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Denigrating Community Organizing
by Jim Moss  My jaw nearly hit the floor. I was watching Rudy Giuliani speak Wednesday night at the RNC, and he was laying it on Obama thick and heavy, as would be expected. But he ruthlessly attacked Obama’s record in a way that I never anticipated. He ridiculed the field of community organizing. It was a bizarre moment. He was talking about McCain’s POW experience, and then he compared it to the time Obama spent working as a community organizer on the streets of Chicago. When the words “community organizer” left Giuliani’s lips, he laughed awkwardly. Then, he paused for a few seconds to allow the audience to laugh. He then repeated the words “community organizer” and laughed again, as if it were the most ridiculous and most unpatriotic thing a young man could choose to do with his life. Giuliani even insinuated that the experience helped Obama make ties with organized crime. I was floored again during Sarah Palin’s speech as she repeated the slam on the field of community organizing. I wonder if the Republicans even know what community organizing is. Here’s a good definition:
Community organizing is a long-term approach where the people affected by an issue are supported in identifying problems and taking action to achieve solutions. The organizer challenges those he or she works with to change the way things are—it is a means of achieving social change through collective action by changing the balance of power. The tactics and strategies employed by the organizer are similar to the processes of leadership including timing the issue, deliberate planning, getting the attention of the populace, framing the issue in terms of the desired solution, and shaping the terms of the decision-making process. It sounds quite Republican, doesn’t it? In fact, the central narrative of change that the Republicans have been trying to project at their convention is basically community organizing done on a national scale. Perhaps the GOP should do its homework before it attacks an entire field of people who are dedicating their lives to doing the kind of work that the Republicans claim that they are for. What a bunch of hypocrites!
Jim Moss is a Presbyterian minister from York, South Carolina. He publishes a blog and a quarterly newsletter called " Discipline for Justice," which focuses on ways North Americans can live lives that promote peace and economic justice.
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