(Essence) “Compromising” On $3.5 Trillion Social Safety Net Bill Harms Black Communities. We Can’t Let That Happen.
As moderate Democrats pressure their party to slash investments in infrastructure that would support children, families, access to health care, and the programs that ensure that working people in this country are supported, many are talking about the importance of “compromise.”
To compromise requires parties on equal footing to each give as much as they get. It is no compromise for well-paid politicians to cut the programs that make the difference between poverty and security, health and hunger for people who are consistently kept out of the political process. Compromise is the wrong word. This is a power play, and it is happening at the expense of some of the most vulnerable in our society.
Before we can “compromise” we must start from a shared understanding, and good faith. Important work remains to repair the damage from COVID-19 and to unwind the hundreds of years of dehumanization, stolen labor and resources, and criminalization that has impacted the lives of Black, Brown, AAPI, poor, disabled, and LGBTQIA+ people. Democrats proposed $3.5 trillion in social spending to be passed along with a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill. But it’s our human infrastructure that is being sacrificed when we accept massive cuts to social services.
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