The Seattle Times: Opinion: At the end of the day, poor is not a color

The Seattle Times: Opinion: At the end of the day, poor is not a color: "Which is a callous slander even by Limbaugh's standards. I've seen white folks pleading for help a hundred times in the wake of earthquakes, mudslides, fires, floods and storms. I have yet to see that need cited as evidence of their lack of moral fiber.

Take the rapper and the right-winger as proof: Americans will never pass up a chance to falsely conflate race and class.

So it bears repeating: Black people with means were able to escape New Orleans, just the same as their white counterparts. The people who were left behind were stranded not because they were black, but because they were poor.

You might call that a distinction without a difference given that the poor are disproportionately black. I call it the basis for a fundamental realignment of American politics if ever the poor of all races and tribes finally realize they have more in common than they do in contention.

Not to give shortshrift to the forces that have led black people to be overrepresented among the nation's have-nots. My only point is that at the end of the day, poor is poor, color notwithstanding. And the poor in this country are ignored because they are ignorable, forgotten because they are forgettable. Where is their advocate? Who raises their issues and concerns? Where is their voice?"