By Wade Lee Hudson

With one notable exception, the speakers on the first day of the Democratic National Convention didn’t talk about poor people, much less homeless people. They merely advocated action “for the people” and affirmed “working people,” “everyday people,” and, most of all, the “middle class.”

They promoted the myth of the American Dream with platitudes such as “You can go as far as your hard work and talent will take you,” and “He told me I can be and do anything.” 

In so doing, they followed the starting gate equality script. The key goals proposed were to ensure that “Everyone has a fair shot“ and “Give every child a chance.” 

This empty promise neither defines what a fair shot is nor prescribes a plan for responding to those who miss their shot or fall behind once they leave the starting gate.

Unspoken was that increasingly the Democratic response to deepening poverty is to clear homeless camps and impose mandatory outpatient psychiatric treatment (chemical straight jackets) without establishing adequate supportive housing first.

The only speaker to talk about poor people explicitly was Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock, whose rousing conclusion included:

The pandemic taught us how. A contagious airborne disease means that I have a personal stake in the health of my neighbor. If she’s sick, I may get sick too. Her health care is good for my health. We are as close in our humanity as a cough. I need my neighbor’s children to be ok so that my children will be ok. I need all of my neighbors’ children to be ok, poor inner-city children of Atlanta and poor children of Appalachia. I need the poor children of Israel and the poor children of Gaza to be ok. I need American children on both sides of the track to be ok because we are all God’s children. So let’s work together, pray together, organize together and heal the land. Keep the faith.

With these words, he brought the crowd to its feet with what was probably the loudest sudden outburst of the night. Nevertheless, none of the pro-Democratic talking heads I heard afterward discussed his remarks, and The New York Times did not include it as a key takeaway.

Maybe they’re right. Maybe “out of sight, out of mind” is a winning strategy for the November election. Maybe we need to rebuild poor houses and asylums. 

I disagree. I believe the American people are better than that, and trust Warnock’s message would appeal to them.

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Tonight I’ll be listening for affirmations of Palestinian rights and a commitment to considering conditions on military aid to Israel.