http://www.acorn.org/The Roots of a Social Justice Movement
The sixties were an important time in the history of American politics. The decade witnessed struggles for freedom for low-income people and minorities across the nation as well as a war that deeply divided all Americans. Amid the confusion and conflict, some important lessons were learned by those who cared deeply about America and her people - lessons that would endure and make a lasting impact on the nation.
One of the groups that took risks, explored new ideas and developed a unique formula for a politics of justice in America was the National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO), led by George Wiley. Wiley developed and led the National Welfare Rights Organization in the mid-sixties to become a national force for the needs and rights of low-income people.
By 1966, the NWRO had 170 groups in 60 cities across the nation. Despite the very real needs of its members, NWRO was destined to remain a small minority with limited power in American politics unless it could build a network of friends and allies. When this reality became clear, Wiley began an experiment that would explore the possibilities of a larger constituency for economic justice. He sent Wade Rathke, his young and talented organizer, to Little Rock, Arkansas to apply his creativity to the problem.
Rathke's task in Little Rock was monumental. He had to create a movement that would bring NWRO organizing to groups that should support it yet had little sympathy for its cause, such as conservative, low- and moderate-income Southern whites. Even worse, he had to do this in a state that was deeply racially divided, fundamentally conservative and run by a wealthy political elite.
But, because Wiley, Rathke and the NWRO took the cause of economic justice seriously and studied and respected the traditions of social justice movements in American history, they saw possibilities and opportunities where others did not. They founded a movement that would unite races, join neighborhoods and unify the interests and efforts of low- and moderate- income people wherever they lived or worked.
When Rathke arrived in Little Rock in 1970, he began a campaign to help welfare recipients attain their basic needs - clothing and furniture. This drive, inspired by a clause in the Arkansas welfare laws, began the effort to create and sustain a social justice movement that would grow to become the Arkansas Community Organizations for Reform Now - ACORN.
The goal was to unite welfare recipients with working people in need around issues of free school lunches for schoolchildren, unemployed workers' concerns, Vietnam Veterans' rights and hospital emergency room care. Thus, an idea was born that would grow and adapt, thrive and flourish, and become a powerful movement from coast to coast.
Early Growth
The broad vision of ACORN as a movement to unify the powerless in pursuit of economic justice was not shared by all the members. The inclusion of many groups in a single coalition came with costs. These costs, however, proved to be a necessary part of the struggle to become a force for social justice in America. In particular, many welfare rights members wanted a strictly welfare rights group and withdrew from the organization, fearing that they would lose control. After the split, the organization diversified further with the addition of the Vietnam Veterans Organizing Committee (VVOC) and the Unemployed Workers Organizing Committee (UWOC).
The following year, ACORN leaders organized a "Save the City" campaign in Little Rock. The campaign addressed blue- collar homeowners' concerns that their neighborhoods were being destroyed by traffic problems in the Centennial section, and by real estate agencies who engaged in blockbusting in the Oak Forest section. ACORN members dealt with the traffic problems (the Centennial neighborhood won a park and a stoplight to ensure the safety of their children), the expressway intrusion (families were relocated and provided other social services) and blockbusting (stopped in its tracks). ACORN, through the "Save the City" campaign, had established itself as a force in Arkansas politics.
ACORN began growing geographically, as well. It organized outside of Little Rock, establishing six regional offices in the state. Campaigns were developed around issues of concern to small town and rural Arkansans and the foundations were laid for statewide campaigns. One of the ACORN's major statewide targets was Arkansas Power and Light. AP&L's plan to build a huge coal-burning power plant in White Bluff presented a danger to farmers in the area. Sulphur emissions threatened to destroy their fields unless something could be done. ACORN began organizing farmers on the issue.
The farmers, organized into the Protect Our Land Association and Save Health and Property, demanded a $50 million damage deposit against AP&L's potential destruction of farmers' fields. Then, ACORN groups applied pressure on Governor Dale Bumpers, and Harvard University, a stockholder in AP&L. These pressures resulted in a Harvard-financed study on the hazards of sulphur emissions and a Public Service Commission ruling to decrease the size of the plant by one half. As a result, AP&L dropped the plan altogether. ACORN proved that it could organize in any setting and that ACORN members could contend effectively with even the big corporate players.
Electoral Campaigns
No political movement in America can be considered complete unless it is capable of mounting a significant election campaign. In 1972, ACORN made its first entry into electoral politics. ACORN's first effort was a "Save the City Rally," which all the candidates for Little Rock City Board of Directors were invited to attend. Next, ACORN's Political Action Committee decided to back two candidates for Little Rock School Board, Doug Stevens and Bill Hamilton. Stevens then did something no citywide candidate had ever done: he lost the wealthy 5th Ward but still won election to the Board. Buoyed by their success, ACORN members decided to go one step further and run for office themselves.
In 1974, ACORN members, joined by a group of International Ladies' Garment Workers Union members, ran for seats on the Pulaski County Quorum Court. The Quorum Court, a legislature for the county that had 467 members and a few budget responsibilities, was not a well-known institution. Partially because few people were aware of its potential for promoting the interest and needs of low- and moderate-income citizens of Pulaski County, ACORN leaders seized the opportunity and ran a slate of candidates for the court. 250 candidates ran and 195 won. It was a clear victory, but, as often happens, political power holders resisted mightily.
Judge Mackey, County Judge and chair of the Quorum Court, fought ACORN's efforts to exert citizen control of Pulaski County's budget. First, he ruled that a dozen or so of the ACORN members were not qualified to serve. Then, when ACORN members tried to postpone full approval of the budget for two months, he miscounted votes, manipulated the meeting and short circuited the democratic process. ACORN members responded by walking out in protest to deprive the body of a quorum. Nevertheless, Judge Mackey ignored the loss of a quorum and passed the budget. The budget skirmish was lost, but a valuable battle was won. For several years thereafter, the budget became a real working document and the Quorum Court was a genuine democratic body. Issues important to low- and moderate-income people could be heard in Pulaski County politics. ACORN had earned its wings in democratic electoral politics.
http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=12447
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