Rev. Barber's Fusion Movement in North Carolina

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II said that "we sketched a list of 14 justice 'tribes' in North Carolina: folks committed to public schools, a redress for black and poor women forcibly sterilized in state institutions, the public funding of elections, affordable housing and better funding for historically black colleges and universities. We had people battling discrimination in hiring, the death penalty, and the glaring injustice of our criminal-justice system." [1]

"Fusion history teaches us to see strength in coalition. Much like the First and Second Reconstructions, the forces fighting us on voting rights, educational equality, and racial disparities in the criminal-justice system are the same ones behind the attacks on LGBRQ rights. The advocates for huge tax cuts for the wealthy and greater burdens on everyone else are the same ones pursuing a new Jim Crow through voter-suppression bills and race-based redistricting. They are the forces refusing to expand Medicaid and driving the resegregation of our public schools."

Rev. Barber says" "Over the past decade here in North Carolina, we have witnesses the power of moral dissent to challenge the forces of injustice. Our adversaries have hijacked the concept of morality and shifted it to such personal matters as abortion and homosexuality." But Barber has warned that "progressives and liberals must learn not to throw away the moral high ground and walk away from  religious discourse."

"When Republicans spent $30 million to take control of state legislatures in 2010, we saw their plan in action: Here in North Carolina, they defunded state government through a flat tax that increased the burden on poor people while giving the wealthiest a windfall; denied federally funded healthcare to half a million people; rejected federal unemployment benefits for 170,000 workers and their families; made dramatic cuts to public education; deregulated industries with a demonstrated record of environmental abuse; proposed a constitutional amendment to deny equal protection to gay and lesbian citizens; and passed the worst voter-suppression bill that America has seen in half a century."

Footnote
[1] Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, "The Progressive Moral Imperative," The Nation, February 8, 2016.