Social Studies

Why Blacks Don't Occupy

We’ve seen the column on Occupy Wall Street’s woman problem, so now it's time for the one on the movement’s race problem. On Sunday's Washington Post op-ed page, author Stacey Patton wonders why, despite appearances from African-American stars like Cornel West and their long history of dissent, black Americans haven’t gotten involved in the protests. Her best guess: income equality and poverty are nothing new to African-Americans. “Black America’s fight for income equality is not on Wall Street, but is a matter of day-to-day survival. The more pressing battles are against tenant evictions, police brutality and street crime. This group doesn’t see a reason to join the amorphous Occupiers.”