Vice President Kamala Harris has touted an economic vision for America she calls the “Opportunity Society,” a policy that harkens back to an era when presidents distinguished their policies with slogans like Franklin D. Roosevelt's “New Deal” and John F. Kennedy's “New Frontier.”
This year marks the 60th anniversary of Lyndon B. Johnson's “War on Poverty,” so it's appropriate to consider how Harris' economic reform plan compares to those of previous Democratic administrations.
Harris' economic agenda is aimed almost exclusively at the middle class, and at the center of her vision are federal subsidies like $25,000 down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers, a tax credit for families of $6,000 per child instead of $3,600, expanded subsidies for Obamacare health insurance, and caps on insulin costs and prescription drug copayments.
Harris clearly wants to position herself as a champion of the middle class, though critics will point out that the plan relies on Congress to pass major legislation, even though the chamber has struggled to turn out in recent days. Most puzzling is her lack of ideas about how to better manage economic policy, which is already controlled by the executive branch.
Most disappointingly, Harris's policies neglect what Sen. Bernie Sanders called the “neglected working poor,” especially black men. Recent Interviews When asked by John McClellan, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, how she plans to woo the support of black men who have been alienated from the party, she responded, “I'm working to get the vote. I'm not expecting to get the vote because I'm black.”
Her answer failed to show any awareness of the dilemma faced by young men, such as the fact that in this post-affirmative action era, Harris could have spoken out to provide reassurance to many young people. Black Student They accept that things will work out. Black female enrollment is stable, but non-athletic black men are an endangered species in higher education. Approximately 40% decrease It has plummeted between 2011 and 2020, and since then. 2023 Supreme Court ruling.
Harris also missed an opportunity to encourage young people to consider skilled trade options under the Biden-Harris Industrial Policy. $454 billion for infrastructure and $19 billion for electric vehicles The restructuring would benefit working-class black men. As a former attorney general, she should know that black skilled laborers in the construction industry have faced discrimination and exclusion for decades.
For example, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has documented workplace bias in the construction industry. 2023 ReportFor many years, both legal and illegal immigrants have provided a flexible source of labor for the industry. Racial composition of the construction industry Currently, 60 percent are white, 30 percent are Hispanic, and 5 percent are black Americans.
Harris could draw on Johnson's campaign strategy to communicate her vision for managing the nation's institutions to voters. In his 1964 election, Johnson promoted a package of executive branch programs and legislative reforms known as the “Great Society,” one of the largest social reform initiatives in modern history, with the “War on Poverty” as its economic centerpiece.
Under the War on Poverty, President Johnson sought to use his presidency to eliminate economic inequality. In a special message to Congress in March 1964, President Johnson introduced the Office of Economic Opportunity and the Economic Opportunity Act, whose purpose was to help the working poor break the cycle of poverty through a series of federally sponsored interventions.
LBJ understood the despair of poverty while growing up in a poor area of southwest Texas, and he promoted reforms during his campaign. say“This program will show millions of our citizens a path to new opportunity. It will be a catalyst to open the doors to prosperity for people who have been trapped abroad.”
Workforce development was a key component of the plan. Job Corps gave about 100,000 disadvantaged men job-skills training and placed them on federal environmental projects. The program supported state and local efforts to improve the job skills of 200,000 men and women. It also funded a nationwide working-student program that enabled 140,000 poor Americans to attend college without incurring debt.
Under Community Activities ProgramJohnson encouraged local governments to experiment with solutions to poverty. Perhaps his most enduring economic reforms were the food stamp program, which was created to improve nutrition for the poor, and the Head Start program, which was created to give poor children early educational opportunities. Since then, the program has served more than 32 million poor children.
In 1965, as an extension of the War on Poverty, Johnson signed the Medicare and Medicaid programs into law. Medicare covered hospital and doctor's fees for the elderly, and Medicaid covered medical expenses for the poor. Over time, these combined anti-poverty programs established an important safety net for Americans.
Returning to Harris' “opportunity society,” her focus on the middle class tends to reflect the centrism of the Democratic Party in the 1990s. Unlike Johnson, Harris comes from a wealthy family and appears to distance herself from the downtrodden. As I have suggested, her campaign may need to revisit the idea of a “black male agenda” proposed by Stacey Abrams in her 2022 Georgia gubernatorial campaign.
Harris' “Black male agenda” should include policies on voting rights, criminal justice reform, access to health insurance, debt reduction, workforce development to support infrastructure investment, and could place a special emphasis on immigration and youth development issues.
First, Harris could demonstrate her independence from congressional Democrats by pushing for amendments to the oft-touted bill. Bipartisan Senate Bill The border security bill would include guidelines that would protect local residents' access to local resources and give priority to American workers in competing occupations.
Second, Harris should promote efforts to empower young people who have been marginalized by the economic system, and often by society itself. She should revisit former President Barack Obama's efforts to do just that. My Brother's Keeper Alliancepromoted support systems for boys.
But above all, if Harris truly wants to champion a society of opportunity, her campaign must reinvigorate the spirit of President Johnson’s War on Poverty to address today’s challenges.
Roger House Professor Emeritus of American Studies at Emerson College,Blue Smoke“The Chronicles of Big Bill Broonzy” and “Southend Shout: Boston's Forgotten Music Scene During the Jazz Age. His next book is “500 Years of Negro Self-Government.”
