The Third Reconstruction

The resolution aims to address poverty, from its root causes, capitalism and racism, to its systemic manifestations, to create a more equitable society.

Rev. Dr. William Barber II, and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis
Rev. Dr. William Barber II, and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis are Co-Chairs of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.

“We need full reconstruction of society to deal with economic injustice, and it must happen now.” ~ Rev. Dr. William Barber II

In May 2020, Congresswomen Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced the “Third Reconstruction” resolution, H.R. 438, written in cooperation with Rev. Dr. William Barber II, and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis. The resolution aims to address poverty, from its root causes, capitalism and racism, to its systemic manifestations, to create a more equitable society.

On Monday, May 24, 2021, the Poor People’s Campaign joined members of the Majority Leader’s Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity and the Congressional Progressive Caucus to celebrate their introduction of the congressional resolution titled, Third Reconstruction: Fully Addressing Poverty and Low Wages from the Bottom Up. This resolution is the result of the ongoing historic effort to summon the moral and political resolve of the nation to center the needs of the 140 million people who are poor or low-wealth in order to change these conditions with moral laws and policies.

“We are facing a poverty crisis on top of a public health crisis that is disproportionately impacting communities of color and low-income communities,” said Congresswoman Barbara Lee. “It’s past time that we address the historical injustices of structural racism and economic inequality and center the needs of the millions who have fallen into poverty just since the start of this pandemic.”

“Poverty exists because we allow it to exist. In the wealthiest country in the world, 140 million people are poor because we have chosen to allow it to be so,” said Congresswoman Jayapal. “We have the power to end poverty. We must implement bold proposals that center the poor—providing housing, health care, climate justice, and equitable public education. In everything we do, we must take the extraordinary wealth that is here in America and design policies that build from the bottom up, putting at the center of all of our solutions the real people whose lives are most at stake.”

For three years, the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival has mobilizing, organizing, registering, and educating people in 45 states plus the District of Columbia for a movement that votes to address the five interlocking injustices of systemic racism, systemic poverty, the war economy and militarism, ecological devastation and the denial of health care, and the false moral narrative of Christian nationalism.

The resolution is built on the premise that the moral authority for a third Reconstruction is within the nation’s founding values. It states: “This country is founded on the moral commitment to establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty.”

Using research from both the Institute for Policy Studies’ report “Poor People’s Moral Budget: Everybody Has the Right to Live” and the US Collaborative of Poverty Centers, the resolution states that there are more than 140 million poor and low-wealth people in the United States today, 87 million people without health care or who are underinsured, 25–50 million people facing food insecurity, and 30–40 million people at risk of homelessness. The Population Reference Bureau estimates the actual number of unhoused people is from 600,000 to more than 1.5 million.

The Third Reconstruction resolution does not provide stopgap measures until the next major crisis occurs, but focuses on building a better quality of life for the long haul. From housing and jobs, to mass incarceration and state violence, to immigration and land rights, to defunding the military, to education and health care, to climate and environmental justice, The Third Reconstruction resolution is all-encompassing. Some of the legislation it proposes is new, and some is already in the works.

According to Dr. Barber, in an interview with Amy Goodman, “We’ve heard some talk about child poverty. We’ve heard some talk about dealing with low wages. The nation needs to have a resolve.” And this resolution lays out the problem and then lays out the resolve, the kind of public policy we have to pass if we’re going to fully address poverty. We support this agenda. That’s why it’s called a “Third Reconstruction: Fully Addressing Poverty … from the Bottom Up.”

“Inside of this resolution, the agenda says we must change how we measure poverty, because we’re measuring it wrong. Right now we say in this country—the government does—that if you make $12,900 a year, you’re not poor. That is ridiculous. It does not make any sense. Sixty percent of Americans can’t even afford a thousand-dollar emergency right now in America. And we know that 400 families make an average of $97,000 an hour, while we make less than—less than $15. Most people do not make a living wage. And waitresses and people in restaurants only make $2.13 an hour.”

We have to have guaranteed living wages, guaranteed income, healthcare. We need an infrastructure plan, but it’s got to be big enough, and it has to be clear that it’s going to reach down to the bottom and the poorest communities first. So, it lays out this agenda of what we need to do to fully—not just a little bit, not 10%, 20% here, or even 50%, but to fully—address poverty. And this resolution says, here’s the resolve we must know: There is not a scarcity of resources. Don’t tell us that. There is not a scarcity of solutions. What there is is a scarcity of social justice conscience. And we’re saying, with our movement, that stops now.”

Read the full resolution at www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-resolution/438/text.