(RNS) — “Let us be enraged about injustice but let us not be destroyed by it.” – Bayard Rustin
As we simultaneously remembered Martin Luther King Jr. and witnessed the second inauguration of President Donald Trump this week, the challenges of economic and racial inequality could not be starker or more urgent. It is up to all of us to keep building the beloved community King envisioned.
Leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, including Quaker Bayard Rustin, understood that racial equality could not be achieved without economic equality and that all people deserved a life of basic dignity. Following passage of the Civil Rights Act, Rustin joined A. Philip Randolph to craft a Freedom Budget for All Americans. It laid out proposals to end poverty, pass a living wage and ensure freedom from want for all. Unfortunately, the Freedom Budget was never achieved and the dream of economic justice — like racial justice — now faces even greater obstacles.
In his farewell speech, President Joe Biden warned of an oligarchy rising to power in the United States. Given the make-up of President Trump’s cabinet, it is hard to argue with that warning. Years of advancing a more representative government of the people are being rolled back (or intentionally undercut) by a new administration that looks like an exclusive club of white men. President Trump has made clear he favors loyalists and actively targets those who are not. Many congressional leaders appear ready to go along with this undemocratic and dangerous approach to constructing — or deconstructing — our government.
People who voted for President Trump cited their belief that his economic plans will improve their lives. Indeed, Trump and Republican leaders continue to claim their plans — imposing new tariffs, cutting taxes for the wealthy and slashing government spending — will somehow result in making the lives of ordinary Americans better. But the “math does not math” in the economic proposals being rolled out by the White House and Republican-controlled Congress. Sadly, the results could leave our country not only morally bankrupt — but with millions paying the literal cost.
Budgets, as King taught, are moral documents. We should all be concerned by the budget proposals now circulating in Washington. In the coming months, Congress will legislate on budget reconciliation, federal spending for the rest of the fiscal year, a budget for the coming fiscal year, tax cuts and the debt ceiling.
Before President Trump was even inaugurated, he was meeting with Republican leaders to plan major legislation that would radically cut social safety net programs for the poor while extending tax cuts for the rich. They also mapped out mass deportation plans against immigrant workers and families and ramping up spending on more weapons and war. House Republicans have now put forward proposals to cut up to $5 trillion, starting with vital health and food assistance programs upon which tens of millions of hard-working families rely.
In sum, the Trump administration and Congress are planning to cut from the poor and give to the rich and to pay for more militarization at the cost of human needs.
These radically unjust proposals are not only immoral, but they are also illogical. First on the chopping block are some of the most effective federal programs the government has created to help address economic inequality. These include vital programs like Medicaid, which some 72 million people rely on annually for their health needs, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program (SNAP), which helps feed millions of poor and working-class families. Also at risk is the widely popular Affordable Care Act that 23 million people now use to get their health care. These programs have been proven to work, and they reduce overall costs to society.
Whatever the promises, the Trump administration’s economic proposals will not bring relief to so many struggling to make ends meet. They will certainly not advance racial equality or protect human rights. And they will not make America great. In fact, they will bend the moral arc of history away from justice and leave more people struggling to survive.
Now is the time to speak out, stand up and engage our lawmakers to reject budget proposals that punish the poor and benefit the rich. Members of Congress need to hear from their constituents that meeting basic human needs, ending poverty, offering a humane welcome to refugees and achieving justice is still our dream for the U.S. and the world.
Those of us committed to continuing King’s dream should be outraged by the unjust economic proposals being advanced by the administration and Republicans in Congress. But as Bayard Rustin encouraged, we should not be destroyed by our rage. Instead, we should be emboldened to act for justice.
As people of faith, we are still committed to working toward the beloved community and building a society of equity and justice for all. As Rustin reminded us, “If we can build such a society, then we would have achieved the ultimate goal of human freedom.”
(Bridget Moix is general secretary of the Friends Committee on National Legislation and its associated Quaker hospitality center, Friends Place on Capitol Hill. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)