Following our film discussion, we instituted what will be a regularly occurring segment of our meetings; namely, a briefing concerning local and regional peace and justice issues. Three items received attention:
(1) The recent HUD settlement with the City of Dubuque concerning discriminatory housing practices. On April 15, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that it had reached a settlement with the City of Dubuque concerning allegations that the City's Housing Choice Voucher Program had resulted in discrimination against African American applicants. Upon reviewing the policies, HUD concluded, "applicants from the Chicago area who were adversely affected by the residency requirements differed markedly from applicants from within Iowa in one way: race." (For more information about the settlement, visit HUD's online portal.) Public discussion of this issue has demonstrated that many people sympathized with the City. Anecdotal evidence suggests that there is a rather widely held assumption that applicants from Chicago are simply trying to "game the system" in some way. We discussed the importance of challenging claims of this sort. First, this is, at best, a hasty generalization that cannot be assumed to be true in all or even most cases. Second, we should not ignore the fact that there is typically an element of hypocrisy at play when those in poverty are accused of gaming the system: our media and culture seems to extol members of privileged classes when they seek to pursue actions which will be most beneficial to themselves or their families. We ought to make it a point to challenge those who denounce similar such behavior when it is undertaken by those who are disadvantaged.
(2) The issue of wage theft, and legislation intended to address it. "Wage theft" refers to any practice which results in an employee being illegally denied wages by his or her employer. According to the Iowa Policy Project, wage theft here in Iowa is estimated to result in $600 million in unpaid wages per year. Moreover, on a yearly basis, it accounts for perhaps $45 million in unpaid tax revenue and $14 million in lost revenue to the state’s unemployment fund (view the report). The problem is particularly acute in the food service and construction industries. An anti-wage theft bill, SF 2295, cleared the Iowa Senate; however, it has stalled in committee in the House. Among other things, the bill would require employees to receive written notification of how they will be paid, and it would penalize employers who fail to pay their employees. (Representative Pat Murphy is a member of the committee in which the bill has stalled, and it may be useful to voice our support with him.) The Des Moines-based Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement has been holding workers' rights clinics focusing on this issue, and in the past year they have allegedly helped workers recover $170,000 in illegally withheld pay. For more information about Iowa CCI's Workers' Clinics, visit their website. We discussed the possibility of partnering with Iowa CCI to host a clinic here in Dubuque. Chris will contact them to see if this is something they are interested in pursuing.
(3) Human Trafficking in Iowa. Rev. Kathleen shared that the rector of St. Alban's parish in Davenport, Rev. Brian McVey, has been involved in raising awareness of human trafficking in Iowa. His work in this area began when he discovered that the I-80 truck stop in Walcott, Iowa was a major hub in the trafficking network. Rev. Kathleen suggested that Fr. Brian may be willing to come speak to our group. (For some background reading, see Torey Lightcap's 2012 post on Episcopal Cafe.)
Our discussion topic for the evening pertained to the Prayers of the People. At St. John's, prayers are offered for the men and women serving in the United States military. Haley noted that the Episcopal Peace Fellowship has requested that congregations include prayers for Afghani, American, and Iraqi war dead in their prayers. The EPF keeps an updated list at http://epfnational.org/prayfortroops-2/, which can be checked weekly. Casualties of the conflict in Iraq are documented on a daily basis at https://www.iraqbodycount.org/. Rev. Kathleen noted that the prayers at St. John's once included a prayer for our enemies, and she was not sure when it dropped out of use. She indicated that it could be reintroduced.
As a final matter of business, Chris summarized his work related to the proposed "Peace and Justice Saints" project. As a bit of background, the original proposal was to create informational posters introducing people to some of the holy women and men, whom the church venerates for their commitment to justice, peace, and equality in the church and the broader society. Chris suggested that we modify the project slightly: rather than creating posters, he proposed creating single-panel, brochure-sized handouts, which would feature a photo or illustration, a brief biography, and the official feast day prayer. One person will be highlighted during each month, beginning in May. Chris proposed creating info sheets for the following saints:
- May 13: Francis Perkins, Labor Secretary and first female U.S. cabinet member.
- June 27: Cornelius Hill, priest and last hereditary chief of the Oneida.
- July 20: Amelia Jenks Bloomer, antislavery and women's rights leader.
- August 12: Florence Nightingale, nurse and social reformer.
- September 15: James Chisholm, priest.
- October 10: Vida Dutton Scudder, educator and witness for peace.
- November 25: James Otis Sargent Huntington, priest, monk, and labor rights advocate.
- December 30: Frances Joseph Gaudet, educator and prison reformer.
Our next meeting will be held on May 13th.
