega-corporation building a $9.4 billion petrochemical complex known as the Sunshine Project at the site, a swath of former plantation fields a couple miles from a church and elementary school on the outskirts of Welcome. The company’s attorneys were in court Thursday attempting to prevent residents from accessing the cemetery on land it now owns. A local judge rejected the company’s arguments and upheld a temporary restraining order allowing residents observe Juneteenth on the hallowed grounds. In a statement, the company cited concerns over “health and safety.”
The ruling comes as communities across the U.S. contend with the brutal reality of state violence against Black people, with waves of protest against ongoing police killings continuing in cities across the country.
“Formosa has a fight on its hands,” said Sharon Lavigne, the founder of the local, faith-based environmental justice group RISE St. James, during the ceremony.
Lavigne and other nearby residents are bitterly opposed to the Sunshine Project, which is slated to turn fossil fuels into the chemicals used to make plastics such as throwaway bottles and AstroTurf. They say St. James Parish and the heavily-industrialized river corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans — long dubbed “Cancer Alley” — is already inundated with pollution. The Sunshine Project would significantly increase the concentration of cancer-causing chemicals and other harmful air pollutants in majority-Black neighborhoods located along the riverside, which are already surrounded by petrochemical facilities. Friends and neighbors have died of cancer, and activists have renamed the industrial corridor “Death Alley.”
Death Alley has become an internationally recognized landmark of environmental racism, and research shows that cancer rates are higher in lower-income, majority-Black neighborhoods than in higher-income, whiter areas of the region. In Death Alley and across the U.S., polluting industries are known to locate near to communities of color like Welcome. Nationally, Black people are three times more likely to die from air pollution than the overall population.
“Formosa, you have been declared an enemy, because God said, ‘Let my people go,’” said Pastor Gregory Manning, an organizer with the Coalition Against Death Alley, during a roaring sermon at the gravesite.
Lavigne and members of RISE St. James say their neighborhoods would become unlivable due to high concentrations of pollution if the Sunshine Project is completed. With the discovery of the burial grounds during state-mandated archaeological survey last year, they are fighting not only their own displacement, but for the dignity of their ancestors. In Welcome, residents of Black neighborhoods trace their roots to the first people of color to settle as free citizens along the Mississippi.
During the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in southern Louisiana, St. James and surrounding parishes had some of the highest per capita death rates attributed to the virus in the U.S. A landmark Harvard study linked long-term exposure to air pollution to higher COVID-19 death rates. Using similar models, researchers at Tulane University mapped the correlation between air pollution levels and the high death rates from the virus in Cancer Alley. In April, Black people accounted for 70 percent of COVID-19 deaths in Louisiana, though they compromise only 32 percent of the population. Temperatures were taken before the Juneteenth ceremony at the burial grounds, and everyone wore a mask.
After completing an initial, state-mandated archaeological survey of the Sunshine Project site, Formosa concluded that a suspected gravesite on one former plantation had likely been destroyed by a previous owner and there were no “cultural resources” in the area. However, an independent archaeological firm used 19th century maps to conclude that gravesites were present, and Black Americans were likely buried there, because the graves of whites and plantation owners are typically marked and recorded in historical records. State regulators asked Formosa to look again, and the discovery of graves on the property was confirmed in 2019.
Lavigne and other members of RISE St. James, who believe they are descendants of those buried here, have previously visited the site to lay flowers, pray, sing and share the cultural significance of the cemetery with their community. Despite state laws guaranteeing access to cemeteries, local law enforcement threatened Lavigne with arrest if she returned, according to Lavigne and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), a legal aid group representing RISE St. James. Formosa does not plan on building on the area where the confirmed graves are located and erected a barbed wire fence around the cemetery.
“The audacity that you would keep us out,” Manning said, reflecting on the bondage that slaves endured during the plantation days. “The audacity that they would threaten us with barbed wire. God is on our side!”
Working with the independent archaeologists, RISE St. James and CCR released a report in March that shows as many as six cemeteries likely containing the remains of enslaved people may exist across the 2,400 acres of former plantation fields where Formosa is in the beginning stages of building the chemical and plastics complex. The plant would be one of the largest in the area and has received massive tax breaks from the state.
Formosa has repeatedly attempted to cast doubt on claims that enslaved ancestors of local residents are buried at the confirmed gravesite. In its most recent public statement, the company said that “despite assumptions” made about ancestral ties to the site, no archaeologist has confirmed the “identity or ethnicity” of the remains on its property. However, slaves were forced to bury their dead in the same fields where they worked without permanent stones or markings. Based on a review of maps drawn up in 1877 and 1878, the independent archeologists concluded that the people buried in these unmarked cemeteries are most likely Black, which suggests they either lived and died as slaves, were freed before their deaths, or are the descendants of survivors of slavery.
“We all know we have ancestors down there; we all know that, from St. James. I’m from St. James, I know my ancestors are from St. James,” Lavigne said in a previous interview with Truthout. “And I don’t think that Formosa should deny us from going to visit our ancestors. And the people in the public I talk to, they feel the same way, I am speaking myself and the community.”
CCR attorneys say they are deeply concerned about the police threatening Lavigne and others with arrest for visiting the cemetery because an underground pipeline runs through the grounds — and may have already disturbed some of the graves. Amid recent protests against oil pipelines, Louisiana passed an “anti-protest law” pushed by the fossil fuel industry that makes trespassing on so-called “critical infrastructure” a felony offense. The law applies to pipelines, refineries and other facilities privately owned by the industry. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, vetoed an amendment to the law last week that would have increased the penalty to a minimum of three years in prison. The existing law is currently being challenged on First Amendment grounds.
“On February 1, a police officer came to my house and told me Formosa said I could not come their property,” Lavigne said during the Juneteenth ceremony. “Well, I am here today. See what God can do?”
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-06-20--The GOP Is Getting Back to Business as Usual — Trying to Gut Social Programs

Spitting in the face of science , Donald Trump and Mike Pence have spent the week explaining how the COVID-19 pandemic is supposedly behind us .
Now , that may largely be true in Iceland , which flattened the curve early on and then eradicated the virus from its shores — which is why tens of thousands of people , clustered in sub-groups of up to 500 , were allowed to safely congregate in Reykjavik this week to celebrate the island-nation ’ s independence day .
But it most certainly isn ’ t true in the U.S. , where somewhere @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being identified daily , and where , in many states , new infections are now being recorded at a record pace .
Meanwhile , Trump ’ s strategy seems to be to bury the science — the coronavirus task force rarely meets , and doctors Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx have almost entirely disappeared as public faces of the administration ’ s response .
Moreover , Trump appears to be hoping that , in ceasing to send out usable communiques to the public and to local health authorities , somehow the virus will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Perhaps most notably , the administration appears determined to bludgeon the economy back to operating at full-throttle no matter the cost in lives .
The Sunbelt now teeters on becoming the new COVID-19 global hot zone , with the governors of states such as Arizona and Florida opening up their economies with scant regard for the public health science , and with cases skyrocketing to the point that health care systems are now at risk of being inundated .
Yet , despite this , Trump has doubled down on his claims that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on his decision to hold huge indoor political events in Sunbelt states , at which attendees will not be socially spaced and won ’ t be mandated — or even encouraged , given Trump ’ s personal behavior around the issue — to wear masks .
Roughly 20,000 people are expected to cram into an indoor arena in Tulsa , Oklahoma , later today for a Trump rally , marketed as the first of many this election season ; and tens of thousands will be drawn to the convention center and hotels in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ participate in Trump ’ s coronation as the Republican Party ’ s presidential nominee .
There is something beyond irony in this , given that , in the early days of the outbreak in China , what was a local calamity in Wuhan was magnified into a national and then a global disaster in part by the decision of Communist Party officials there to go ahead with a huge indoor banquet-cum-political rally .
Now Trump and his political minions are repeating the mistake to help the virus reach additional victims in Oklahoma , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
To back up his magical thinking that the virus is now largely contained ( hard data notwithstanding ) , and that Americans are both able and ready to resume pre-pandemic patterns of working and consuming , Trump needs a set of policies in place that will make it look , to casual observers , as if things are back on track .
He needs to align himself with long-standing GOP priorities that will provide him with economic bona fides with conservative voters .
And there ’ s nothing more business-as-usual for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to take down the pension obligations negotiated over the decades by more liberal states and cities with their public sector trade unions ; attacking those who use government services ; and blaming the poor , and especially poor people of color , for the sorry state of public finances .
Indeed , news outlets reported this week that Trump ’ s top campaign contributor , Timothy Mellon , described a Faustian bargain in which poor people voted Democrat in exchange for being “ awarded with yet more and more freebies : food stamps @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Obamacare , and on , and on , and on.
” The Trump administration is now siding with conservative voices in Congress and conservative coordinating think tanks such as the American Legislative Exchange Council in opposing “ bail outs ” of hard-strapped cities and states , as well as coming out against an extension past July of the expanded system of unemployment payments that Congress passed back in March and April as state-level stay-in-place orders shuttered much of the economy .
If people refuse to return to work out of fears of infection @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to call hotlines to turn them in , thus rendering them potentially ineligible for ongoing unemployment payments .
This comes atop ongoing efforts , even amid the pandemic , to make it more difficult for low-income families to access food stamps .
And it comes during a time of renewed chatter about the need to pare back Social Security in order to tackle the federal budget deficit and soaring national debt that accelerated following the 2017 tax cut legislation , and which was further exacerbated by the series of COVID relief packages that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ issue , Mitt Romney , who has been a vocal , and honorable , critic of many aspects of Trumpism , has joined forces with other conservatives as one of the lead voices calling for a restructuring of Social Security , adding new impetus to “ reform ” proposals that he has been circulating in Congress for the past year .
Supporters of this idea argue that recent reports showing Medicare and Social Security are heading toward insolvency prove the urgency of legislative changes to the programs — while ignoring the possibility of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ through targeted increases in the tax burden faced by high-end earners .
Cumulatively , the accelerating efforts to gut the safety net represent an extraordinary effort to martial federal power to corral employees back to work , despite the accelerating pandemic , and to use the financial chaos unleashed by the pandemic as an excuse to follow through on a long-standing wish list of GOP cuts to entitlement programs .
This is an electoral strategy that isn ’ t even pretending to be concerned with the public health implications or with the U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s COVID-19 epicenter .
It is , in short , a Potemkin Village , a façade of economic policy , intended to dazzle a select audience , which has no coherence , no solidity , once one peels back the veneer .
Trump has spent his years in office selling one Brooklyn Bridge after another to his political followers .
The efforts to lower unemployment numbers by attacking unemployment benefits , to lower food stamp enrollment numbers by attacking eligibility , to reduce Social Security payouts by a capricious restructuring of benefits @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to genuinely tackle need , to really grapple with economic hardship .
All are , instead , merely additional Brooklyn Bridges for sale , public policy con jobs designed solely for their headline value .

Part of the Series Despair and Disparity: The Uneven Burdens of COVID-19
Spitting in the face of science, Donald Trump and Mike Pence have spent the week explaining how the COVID-19 pandemic is supposedly behind us.
Now, that may largely be true in Iceland, which flattened the curve early on and then eradicated the virus from its shores — which is why tens of thousands of people, clustered in sub-groups of up to 500, were allowed to safely congregate in Reykjavik this week to celebrate the island-nation’s independence day. But it most certainly isn’t true in the U.S., where somewhere between 20,000 and 28,000 new infections are being identified daily, and where, in many states, new infections are now being recorded at a record pace.
Meanwhile, Trump’s strategy seems to be to bury the science — the coronavirus task force rarely meets, and doctors Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx have almost entirely disappeared as public faces of the administration’s response. Moreover, Trump appears to be hoping that, in ceasing to send out usable communiques to the public and to local health authorities, somehow the virus will cease to be a public health emergency. Perhaps most notably, the administration appears determined to bludgeon the economy back to operating at full-throttle no matter the cost in lives.
The Sunbelt now teeters on becoming the new COVID-19 global hot zone, with the governors of states such as Arizona and Florida opening up their economies with scant regard for the public health science, and with cases skyrocketing to the point that health care systems are now at risk of being inundated. Yet, despite this, Trump has doubled down on his claims that all is now normal again, and on his decision to hold huge indoor political events in Sunbelt states, at which attendees will not be socially spaced and won’t be mandated — or even encouraged, given Trump’s personal behavior around the issue — to wear masks. Roughly 20,000 people were expected to cram into an indoor arena in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday for a Trump rally, marketed as the first of many this election season (though barely 6,200 attended); and tens of thousands will be drawn to the convention center and hotels in Jacksonville, Florida, in August to participate in Trump’s coronation as the Republican Party’s presidential nominee.
There is something beyond irony in this, given that, in the early days of the outbreak in China, what was a local calamity in Wuhan was magnified into a national and then a global disaster in part by the decision of Communist Party officials there to go ahead with a huge indoor banquet-cum-political rally.
The accelerating efforts to gut the safety net represent an extraordinary effort to martial federal power to corral employees back to work, despite the accelerating pandemic.
Now Trump and his political minions are repeating the mistake to help the virus reach additional victims in Oklahoma, Florida and, presumably, further afield.
To back up his magical thinking that the virus is now largely contained (hard data notwithstanding), and that Americans are both able and ready to resume pre-pandemic patterns of working and consuming, Trump needs a set of policies in place that will make it look, to casual observers, as if things are back on track. He needs to align himself with long-standing GOP priorities that will provide him with economic bona fides with conservative voters. And there’s nothing more business-as-usual for the GOP than using any and every excuse to take down the pension obligations negotiated over the decades by more liberal states and cities with their public sector trade unions; attacking those who use government services; and blaming the poor, and especially poor people of color, for the sorry state of public finances. Indeed, news outlets reported this week that Trump’s top campaign contributor, Timothy Mellon, described a Faustian bargain in which poor people voted Democrat in exchange for being “awarded with yet more and more freebies: food stamps, cell phones, WIC payments, Obamacare, and on, and on, and on.”
The Trump administration is now siding with conservative voices in Congress and conservative coordinating think tanks such as the American Legislative Exchange Council in opposing “bail outs” of hard-strapped cities and states, as well as coming out against an extension past July of the expanded system of unemployment payments that Congress passed back in March and April as state-level stay-in-place orders shuttered much of the economy. If people refuse to return to work out of fears of infection, some states are now encouraging employers to call hotlines to turn them in, thus rendering them potentially ineligible for ongoing unemployment payments.
This comes atop ongoing efforts, even amid the pandemic, to make it more difficult for low-income families to access food stamps. And it comes during a time of renewed chatter about the need to pare back Social Security in order to tackle the federal budget deficit and soaring national debt that accelerated following the 2017 tax cut legislation, and which was further exacerbated by the series of COVID relief packages that Congress passed this spring.
On this issue, Mitt Romney, who has been a vocal, and honorable, critic of many aspects of Trumpism, has joined forces with other conservatives as one of the lead voices calling for a restructuring of Social Security, adding new impetus to “reform” proposals that he has been circulating in Congress for the past year. Supporters of this idea argue that recent reports showing Medicare and Social Security are heading toward insolvency prove the urgency of legislative changes to the programs — while ignoring the possibility of instead injecting more money into these systems through targeted increases in the tax burden faced by high-end earners.
Cumulatively, the accelerating efforts to gut the safety net represent an extraordinary effort to martial federal power to corral employees back to work, despite the accelerating pandemic, and to use the financial chaos unleashed by the pandemic as an excuse to follow through on a long-standing wish list of GOP cuts to entitlement programs. This is an electoral strategy that isn’t even pretending to be concerned with the public health implications or with the U.S.’s ongoing status as the world’s COVID-19 epicenter. It is, in short, a Potemkin Village, a façade of economic policy, intended to dazzle a select audience, which has no coherence, no solidity, once one peels back the veneer.
Trump has spent his years in office selling one Brooklyn Bridge after another to his political followers. The efforts to lower unemployment numbers by attacking unemployment benefits, to lower food stamp enrollment numbers by attacking eligibility, to reduce Social Security payouts by a capricious restructuring of benefits calculations — none of these are efforts to genuinely tackle need, to really grapple with economic hardship. All are, instead, merely additional Brooklyn Bridges for sale, public policy con jobs designed solely for their headline value.
Note: This article has been updated to indicate the actual number of people who attended Trump’s rally on Saturday.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-06-20--Trump Wants to Create Election Chaos by Killing the Post Office

President Trump and his Republican advisers appear to be laying the groundwork for presidential election chaos on November 3 .
Part of the plan seems to be to allow the coronavirus-slammed U.S .
Postal Service ( USPS ) to run out of money in September , throwing the mail service into crisis , possibly disenfranchising everyone who votes by mail .
The postal service is essential for U.S. elections .
The U.S. military has depended on vote-by-mail since 1864 .
Five states now conduct elections entirely by mail — Colorado , Hawaii , Oregon , Washington and Utah .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ballot by mail .
Because of the coronavirus , many additional states and localities are currently considering universal vote-by-mail .
Killing or weakening the U.S .
Postal Service would essentially guarantee election chaos in November .
The postal service does not ordinarily receive taxpayer funds ; it is the only government agency expected to fund itself , via sale of stamps and services such as money orders .
Now , a combination of recent events has thrown USPS into financial turmoil .
It started in 2006 when Congress required USPS to set aside @ @ @ @ @ @ @ post-retirement health benefits , 75 years into the future , for its 600,000 employees .
This unusual financial burden , combined with a 30 percent drop in the volume of mail after the coronavirus shut down the economy , put USPS into financial crisis .
In April , the postal service estimated it will lose $ 22 billion in the next 18 months while it continues to deliver medicines , food , personal protective equipment ( masks , gloves , test kits ) , and all kinds of household necessities to every address @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rural or remote , regardless of cost .
When the first $ 2 trillion coronavirus bailout was written , Democrats and Republicans agreed on a $ 13 billion direct cash payment to the postal service to keep it afloat .
But President Trump announced that he would not sign the bill if it included any direct payments to bail out USPS .
Eventually , a compromise was reached : The CARES Act signed in late March contained a $ 10 billion loan to the postal service subject to approval by Trump ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ percent of the public wants vote-by-mail to avoid the dangers of standing in line at polling stations .
Furthermore , about 60 million people living in rural areas would be hurt badly by loss of mail service , which they depend upon daily for medicines , household necessities and information .
So why would the president and his close advisers want to disable the postal service ?
They probably have four motives : First , Trump has described the USPS as a “ delivery boy ” for online retailers , chiefly Amazon .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Washington Post , which has relentlessly fact-checked Trump ’ s frequent lies .
So hurting the Post Office seems part of a presidential vendetta against Mr. Bezos .
Second , the anti-government billionaires who have gained powerful influence within the Republican Party since 1980 have long sought to privatize the mail service , kill the powerful postal worker unions and benefit Republican benefactors like FedEx and UPS .
Third , Republicans believe that vote-by-mail will increase voter turnout , which they believe will cost them victory .
To win , many Republicans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ must disenfranchise people of color , recent immigrants , the young , the elderly and those with disabilities .
Republican strategist and founder of the ultra-right Heritage Foundation , Paul Weyrich , acknowledged this back in 1980 , saying “ I don ’ t want everybody to vote… .
Our leverage in the election , quite candidly , goes up as the voting populace goes down.
” On March 30 , Trump spilled the beans himself when he said , if it were easier to vote in the U.S. , Republicans would never @ @ @ @ @ @ @ comments as he dismissed a congressional Democrat-led push for reforms such as vote-by-mail , same-day voter registration and early voting to help states run elections safely during the COVID-19 pandemic .
“ They had things , levels of voting that if you ’ d ever agreed to it , you ’ d never have a Republican elected in this country again , ” Trump said .
“ We don ’ t want anyone to do mail-in ballots , ” the president said in May .
The fourth reason is far more speculative and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trailing Joe Biden by 8 to 12 percentage points if the election were held today .
This has the president worried .
In such circumstances , the president “ charts a consistent direction , toward chaos , which he then seeks to exploit to his advantage , ” as Steve Coll has observed .
A chaotic , delayed , postponed , or disputed coronavirus-inflected election on November 3 might offer Trump an opportunity to go full-bore authoritarian and claim victory no matter what the vote count eventually revealed about the preference of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now .
Saving the postal service is the essential first step .
On May 15 , the House passed the “ HEROES Act , ” which includes a $ 25 billion cash bailout for the postal service , but Senate Republicans have promised to “ cast it aside ” and the White House has issued a veto threat .
A large citizens ’ campaign called “ A Grand Alliance ” is urging everyone to take action now to save the postal service .

Part of the Series Voting Wrongs
President Trump and his Republican advisers appear to be laying the groundwork for presidential election chaos on November 3.
Part of the plan seems to be to allow the coronavirus-slammed U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to run out of money in September, throwing the mail service into crisis, possibly disenfranchising everyone who votes by mail.
The postal service is essential for U.S. elections. The U.S. military has depended on vote-by-mail since 1864. Five states now conduct elections entirely by mail — Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Utah. The other 45 states allow voting by absentee ballot by mail. Because of the coronavirus, many additional states and localities are currently considering universal vote-by-mail. Killing or weakening the U.S. Postal Service would essentially guarantee election chaos in November.
The postal service does not ordinarily receive taxpayer funds; it is the only government agency expected to fund itself, via sale of stamps and services such as money orders. Now, a combination of recent events has thrown USPS into financial turmoil. It started in 2006 when Congress required USPS to set aside cash sufficient to cover the cost of post-retirement health benefits, 75 years into the future, for its 600,000 employees. This unusual financial burden, combined with a 30 percent drop in the volume of mail after the coronavirus shut down the economy, put USPS into financial crisis. In April, the postal service estimated it will lose $22 billion in the next 18 months while it continues to deliver medicines, food, personal protective equipment (masks, gloves, test kits), and all kinds of household necessities to every address in the U.S., no matter how rural or remote, regardless of cost.
When the first $2 trillion coronavirus bailout was written, Democrats and Republicans agreed on a $13 billion direct cash payment to the postal service to keep it afloat. But President Trump announced that he would not sign the bill if it included any direct payments to bail out USPS. Eventually, a compromise was reached: The CARES Act signed in late March contained a $10 billion loan to the postal service subject to approval by Trump’s Treasury Department.
Polling shows that 80 percent of the public wants vote-by-mail to avoid the dangers of standing in line at polling stations. Furthermore, about 60 million people living in rural areas would be hurt badly by loss of mail service, which they depend upon daily for medicines, household necessities and information. So why would the president and his close advisers want to disable the postal service?
They probably have four motives:
First, Trump has described the USPS as a “delivery boy” for online retailers, chiefly Amazon. Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post, which has relentlessly fact-checked Trump’s frequent lies. So hurting the Post Office seems part of a presidential vendetta against Mr. Bezos.
A secure election requires action now. Saving the postal service is the essential first step.
Second, the anti-government billionaires who have gained powerful influence within the Republican Party since 1980 have long sought to privatize the mail service, kill the powerful postal worker unions and benefit Republican benefactors like FedEx and UPS.
Third, Republicans believe that vote-by-mail will increase voter turnout, which they believe will cost them victory. To win, many Republicans believe (and admit) that they must disenfranchise people of color, recent immigrants, the young, the elderly and those with disabilities.
Republican strategist and founder of the ultra-right Heritage Foundation, Paul Weyrich, acknowledged this back in 1980, saying “I don’t want everybody to vote…. Our leverage in the election, quite candidly, goes up as the voting populace goes down.”
On March 30, Trump spilled the beans himself when he said, if it were easier to vote in the U.S., Republicans would never get elected. The president made the comments as he dismissed a congressional Democrat-led push for reforms such as vote-by-mail, same-day voter registration and early voting to help states run elections safely during the COVID-19 pandemic. “They had things, levels of voting that if you’d ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again,” Trump said. “We don’t want anyone to do mail-in ballots,” the president said in May.
The fourth reason is far more speculative and more sinister. Current polls show Trump trailing Joe Biden by 8 to 12 percentage points if the election were held today. This has the president worried. In such circumstances, the president “charts a consistent direction, toward chaos, which he then seeks to exploit to his advantage,” as Steve Coll has observed.
A chaotic, delayed, postponed, or disputed coronavirus-inflected election on November 3 might offer Trump an opportunity to go full-bore authoritarian and claim victory no matter what the vote count eventually revealed about the preference of the people. A secure election requires action now. Saving the postal service is the essential first step.
On May 15, the House passed the “HEROES Act,” which includes a $25 billion cash bailout for the postal service, but Senate Republicans have promised to “cast it aside” and the White House has issued a veto threat. A large citizens’ campaign called “A Grand Alliance” is urging everyone to take action now to save the postal service.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-06-21--Following Supreme Court Rulings, Trump Attacks the Independence of the Judiciary

This past week , the U.S. Supreme Court handed down three rulings that were music to the ears of liberals : The court declined to take up a case , brought by the Trump administration , challenging California ’ s sanctuary cities ’ rights in withholding cooperation from ICE .
It ruled against allowing workplace discrimination against LGBTQ Americans , with Trump-nominated Justice Neil Gorsuch penning the decision .
And finally , with Chief Justice Roberts casting the swing vote and writing the majority opinion , it held that the way in which the administration had sought to scrap DACA @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , for now at least , DACA would continue .
Now don ’ t get too excited .
This is hardly a liberal renaissance on the court .
In fact , over the last three years the conservative justices have sided with the Trump administration in an array of high-profile cases .
They have allowed the Muslim travel ban to go into effect .
And they have permitted the administration to begin construction on its border wall using funds diverted from other projects , to implement the MPP protocols that hold asylum seekers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are wending their way through U.S. courts , and to implement Public Charge rules drastically restricting immigrants ’ access to safety net programs — all while the underlying legal arguments are still playing out in the lower courts .
But Trump wants more .
He expects total submission and fealty from the courts .
The rulings this past week , the DACA one in particular , got under Donald Trump ’ s skin in a big way .
And so , he did what he always does in such situations : He took @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wrote : “ These horrible & politically charged decisions coming out of the Supreme Court are shotgun blasts into the face of people that are proud to call themselves Republicans or Conservatives.
” He continued , as he has done of late , by returning the issue to guns — a non-sequitur at best , but a concept he believes rallies his base like few other themes .
“ We need more Justices or we will lose our 2nd .
Amendment & everything else .
Vote Trump 2020 !
” Continuing his twitter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wrote : “ The recent Supreme Court decisions , not only on DACA , Sanctuary Cities , Census , and others , tell you only one thing , we need NEW JUSTICES of the Supreme Court .
If the Radical Left Democrats assume power , your Second Amendment , Right to Life , Secure Borders , and … Religious Liberty , among many other things , are OVER and GONE !
” Meanwhile , taking their cues from Trump , his political wingmen on Capitol Hill were personalizing their attacks on the judiciary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ John Roberts — to an extraordinary degree .
Sen. Tom Cotton ( R-Arkansas ) , who has recently been positioning himself as the post-Trump Trump , as well as Sen. Ted Cruz ( R-Texas ) , took to conservative media to urge Roberts to resign and to critique his legal judgment in the wake of the DACA decision .
That Trump is attacking the most conservative Supreme Court in decades as being a plaything of the radical left is in one sense bizarre .
But , it is also entirely predictable .
From @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but contempt for the concept of an independent judiciary .
When rulings go his way , he basks in the glory ; but when rulings go against him and his friends , he has long used his platform to intimidate and to smear judges , lawyers — even members of juries .
Back in late February , he personally attacked the jury forewoman in the Roger Stone case .
This attack came fast on the heels of Trump ’ s urging the Justice Department to reverse its sentencing recommendation for Stone ; and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ process that usually accompanies presidential pardons , and to pardon a who ’ s who of white collar crooks in one fell swoop .
Trump also declared earlier this year that he was the law , and that he had the absolute right to intervene in any criminal case as he desired .
And , as he ratcheted up the intimidation campaign , he announced that Supreme Court justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Ginsburg should recuse themselves from any cases involving Trump or Trump organizations .
These past months , in a period @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump following his impeachment in the House cemented his notion of legal invulnerability , Trump has massively increased his campaign against the independence of the judiciary .
While one could argue that earlier attacks , such as when he accused a Mexican-American judge of being incapable of impartiality simply by virtue of his ethnicity , were more rhetorical than practical — that they were designed to enthuse his base and enrage his opponents — this recent batch of actions has a direct impact on how the legal system functions .
Essentially it creates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ friends are above , or outside of , the law ; and that the institutions and propaganda tools of government are now being weaponized to ensure that those in Trump ’ s inner circle can ’ t be held to account .
There ’ s an authoritarian ’ s playbook here , and Trump is using it to full effect .
His methods are those of the strongmen rulers of today ’ s Poland and Hungary , Russia and Turkey ; or of past rulers in Germany and Italy .
Attacking the independence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ political tactic of Poland ’ s governing Law and Justice Party over the past five years .
And it ’ s how the Russian political system has , since the late 1990s , become little more than a plaything for Vladimir Putin .
One attack after the next , on both individual judges and , more generally , on the principle of an independent judiciary , has taken the system in Poland and in Russia seemingly beyond the point of no return .
In Trump ’ s America , a similar assault on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ judges when they rule against you ; work out end-runs around their rulings ; or simply ignore judicial decisions and dare the courts to try to impose their legal will .
Earlier this year , the Ninth Circuit court of appeals blocked the administration ’ s dangerous policy — known , in true Orwellian-speak , as the Migrant Protection Protocols ( MPP ) — of forcing asylum seekers to remain in Mexico , in squalid and dangerous camps south of the border , while they await their court hearings .
A few hours @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ruling until after the weekend , to allow the government to appeal the decision , and Customs and Border Patrol immediately sent out an exclamation-point punctuated tweet announcing the agency would immediately begin enforcing MPP again .
However , while this was unfolding , a Trumpified bureaucracy was giving every indication that it would do pretty much whatever it wanted vis-à-vis asylum seekers .
Trump ’ s immigration agencies , in particular , have flouted legal rulings time and again .
Indeed , within hours of the first ruling against MPP , reports @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by conservatives in Congress , would use emergency powers to close the border to migrants , citing the threat of coronavirus as its justification .
This just hours after Trump declared , at a political rally in South Carolina , that the focus on coronavirus was a “ new hoax ” dreamed up by corrupt Democrats to undermine his presidency .
By April , that border had , indeed been closed .
It remains closed today , and , as a result , the administration has virtually halted all asylum entries , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ process , instead simply throwing thousands of people back over the border .
Closing the border to asylum seekers immediately after a court ruling to open the border to them may be technically legal , in an emergency context , but it certainly undermines any notion that Trump and his team abide by court rulings that they dislike .
They are using the courts solely as a political tool , to further their goals around immigration , deregulation and the like .
They are also showing an increased willingness to cite emergency needs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decision that they do not like .
Justice Sotomayor ’ s dissent to the recent Supreme Court ruling allowing Public Charge rules to kick in , and to begin fundamentally reshaping U.S. immigration policy , highlighted this rush to declare “ emergencies , ” and suggested that such claims “ ring increasingly hollow.
” Trump ’ s governing style is that of men such as Hungary ’ s Viktor Orbán , Poland ’ s Mateusz Morawiecki and Brazil ’ s Jair Bolsonaro .
Everything — be it public health crises , immigration or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emergency ; and , the government is , increasingly , citing these “ emergencies ” as reasons to not abide by lower court rulings it finds inconvenient , and to fast-track appeals to the conservative-dominated Supreme Court , where it knows it has a more sympathetic audience .
In the main , it has been racking up wins at the Supreme Court .
But , as this past week has shown , even Chief Justice Roberts has his limits .
Trump brooks no dissent — be it from senators or from judges .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He also believes any member of the Justice Department who investigates any wrongdoing by Trump or any of his associates is also to be considered a mortal foe .
On Friday evening , the day after the Supreme Court embarrassed Trump over DACA , the Trumpified Department of Justice , under Attorney General Barr , announced that the Manhattan U.S. Attorney , Geoffrey Berman , who was investigating Rudy Giuliani , was resigning , and that , in his stead , Trump would nominate a loyalist with no prosecutorial experience .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that he wasn ’ t resigning , that he had learned of his supposed resignation via a press release , and that he wouldn ’ t voluntarily step down .
His actions signified just how concerned career figures in the Justice Department are by Trump and Barr ’ s ongoing assault on the independence of the legal system .
A few hours before his embarrassingly poorly attended Tulsa rally , Trump responded in true Banana Republic fashion by firing Berman .
Astoundingly , in a quite shameless instance of deflection , Barr announced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chosen public spectacle over public service.
” The term “ double-speak ” doesn ’ t even begin to cover the foulness of this sentence .
When political leaders systematically undermine the legal process , democracies die .
Trump doesn ’ t want a country subject to the rule of law ; instead , he craves a politicized justice department , an entirely pliant court system , and a carve-out that allows him and his acolytes to do whatever they want , to plunder and to pillage with impunity .
He craves loyalty above @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be “ your law and order president.
” In fact , as is becoming clearer by the day , he ’ s nothing more or less than a two-bit villain — one whose drawing power is fading fast — playing a reality-television strong-man .

This past week, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down three rulings that were music to the ears of liberals: The court declined to take up a case, brought by the Trump administration, challenging California’s sanctuary cities’ rights in withholding cooperation from ICE. It ruled against allowing workplace discrimination against LGBTQ Americans, with Trump-nominated Justice Neil Gorsuch penning the decision. And finally, with Chief Justice Roberts casting the swing vote and writing the majority opinion, it held that the way in which the administration had sought to scrap DACA wasn’t legally sound and that, for now at least, DACA would continue.
Now don’t get too excited. This is hardly a liberal renaissance on the court. In fact, over the last three years the conservative justices have sided with the Trump administration in an array of high-profile cases. They have allowed the Muslim travel ban to go into effect. And they have permitted the administration to begin construction on its border wall using funds diverted from other projects, to implement the MPP protocols that hold asylum seekers south of the border while their cases are wending their way through U.S. courts, and to implement Public Charge rules drastically restricting immigrants’ access to safety net programs — all while the underlying legal arguments are still playing out in the lower courts.
But Trump wants more. He expects total submission and fealty from the courts. The rulings this past week, the DACA one in particular, got under Donald Trump’s skin in a big way. And so, he did what he always does in such situations: He took to Twitter. On Thursday, he wrote: “These horrible & politically charged decisions coming out of the Supreme Court are shotgun blasts into the face of people that are proud to call themselves Republicans or Conservatives.” He continued, as he has done of late, by returning the issue to guns — a non-sequitur at best, but a concept he believes rallies his base like few other themes. “We need more Justices or we will lose our 2nd. Amendment & everything else. Vote Trump 2020!”
Continuing his twitter fusillade against the Supreme Court, Trump wrote: “The recent Supreme Court decisions, not only on DACA, Sanctuary Cities, Census, and others, tell you only one thing, we need NEW JUSTICES of the Supreme Court. If the Radical Left Democrats assume power, your Second Amendment, Right to Life, Secure Borders, and … Religious Liberty, among many other things, are OVER and GONE!”
Meanwhile, taking their cues from Trump, his political wingmen on Capitol Hill were personalizing their attacks on the judiciary — and on the conservative figure of John Roberts — to an extraordinary degree. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), who has recently been positioning himself as the post-Trump Trump, as well as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), took to conservative media to urge Roberts to resign and to critique his legal judgment in the wake of the DACA decision.
That Trump is attacking the most conservative Supreme Court in decades as being a plaything of the radical left is in one sense bizarre. But, it is also entirely predictable. From the get-go, Trump has shown nothing but contempt for the concept of an independent judiciary. When rulings go his way, he basks in the glory; but when rulings go against him and his friends, he has long used his platform to intimidate and to smear judges, lawyers — even members of juries.
Back in late February, he personally attacked the jury forewoman in the Roger Stone case. This attack came fast on the heels of Trump’s urging the Justice Department to reverse its sentencing recommendation for Stone; and of his decision to bypass the rigorous process that usually accompanies presidential pardons, and to pardon a who’s who of white collar crooks in one fell swoop.
Trump also declared earlier this year that he was the law, and that he had the absolute right to intervene in any criminal case as he desired. And, as he ratcheted up the intimidation campaign, he announced that Supreme Court justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Ginsburg should recuse themselves from any cases involving Trump or Trump organizations.
These past months, in a period when the Senate’s acquittal of Trump following his impeachment in the House cemented his notion of legal invulnerability, Trump has massively increased his campaign against the independence of the judiciary. While one could argue that earlier attacks, such as when he accused a Mexican-American judge of being incapable of impartiality simply by virtue of his ethnicity, were more rhetorical than practical — that they were designed to enthuse his base and enrage his opponents — this recent batch of actions has a direct impact on how the legal system functions. Essentially it creates an impression that the president and his friends are above, or outside of, the law; and that the institutions and propaganda tools of government are now being weaponized to ensure that those in Trump’s inner circle can’t be held to account.
There’s an authoritarian’s playbook here, and Trump is using it to full effect. His methods are those of the strongmen rulers of today’s Poland and Hungary, Russia and Turkey; or of past rulers in Germany and Italy. Attacking the independence of the judiciary has been a central political tactic of Poland’s governing Law and Justice Party over the past five years. And it’s how the Russian political system has, since the late 1990s, become little more than a plaything for Vladimir Putin. One attack after the next, on both individual judges and, more generally, on the principle of an independent judiciary, has taken the system in Poland and in Russia seemingly beyond the point of no return. In Trump’s America, a similar assault on the judiciary is now underway: attack judges when they rule against you; work out end-runs around their rulings; or simply ignore judicial decisions and dare the courts to try to impose their legal will.
Earlier this year, the Ninth Circuit court of appeals blocked the administration’s dangerous policy — known, in true Orwellian-speak, as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) — of forcing asylum seekers to remain in Mexico, in squalid and dangerous camps south of the border, while they await their court hearings. A few hours later, the court stayed its own ruling until after the weekend, to allow the government to appeal the decision, and Customs and Border Patrol immediately sent out an exclamation-point punctuated tweet announcing the agency would immediately begin enforcing MPP again. However, while this was unfolding, a Trumpified bureaucracy was giving every indication that it would do pretty much whatever it wanted vis-à-vis asylum seekers.
Trump’s immigration agencies, in particular, have flouted legal rulings time and again. Indeed, within hours of the first ruling against MPP, reports were circulating that the administration, backed by conservatives in Congress, would use emergency powers to close the border to migrants, citing the threat of coronavirus as its justification. This just hours after Trump declared, at a political rally in South Carolina, that the focus on coronavirus was a “new hoax” dreamed up by corrupt Democrats to undermine his presidency. By April, that border had, indeed been closed. It remains closed today, and, as a result, the administration has virtually halted all asylum entries, and has also abandoned any pretense of due process, instead simply throwing thousands of people back over the border.
Closing the border to asylum seekers immediately after a court ruling to open the border to them may be technically legal, in an emergency context, but it certainly undermines any notion that Trump and his team abide by court rulings that they dislike. They are using the courts solely as a political tool, to further their goals around immigration, deregulation and the like. They are also showing an increased willingness to cite emergency needs as a way around any and every decision that they do not like. Justice Sotomayor’s dissent to the recent Supreme Court ruling allowing Public Charge rules to kick in, and to begin fundamentally reshaping U.S. immigration policy, highlighted this rush to declare “emergencies,” and suggested that such claims “ring increasingly hollow.”
Trump’s governing style is that of men such as Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, Poland’s Mateusz Morawiecki and Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro. Everything — be it public health crises, immigration or corruption investigations — is viewed as an emergency; and, the government is, increasingly, citing these “emergencies” as reasons to not abide by lower court rulings it finds inconvenient, and to fast-track appeals to the conservative-dominated Supreme Court, where it knows it has a more sympathetic audience.
In the main, it has been racking up wins at the Supreme Court. But, as this past week has shown, even Chief Justice Roberts has his limits. Trump brooks no dissent — be it from senators or from judges. He now believes Roberts is his enemy. He also believes any member of the Justice Department who investigates any wrongdoing by Trump or any of his associates is also to be considered a mortal foe.
On Friday evening, the day after the Supreme Court embarrassed Trump over DACA, the Trumpified Department of Justice, under Attorney General Barr, announced that the Manhattan U.S. Attorney, Geoffrey Berman, who was investigating Rudy Giuliani, was resigning, and that, in his stead, Trump would nominate a loyalist with no prosecutorial experience. In a twist, however, Berman said that he wasn’t resigning, that he had learned of his supposed resignation via a press release, and that he wouldn’t voluntarily step down. His actions signified just how concerned career figures in the Justice Department are by Trump and Barr’s ongoing assault on the independence of the legal system.
A few hours before his embarrassingly poorly attended Tulsa rally, Trump responded in true Banana Republic fashion by firing Berman. Astoundingly, in a quite shameless instance of deflection, Barr announced that this was because Berman had “chosen public spectacle over public service.” The term “double-speak” doesn’t even begin to cover the foulness of this sentence.
When political leaders systematically undermine the legal process, democracies die. Trump doesn’t want a country subject to the rule of law; instead, he craves a politicized justice department, an entirely pliant court system, and a carve-out that allows him and his acolytes to do whatever they want, to plunder and to pillage with impunity. He craves loyalty above legality, and then dares to claim to be “your law and order president.” In fact, as is becoming clearer by the day, he’s nothing more or less than a two-bit villain — one whose drawing power is fading fast — playing a reality-television strong-man.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-06-21--The President’s “Comeback Celebration” in Tulsa Tanked

Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale on Monday tweeted that more than 1 million people had registered for tickets to President Donald Trump ’ s much-hyped rally at the end of the week in Tulsa , Oklahoma .
Two hours before the event kicked off , the campaign sent out more than 1 million text messages : “ The Great American Comeback Celebration ’ s almost here !
There ’ s still space !
” In total , fewer than 6,200 people showed up to watch the president speak at the 19,000-seat BOK arena , according to the Tulsa Fire Department @ @ @ @ @ @ @ users and fans of South Korean pop music , known as K-pop , revealed that they had made reservations with no plans to show as part of a massive troll started by a 51-year-old grandmother in Fort Dodge , Iowa .
“ The event in Oklahoma is unbelievable , ” Trump , who said he expected 40,000 people would attend , boasted at the White House just before departing on Marine One .
“ The crowds are unbelievable .
They haven ’ t seen anything like it , and we will go there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hopefully good speech .
We ’ re going to see a lot of great people — a lot of great friends .
And pretty much that ’ s it , OK ?
” Trump was informed en route to the rally that six campaign members who went ahead to prep the event had tested positive for COVID-19 .
Two secret service agents also tested positive .
By the time Air Force One landed in Tulsa , the campaign had canceled the speech Trump was slated to deliver in the overflow lot , where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump had planned to use the rally to inject new life into his campaign and his own personal system , which initially withered as campaign events were halted by coronavirus restrictions and later over criticism for his responses to the pandemic and the death of George Floyd .
Trump campaign spokesperson Tim Murtaugh blamed protesters , alleging that they had intimidated attendees and blocked access to gates and metal detectors .
“ Radical protestors , coupled with an intense onslaught from the media , attempted to frighten off the president ’ s supporters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ We are proud of the thousands who stuck it out.
” Trump blasted the same message from the stage at the beginning of his speech .
“ You are warriors , ” he told the group gathered on the gray arena floorboard in front of him , blaming “ thugs ” for the thin herd .
“ We had some very bad people outside .
They were doing bad things , ” he added .
“ But I really do appreciate it.
” But reporters on the ground said they did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And Tulsa police only reported one arrest : a woman wearing an “ I can ’ t breathe ” T-shirt who sat in the parking lot in peaceful protest until the campaign ordered her removed her from the private event .
She had a ticket .
Though Trump aimed to use the event ’ s energy to separate the spirit of his campaign from presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden , what followed was an aimless and pessimistic address , which lasted two hours .
When his greatest hits failed to land — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ media — Trump abandoned his triumphant battle cry and descended into an observational stand-up routine about his recent personal grievances , which at times bordered on slapstick .
The president mocked the media and nameless Democrats for misreading his physical health during his West Point commencement address , proving to the crowd that he could indeed walk down a ramp and drink a glass of water with one hand .
Trump spent one out of eight minutes on “ rampgate , ” according to a Washington Post analysis .
The biggest applause line @ @ @ @ @ @ @ came when he spontaneously chucked the empty cup , a move which may have encapsulated his own feelings about the evening .
The rally , Trump ’ s first since March 2 , was doomed almost from the start .
The president drew intense backlash for the date and location : Juneteenth , or Jubilee , when Black Americans observe their independence from slavery ; and Tulsa , the site of one of the bloodiest outbursts of racist violence against Black Americans in U.S. history .
Critics saw this as a troll , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ response to nationwide protests about police brutality , which included tear-gassing peaceful protestors so he could take a photo with a Bible in front of a church .
If it was a troll , it was unclear whether the president had been informed .
“ I did something good : I made Juneteenth very famous , ” he told The Wall Street Journal this week .
“ It ’ s actually an important event — an important time .
But nobody had ever heard of it.
” However , Trump ’ s speech @ @ @ @ @ @ @ massacre or Floyd .
Instead , he alleged that his political opponents had co-opted the protest movement in an attempt to divide the country .
“ The unhinged left-wing mob is trying to vandalize our history , desecrate our monuments — our beautiful monuments — tear down our statues and punish , cancel and persecute anyone who does not conform to their demands for absolute and total control .
We ’ re not conforming , ” Trump told the crowd , pulling a rare cheer .
“ And our people are not nearly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were , it would be a terrible , terrible day for the other side , ” he added in an apparent allusion to a second Civil War .
The whataboutism fell audibly flat when it came to Biden , whom Trump mostly challenged on a personal level , dismissing his opponent as mentally and physically unfit to run against him , as well as out of touch with the social justice movement sweeping the country .
“ Virtually every policy that has hurt Black Americans for the last half a century , Joe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump claimed .
“ I have done more for the Black community in four years then Joe Biden has done in 47 years.
” The president also felt compelled to vent about the coronavirus , an unprecedented public health emergency whose threat has handcuffed the president to a politically inconvenient reality for months .
Trump sought to dodge responsibility for nearly every dimension of the pandemic , pinning blame on the Chinese government for the global spread of the virus , which has killed nearly 120,000 Americans , and attacking Democrats for keeping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the envy of the world .
.
.
and then the plague came in , ” Trump said , calling on states to reopen , despite the fact that all 50 have been taking steps since May .
“ We ’ re going to go up , up , up , ” he said .
Trump also fictionalized the pandemic itself , as infection numbers have again begun to spike .
“ You know testing is a double edge sword , ” he told the audience .
“ When you do testing to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to find more people .
You ’ re going to find more cases , ” Trump said in a ripping crescendo .
“ So I said to my people , slow the testing down please.
” The White House immediately walked back the explosive confession , reassuring the public that the president had only been joking .
However , some Tulsa Trump supporters may not have laughed .
Local public health officials had raised alarms about the rally all week , saying the city was experiencing its largest ever spike in cases and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tulsa , ” health department director Dr. Bruce Dart cautioned .
“ It is transmitting very efficiently.
” “ I ’ m concerned about our ability to protect anyone who attends a large , indoor event , and I ’ m also concerned about our ability to ensure the president stays safe , as well , ” he said , adding his wish that the rally be postponed .
That risk may have deterred attendants more than the K-pop troll , which inflated the campaign ’ s confidence about what was happening on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s failings from the podium .
And it might be that Tulsa was not a troll after all .
Trump won Oklahoma by 36 points in 2016 , and no Democratic presidential nominee has carried the state since 1964 .
But if the campaign did , in fact , choose the venue as the friendliest , safest space to stage the president ’ s swaggering return to the national stage , Trump ’ s rant may not have ended with the speech .

Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale on Monday tweeted that more than 1 million people had registered for tickets to President Donald Trump’s much-hyped rally at the end of the week in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Two hours before the event kicked off, the campaign sent out more than 1 million text messages: “The Great American Comeback Celebration’s almost here! There’s still space!”
In total, fewer than 6,200 people showed up to watch the president speak at the 19,000-seat BOK arena, according to the Tulsa Fire Department. It was not long before TikTok users and fans of South Korean pop music, known as K-pop, revealed that they had made reservations with no plans to show as part of a massive troll started by a 51-year-old grandmother in Fort Dodge, Iowa.
“The event in Oklahoma is unbelievable,” Trump, who said he expected 40,000 people would attend, boasted at the White House just before departing on Marine One. “The crowds are unbelievable. They haven’t seen anything like it, and we will go there now. We’ll give a hopefully good speech. We’re going to see a lot of great people — a lot of great friends. And pretty much that’s it, OK?”
Trump was informed en route to the rally that six campaign members who went ahead to prep the event had tested positive for COVID-19. Two secret service agents also tested positive. By the time Air Force One landed in Tulsa, the campaign had canceled the speech Trump was slated to deliver in the overflow lot, where all of 25 people had gathered.
Trump had planned to use the rally to inject new life into his campaign and his own personal system, which initially withered as campaign events were halted by coronavirus restrictions and later over criticism for his responses to the pandemic and the death of George Floyd.
Trump campaign spokesperson Tim Murtaugh blamed protesters, alleging that they had intimidated attendees and blocked access to gates and metal detectors.
“Radical protestors, coupled with an intense onslaught from the media, attempted to frighten off the president’s supporters,” he said in a statement. “We are proud of the thousands who stuck it out.”
Trump blasted the same message from the stage at the beginning of his speech.
“You are warriors,” he told the group gathered on the gray arena floorboard in front of him, blaming “thugs” for the thin herd.
“We had some very bad people outside. They were doing bad things,” he added. “But I really do appreciate it.”
But reporters on the ground said they did not see any violence or blocked entrances. And Tulsa police only reported one arrest: a woman wearing an “I can’t breathe” T-shirt who sat in the parking lot in peaceful protest until the campaign ordered her removed her from the private event. She had a ticket.
Though Trump aimed to use the event’s energy to separate the spirit of his campaign from presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, what followed was an aimless and pessimistic address, which lasted two hours. When his greatest hits failed to land — race-baiting, the “fake news” media — Trump abandoned his triumphant battle cry and descended into an observational stand-up routine about his recent personal grievances, which at times bordered on slapstick.
The president mocked the media and nameless Democrats for misreading his physical health during his West Point commencement address, proving to the crowd that he could indeed walk down a ramp and drink a glass of water with one hand. Trump spent one out of eight minutes on “rampgate,” according to a Washington Post analysis. The biggest applause line of the night, in fact, came when he spontaneously chucked the empty cup, a move which may have encapsulated his own feelings about the evening.
The rally, Trump’s first since March 2, was doomed almost from the start. The president drew intense backlash for the date and location: Juneteenth, or Jubilee, when Black Americans observe their independence from slavery; and Tulsa, the site of one of the bloodiest outbursts of racist violence against Black Americans in U.S. history.
Critics saw this as a troll, intentionally exacerbating widespread outrage at his bellicose response to nationwide protests about police brutality, which included tear-gassing peaceful protestors so he could take a photo with a Bible in front of a church. If it was a troll, it was unclear whether the president had been informed.
“I did something good: I made Juneteenth very famous,” he told The Wall Street Journal this week. “It’s actually an important event — an important time. But nobody had ever heard of it.”
However, Trump’s speech did not mention Juneteenth, the Tulsa massacre or Floyd. Instead, he alleged that his political opponents had co-opted the protest movement in an attempt to divide the country.
“The unhinged left-wing mob is trying to vandalize our history, desecrate our monuments — our beautiful monuments — tear down our statues and punish, cancel and persecute anyone who does not conform to their demands for absolute and total control. We’re not conforming,” Trump told the crowd, pulling a rare cheer.
“And our people are not nearly as violent, but if they ever were, it would be a terrible, terrible day for the other side,” he added in an apparent allusion to a second Civil War.
The whataboutism fell audibly flat when it came to Biden, whom Trump mostly challenged on a personal level, dismissing his opponent as mentally and physically unfit to run against him, as well as out of touch with the social justice movement sweeping the country.
“Virtually every policy that has hurt Black Americans for the last half a century, Joe Biden has supported or enacted,” Trump claimed. “I have done more for the Black community in four years then Joe Biden has done in 47 years.”
The president also felt compelled to vent about the coronavirus, an unprecedented public health emergency whose threat has handcuffed the president to a politically inconvenient reality for months.
Trump sought to dodge responsibility for nearly every dimension of the pandemic, pinning blame on the Chinese government for the global spread of the virus, which has killed nearly 120,000 Americans, and attacking Democrats for keeping state economies closed.
“We were the envy of the world . . . and then the plague came in,” Trump said, calling on states to reopen, despite the fact that all 50 have been taking steps since May.
“We’re going to go up, up, up,” he said.
Trump also fictionalized the pandemic itself, as infection numbers have again begun to spike.
“You know testing is a double edge sword,” he told the audience.
“When you do testing to that extent, you’re going to find more people. You’re going to find more cases,” Trump said in a ripping crescendo. “So I said to my people, slow the testing down please.”
The White House immediately walked back the explosive confession, reassuring the public that the president had only been joking.
However, some Tulsa Trump supporters may not have laughed. Local public health officials had raised alarms about the rally all week, saying the city was experiencing its largest ever spike in cases and deaths.
“COVID is here in Tulsa,” health department director Dr. Bruce Dart cautioned. “It is transmitting very efficiently.”
“I’m concerned about our ability to protect anyone who attends a large, indoor event, and I’m also concerned about our ability to ensure the president stays safe, as well,” he said, adding his wish that the rally be postponed.
That risk may have deterred attendants more than the K-pop troll, which inflated the campaign’s confidence about what was happening on the ground.
Trump acknowledged the evening’s failings from the podium.
“So far tonight, I’m average,” he reflected.
And it might be that Tulsa was not a troll after all. Trump won Oklahoma by 36 points in 2016, and no Democratic presidential nominee has carried the state since 1964.
But if the campaign did, in fact, choose the venue as the friendliest, safest space to stage the president’s swaggering return to the national stage, Trump’s rant may not have ended with the speech.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.


truthout--2020-06-21--When Barnes and Noble Warehouse Workers Got Sick, They Organized and Won

I have been working the night shift at a Barnes & Noble warehouse in Monroe , New Jersey , for the past 16 years .
For decades I have witnessed abuses at my workplace , but the COVID-19 crisis spurred me into collective action for the first time .
Every evening , I come into work on a shop floor with hundreds of other immigrant workers , all packaging deliveries in close quarters .
As news of the pandemic spread , I began to worry about the conditions in my warehouse .
My managers were not providing us with any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to maintain the same rate of productivity , working dangerously close to one another .
I told my boss that I was concerned for my safety , and that of my co-workers .
I told him that I was worried if things carried on in the same way we would all get sick , and that I wanted to use my personal days to stay home .
My supervisor responded by telling me I was exaggerating , and that my personal days would not get approved , but the choice was mine if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unpaid leave .
I spoke with my sons about the situation at my warehouse , and as a family we wrestled with the same choice that so many working-class families across the country are being forced to make every single day .
Should I put my health and life at risk in order to keep working and provide for the basic necessities ?
It is a calculus that is not unfamiliar to immigrant families in normal times , but has become clearer and inescapable during the COVID-19 crisis .
Ultimately , as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was not worth it , and that we would be able to cover the bills for a couple of weeks .
I told my boss I would not be returning to work , but I was worried about my co-workers , who were not able to make that choice .
The state calls all warehouse workers “ essential , ” including those packaging and delivering books , but Barnes & Noble had done next to nothing to protect us from COVID-19 .
After a week the managers called me back , and tried @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work .
They told me I only had one week of unpaid leave , and that because of the time I had taken off , I was no longer eligible for vacation .
Meanwhile my co-workers were telling me about the deteriorating conditions inside the warehouse .
The company still had not given workers masks or gloves , and workers were sharing scanners without access to cleaning supplies .
While the managers sat protected inside of their offices , workers were coughing on the shop floor as their colleagues tried to sound the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Barnes & Noble finally admitted to having its first case , coworkers said that many on the shop floor were already exhibiting symptoms of the virus .
I received panicked calls from my co-workers who told me the warehouse was refusing to shut down and forcing them to come back to work .
The more stories I heard , the angrier I became .
Our bosses tell us they appreciate our work ; they give us certificates of gratitude on Christmas .
But for all of their empty words of gratitude , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most — they callously denied us even basic protections .
My co-workers were in the hospital , and it was management ’ s fault .
I realized we had to do something .
In our determination to provide for our families , many of us believed that if we just put down our heads and worked hard enough we would be able to give our children a better life .
We were so focused on the task we set out to do when we came to this country — work , put food @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and a home — that we believed our problems could be solved individually .
But there are some dreams that will never be realized unless we fight for them together , collectively : to live and work with dignity , to keep our families together , to leave our children a better world .
Now , in this moment when so many of us risk losing the little we thought was in our control , we are waking up to the reality that no matter how hard we work in this country , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Instead , they continue to take and take .
It is not enough to have a job , when a job can be lost from one day to the next .
Immigrant workers who have been criminalized by a government that makes us feel we do not belong here are beginning to realize that nothing will change until we demand more — to believe in the first instance that we deserve more .
With the support of Movimiento Cosecha and Warehouse Workers Stand Up , I organized a call with my co-workers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Barnes & Noble has stopped us from forming a union , but we decided to draft up a list of demands and called for a protest to put pressure on management .
We demanded the warehouse close for two weeks to decontaminate , and give workers paid time off , hazard pay and protective equipment .
Over the next three days more and more workers began joining our chat , slowly overcoming their fear and doubt .
We collected hundreds of petitions and on the day of the protest , management was waiting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to intimidate and stop other workers from joining .
But I know they were also scared because they depend on our labor , and we have the ability to shut down the warehouse .
That same week they began handing out protective equipment , and soon thereafter announced they would close the warehouse for five days and give workers paid leave in order to decontaminate .
Today , things look very different at my warehouse , and I know it is thanks to the public pressure we put on the company .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and our fight was never just about conditions in one warehouse .
Since we began to organize at Barnes & Noble , immigrant workers across New Jersey have been calling to share similar stories of bosses taking advantage of the crisis to exploit their workers , or else allowing them to get sick in their warehouses .
Businesses are hiring workers at rates below minimum wage , and many families are so desperate to put food on their tables that they are willing to accept far less than they deserve .
It is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a country that refuses to grant its workers basic protections .
Yet sitting quietly alongside the desperation there is also a growing anger .
It is an anger that has been simmering beneath the surface for decades , but has reached its boiling point .
It is the anger we feel when faced with the unassailable truth that they are letting us die — that they don ’ t care if we die .
This crisis has uncovered what many of us already knew to be true : that the rich and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ labor , while denying our dignity , respect and protection .
Faced with this undeniable truth , many immigrant workers across the state are waking up and demanding more .
We have before us a tremendous opportunity to organize workers , particularly those who , like us , do not have the benefit of a union .
In the United States only 10 percent of all workers are unionized , and in industries with large numbers of immigrant workers , unionization rates are even lower .
We must take advantage of the opportunity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ teach one another how to fight for our dignity and to bring newly awakened workers into our organizations .
In the midst of the public health and economic crisis facing our communities , we have a precious window of opportunity to grow the power of worker-led movements in this country by reaching workers who have long been excluded from the traditional labor movement , but who are ready to fight .
In New Jersey , we are supporting workers in other warehouses who have reached out in the face of similarly dangerous working @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in order to help workers at other warehouses overcome fear of retaliation , and I know we are not alone .
Over the last few months we have seen workers at Amazon challenge the Goliath , and Minneapolis bus drivers refusing to cooperate with police in powerful alignment with the Movement for Black Lives .
They are showing us the seeds of what is possible if we begin to take seriously the power that low-wage , Black , Latinx and immigrant workers have in this country , and build the capacity we need @ @ @ @ @ @

I have been working the night shift at a Barnes & Noble warehouse in Monroe, New Jersey, for the past 16 years. For decades I have witnessed abuses at my workplace, but the COVID-19 crisis spurred me into collective action for the first time.
Every evening, I come into work on a shop floor with hundreds of other immigrant workers, all packaging deliveries in close quarters. As news of the pandemic spread, I began to worry about the conditions in my warehouse. My managers were not providing us with any protective equipment, and we were expected to maintain the same rate of productivity, working dangerously close to one another.
I told my boss that I was concerned for my safety, and that of my co-workers. I told him that I was worried if things carried on in the same way we would all get sick, and that I wanted to use my personal days to stay home. My supervisor responded by telling me I was exaggerating, and that my personal days would not get approved, but the choice was mine if I wanted to take two weeks of unpaid leave. I spoke with my sons about the situation at my warehouse, and as a family we wrestled with the same choice that so many working-class families across the country are being forced to make every single day. Should I put my health and life at risk in order to keep working and provide for the basic necessities? It is a calculus that is not unfamiliar to immigrant families in normal times, but has become clearer and inescapable during the COVID-19 crisis.
Ultimately, as a family, we decided that the risk was not worth it, and that we would be able to cover the bills for a couple of weeks. I told my boss I would not be returning to work, but I was worried about my co-workers, who were not able to make that choice. The state calls all warehouse workers “essential,” including those packaging and delivering books, but Barnes & Noble had done next to nothing to protect us from COVID-19.
After a week the managers called me back, and tried to force me to come back to work. They told me I only had one week of unpaid leave, and that because of the time I had taken off, I was no longer eligible for vacation. Meanwhile my co-workers were telling me about the deteriorating conditions inside the warehouse. The company still had not given workers masks or gloves, and workers were sharing scanners without access to cleaning supplies. While the managers sat protected inside of their offices, workers were coughing on the shop floor as their colleagues tried to sound the alarm.
By April 1, when Barnes & Noble finally admitted to having its first case, coworkers said that many on the shop floor were already exhibiting symptoms of the virus. I received panicked calls from my co-workers who told me the warehouse was refusing to shut down and forcing them to come back to work. The more stories I heard, the angrier I became. Our bosses tell us they appreciate our work; they give us certificates of gratitude on Christmas. But for all of their empty words of gratitude, in this moment — when it mattered the most — they callously denied us even basic protections. My co-workers were in the hospital, and it was management’s fault. I realized we had to do something.
In our determination to provide for our families, many of us believed that if we just put down our heads and worked hard enough we would be able to give our children a better life. We were so focused on the task we set out to do when we came to this country — work, put food on the table, buy a car and a home — that we believed our problems could be solved individually. But there are some dreams that will never be realized unless we fight for them together, collectively: to live and work with dignity, to keep our families together, to leave our children a better world.
Now, in this moment when so many of us risk losing the little we thought was in our control, we are waking up to the reality that no matter how hard we work in this country, the powerful will not give us anything. Instead, they continue to take and take. It is not enough to have a job, when a job can be lost from one day to the next. Immigrant workers who have been criminalized by a government that makes us feel we do not belong here are beginning to realize that nothing will change until we demand more — to believe in the first instance that we deserve more.
With the support of Movimiento Cosecha and Warehouse Workers Stand Up, I organized a call with my co-workers to discuss the options. For years Barnes & Noble has stopped us from forming a union, but we decided to draft up a list of demands and called for a protest to put pressure on management. We demanded the warehouse close for two weeks to decontaminate, and give workers paid time off, hazard pay and protective equipment. Over the next three days more and more workers began joining our chat, slowly overcoming their fear and doubt.
We collected hundreds of petitions and on the day of the protest, management was waiting for us outside. They were prepared to intimidate and stop other workers from joining. But I know they were also scared because they depend on our labor, and we have the ability to shut down the warehouse. That same week they began handing out protective equipment, and soon thereafter announced they would close the warehouse for five days and give workers paid leave in order to decontaminate. Today, things look very different at my warehouse, and I know it is thanks to the public pressure we put on the company.
But the fight does not end here, and our fight was never just about conditions in one warehouse. Since we began to organize at Barnes & Noble, immigrant workers across New Jersey have been calling to share similar stories of bosses taking advantage of the crisis to exploit their workers, or else allowing them to get sick in their warehouses. Businesses are hiring workers at rates below minimum wage, and many families are so desperate to put food on their tables that they are willing to accept far less than they deserve. It is the foreseeable consequence of mass unemployment, in a country that refuses to grant its workers basic protections.
Yet sitting quietly alongside the desperation there is also a growing anger. It is an anger that has been simmering beneath the surface for decades, but has reached its boiling point. It is the anger we feel when faced with the unassailable truth that they are letting us die — that they don’t care if we die. This crisis has uncovered what many of us already knew to be true: that the rich and powerful in this country depend on our labor, while denying our dignity, respect and protection. Faced with this undeniable truth, many immigrant workers across the state are waking up and demanding more.
We have before us a tremendous opportunity to organize workers, particularly those who, like us, do not have the benefit of a union. In the United States only 10 percent of all workers are unionized, and in industries with large numbers of immigrant workers, unionization rates are even lower. We must take advantage of the opportunity presented to us in this moment to teach one another how to fight for our dignity and to bring newly awakened workers into our organizations. In the midst of the public health and economic crisis facing our communities, we have a precious window of opportunity to grow the power of worker-led movements in this country by reaching workers who have long been excluded from the traditional labor movement, but who are ready to fight.
In New Jersey, we are supporting workers in other warehouses who have reached out in the face of similarly dangerous working conditions. We are sharing our experiences in order to help workers at other warehouses overcome fear of retaliation, and I know we are not alone. Over the last few months we have seen workers at Amazon challenge the Goliath, and Minneapolis bus drivers refusing to cooperate with police in powerful alignment with the Movement for Black Lives. They are showing us the seeds of what is possible if we begin to take seriously the power that low-wage, Black, Latinx and immigrant workers have in this country, and build the capacity we need in order to wield it.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.