Newt Gingrich made remarks suggesting poor children lack a work ethic and could work as janitors in their schools. A group of pastors representing over 34 congregations demanded an apology, calling the remarks offensive and classist. They argued poverty is often due to low wages, lack of jobs, and systemic injustice, not laziness. The pastors called on Gingrich to recant his "war on poor children" rhetoric and apologize for false stereotypes about the causes of poverty.

1. This post was published to elmsprogressivemedia at 3:25:01 PM 1/22/2012
An Open Letter to Newt Gingrich From the
Pastors of Poor Children
Mr. Gingrich,
For this you still owe our children an apology:
"Some of the things they could do is work in a library, work in the front office, some of them
frankly could be janitorial; what if they clean up the bathrooms, what if they mopped the floors,
what if in the summer they repainted the school; what if in the process they were actually
learning to work, learning to earn money; if they had their own money, they didn't have to
become a pimp or a prostitute or a drug dealer. [If] they had the dignity of work and learned how
to be around adults who actually wanted to mentor them and help them. This is not a casual
comment... It grows out of a lot of thinking over many years of trying to figure out how do we
break out people trapped in poverty who have no work habits." -- Gingrich
We, the students and faculty of the Delaware Annual Conference Ministerial Institute of the
AME Church, representing over 34 congregations and their constituents throughout Delaware
and southern Pennsylvania are outraged at your continued demeaning of poor children and their
families.
As a candidate vying for the Republican Presidential nomination, to suggest that poor children
collectively lack a work ethic and drive for legal and productive work is entirely classist. Your
national platform is no place for such irresponsible remarks. Our children deserve better than
your degrading rhetoric.
In fact, they deserve an apology, and we -- their pastors and advocates -- demand one.
Mr. Gingrich, what your remarks have demonstrated is a failure to acknowledge the resilience of
many who work daily and yet are unable to escape poverty. For many, low wages, a poor
economy, and sparse full time employment opportunities have landed many families into the
category of what the U.S. Department of Labor & Labor Statistics call the working poor.
Contrary to what your remarks propagate, a significant number of children in households below
the American poverty line (and those one paycheck away from it) are in homes with working
family members; many of them are in our congregations weekly and are active citizens.
Mr. Gingrich, not only did you get the "cause" of poverty wrong, but your "solution" is just as
unsubstantiated and offensive. Mandating that poor children become the janitors of their own
failing public schools to better their work ethic is not a well thought out, viable, or realistic
solution. Such a proposal is not only insulting, it is ridiculous.

2. Where would the currently employed janitors work (obviously this is a back handed assault on
union employees)? If poor children are to benefit from extracurricular employment, why not at
least provide STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) opportunities to increase
their competitiveness in the global marketplace? Why not invest in education reform instead of
cutting back early education/head start programs? Why not put forth solutions to the
unemployment crisis in our nation, so that those who have the dignity, but not the work, can have
an opportunity to build a better future for themselves and their children?
But, no -- instead you fan the flames of prejudice to get votes. With a move right out of Lee
Atwater's Southern Strategy play book (i.e., "Welfare Mothers" = Lazy Blacks), you have
managed to stir the xenophobia and racist fears of your far right republican base with the
statement:
"I've been talking about the importance of work, particularly as it relates to people who are in
areas where there is public housing, et cetera, where there are relatively few people that go to
work." (Emphasis added)
Mr. Gingrich, the poverty of many poor minority children is the byproduct of systemic injustices
that bar them from participation in the American Dream because of their racial and social
location -- not laziness.
We understand that you are of the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" camp, but the last time
we checked Mr. Gingrich, it is impossible to pull yourself up by your own boot straps, and even
more difficult when you have no boots to begin with.
Consequently, as pastors and leaders of the poor and their children, we are called to champion
those without the boots of opportunity, fair play, and justice. For us not to mandate an apology
for such biased, erroneous and offensive remarks would be as irresponsible as the remarks
themselves. Today, Mr. Gingrich, we extend to you the opportunity to recant your "war on poor
children" rhetoric and the opportunity to apologize to our children for speaking such falsehoods
over their lives.
Awaiting your response,
Delaware Annual Conference Ministerial Institute
The Rev. Dr. Janet J. Sturdivant, Dean of Ministerial Institute
The Rev. Silvester S. Beaman, Chairman of Board of Examiners
Sis. Joi Orr, M.Div, Organizer & Institute Student
Follow Joi Ruth Orr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joi_orr