ACORN Continues to Fight

The Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now, otherwise known as ACORN is fighting back against many of the stories and calls for investigations into ACORN’s practices. In two emails sent to me last week, Bertha Lewis, the CEO of ACORN wrote, “I've had better weeks during my years with ACORN. Most of you have heard about the latest round of attacks being orchestrated against us by a pair of actors and their friends at purported "news" organizations on cable TV and the Internet. The behavior of some ACORN employees has been completely indefensible, but make no mistake -- the resulting sideshow is being fueled by the Right to distract all of us from the truth. And the truth is this: ACORN's work is invaluable. We make sure the have-nots and have-lesses get some say and some political power in this country -- and the people protecting the status quo have never been a big fan of that.

Bertha goes on to say, I'm disappointed that the efforts of a cynical, ill-intentioned group have yielded even a single bit of fodder for the ongoing, multi-year attack on ACORN. But ACORN takes the public's trust seriously and is taking dramatic steps such as an immediate in-service training for all front-line workers and an independent review of our service programs to ensure that trust is, and will always be, well founded. But the people working so hard to push these attacks -- Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Fox "News", etc. -- don't care about ACORN's service delivery, protecting your tax dollars or upholding the law. And they certainly don't care about the low- and moderate-income families and families of color that make up ACORN's membership and constituency.

However I want to say that when it comes to ACORN’s efforts, it is no denying that ACORN has improved or worked to improve many of the ills of underprivileged and minority communities in urban cities but the truth of the matter is that ACORN has been under scrutiny for many of its practices for years now. While I respect Bertha Lewis for trying to clarify ACORN’s record, she needs to be honest in reporting that some of ACORN’s efforts to improve the communities they represent have not always panned out. Still like any company or business, it has its flaws and it must always work to improve its practices in order to meet the needs of those it represents. Bertha went on to say, “So when they raise a ruckus about undercover tapes, when they harp night and day on the results of a premeditated and manipulative effort to shut ACORN down, you know it's not because they're looking out for you. It's because they want to derail the efforts of one of the strongest advocates this country has for low- and moderate-income people.”

Still, ACORN is fighting back from all the lies and Bertha says, “But suddenly these people and the politicians who listen to them -- who don't have the time of day for people like you and me -- suddenly can't stop talking about ACORN. And you can bet they're not talking about the work that has made a difference in the lives of working families and communities of color across the nation. Fair? Balanced? Hardly. Despite recent news and despite what talking heads are so thrilled to repeat -- there's a great deal more to ACORN than what the Becks, Limbaughs, and Bachmanns of the world would have you believe. While it may be politically expedient to grab a seat on the bandwagon with the pundits and politicians wagging their fingers at the misdeeds of a handful of ACORN employees, the facts remain the same.”

Still the one mistake that ACORN and its leadership has made in its attempt to fight back is that ACORN is making it about race to a degree rather than simply explaining to the American people that it represents all underrepresented communities. In fact ACORN is needed all across America not just in urban communities or communities of color but even in rural America were issues are plaguing those areas just as much as they are plaguing urban areas. Now Bertha Lewis goes on to say, “The vast majority of ACORN employees roll up their sleeves day-in and day-out, working long hours on behalf of the low- and moderate- income people in this country. They do good work -- most of it work that the government can't, or simply won't, do. There are a lot of good reasons to continue to stand firm with ACORN.” Here are just a few:
· ACORN has helped nearly 50,000 homeowners access foreclosure prevention services since the start of our nation's foreclosure crisis;
· ACORN played an integral role in the passage of 6 statewide minimum wage increases in Florida, Ohio, Missouri, Colorado, Arizona, and California and the City of San Francisco -- increases that set the stage for the national increase in 2007; all told over $2 billion put directly in the pocket of low-wage workers.
· ACORN fought hard against predatory lending for a decade, winning legislation in Massachusetts, New Mexico, California, New York and New Jersey, and changes in the behavior of some corporations that led to over $6 billion of equity staying in the hands of working families.

Now ACORN has done a lot of good things but at the same time, it has come under scrutiny lately for voter registration fraud which could have lead to election fraud if ACORN didn’t turn in to those employees who were part-time to authorities for not only disgracing ACORN “You and I know this isn't work that Big Business, Big Media, or Big Politics are particularly fond of. But that's not why ACORN exists. ACORN exists to make a difference in the lives of millions of Americans -- often poor, often black or brown, often immigrants -- and to make sure that all of us have a seat at the table and a voice in the voting booth.” I agree that those things are not what Big Business, Big Meida or Big Politics is about a lot of the time.

Bertha goes on to say, “I won't pretend this is easy. I'll tell you the truth just as I always have, and today the truth is this: it's been the hardest week in the history of ACORN, and we need your support -- and I mean really, we need your help to survive. We're used to attacks from Fox News and the right wing. They will stop at nothing -- certainly not the truth -- to take us down. Why? Because when the poor and powerless stay poor and stay powerless, the rich and powerful get more rich and more powerful.

As Bertha continues to fight, “ACORN's mission for nearly 40 years has been to empower those who need it most badly -- communities of color, low-income workers, people locked out of the American Dream until they found us. The right wing hates us for it, and they want to destroy ACORN. I'm not talking about hurt feelings. This week, the right wing came closer to their goal than ever before. They injected the media with such poisonous propaganda attacking ACORN, that they even got to Congress. And the upshot is that Congress cut funding for our housing programs.”

Bertha says, “That's right -- Congress cut funding we use to help families with a range of affordable housing issues in the middle of the worst housing crisis since the Great Depression. And they did it because Fox News and the right wing smear machine told them to do it. The right wing is fighting mean and nasty, because they know who they are dealing with. ACORN is fighting back, and we're fighting on the side of justice. And I can tell you because I know -- history is always on that side.”

Therefore ACORN is fighting for survival according to Bertha. However what doesn’t fight ACORN’s fight is the fact that President Barack Obama says there should be an investigation into the hidden-camera video involving employees at the activist group ACORN and a couple posing as a prostitute and her pimp. In the video, two ACORN workers are seen apparently advising the couple to lie about her profession and launder her earnings to get housing aid. The video is only the latest problem for the group, which had nearly $1 million embezzled by its founder's brother and has been accused of voter registration fraud. The House and Senate voted last week to deny federal funds to ACORN.

Obama told ABC's "This Week" in an interview broadcast Sunday that what he saw on the video "was certainly inappropriate and deserves to be investigated." But the president did not say who should investigate. And he said it is not a major national issue he pays much attention to. "Frankly, it's not really something I've followed closely," Obama said. "I didn't even know that ACORN was getting a whole lot of federal money." Asked about the president calling for an investigation, ACORN chief executive Bertha Lewis said Sunday, "Well, that's his opinion."

ACORN said last week it would order its own investigation of the video scandal. Lewis, who had promised to name an independent auditor by Friday, told "Fox News Sunday" that the announcement would take place Monday. She would not reveal the auditor. Later Sunday, Lewis issued a statement saying, "We agree with President Obama's comments today that issues raised by the videos need to be investigated." In the meantime, the group has suspended the admission of new clients to its housing program. "Over the next several weeks, you will see us working triple time to get this review right so that we can refocus attention on ACORN's critical work for low- and moderate-income families," Lewis said in the statement.

The government is investigating ACORN's activities, though the scope of its activity is unknown. Voter registration fraud cases involving ACORN workers are pending. The Department of Housing and Urban Development's inspector general has acknowledged an investigation is under way. ACORN — short for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now — started in 1970 in Arkansas to help the poor and today is a national, multimillion-dollar conglomerate. ACORN's political action committee endorsed Obama for president, and his campaign paid an ACORN subsidiary $832,000 to help get out the vote. Obama, himself a former community organizer, has long-standing ties to the group, which he represented in 1995 in a lawsuit against the state of Illinois over the "motor-voter" law.

The group's Democratic leanings and political work have made it a target of Republicans, who led the drive last week to deny it any further federal funds. California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, pressed Lewis to reveal more about the group's operations. "The bottom line is, there's no transparency in ACORN," said Issa, who also was on Fox. "Here we have literally hundreds of organizations tied under the ACORN umbrella, and you can't even find out what their incorporation is, whether they pay taxes, who makes what," Issa said.

Lewis said she has made sure, since becoming chief executive last year, that affiliates have "firewalls" between them. "I've completely overhauled all of our finances, all of our controls," she said. She also said founder Wade Rathke was fired immediately after it was discovered his brother, Dale, stole nearly $1 million from the organization nine years ago. In fact, Wade Rathke learned of the embezzlement in 2000, told only a few people but failed to report the embezzlement to law enforcement. An anonymous donor compensated the group for the missing money.

Still ACORN is continuing to fight and I encourage those within ACORN who have done the right to stand for to its failed leadership at the top who in my opinion has manipulated and used those on the ground level of the organization. Therefore this latest scrutiny of ACORN should lead to a greater grassroots effort for ACORN’s members to not look to one part to do what’s right but to look to work with Democrats and Republicans, as Dr. King did, to achieve the goals needed to improve the communities that ACORN represents. This is the time for ACORN to refocus and reorganize its efforts to lean more toward community activism to challenge government, political officials, the news media and business to do what it is right for the people of this nation. This is what Bertha Lewis should be advocating for rather than simply attack right wingers but instead find ways to work with right wingers and left wingers to get the goals of people that ACORN represent accomplished through public and private partnerships. This is what ACORN’s fighting back efforts should be aimed at if ACORN is to survive well into the next decade and beyond.