LTP News Sharing:
Black Americans make up about 13.6 percent of our population, but they account for 26 percent of those receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. With the government shutdown, families experiencing poverty are once again at the mercy of the political class.
Christopher Arps
As Project 21 Ambassador Christopher Arps aptly writes in a RedState commentary:
No one, especially a conservative like myself, wants to see low-income families or children go hungry. However, this moment sheds light on something much deeper happening in our country: We’ve replaced community with bureaucracy and compassion with an entitlement mindset….
When the government shuts down and suddenly millions panic and fear going hungry, that’s not just a failure of Washington, but it’s also a failure on us as Americans. Our Founding Fathers never intended the government to be our father, mother, and provider. The modern-day welfare state has expanded government while also shrinking some people’s capacity to be self-reliant.
Other ambassadors with the Project 21 black leadership network are responding to the potential suspension of SNAP benefits.
Michael Austin
Michael Austin, Project 21 ambassador and economic consultant:
If you rely on politicians to put food on your table, don’t be surprised when they use your hunger as a bargaining chip. This is what happens when we build our safety nets out of politics instead of purpose.
Genuine food security doesn’t come from a government card; it comes from job opportunities, independence and strong families. That’s a system that politicians can’t shut down.
Horace Cooper, Project 21 chairman:
Horace Cooper
Once again progressives prove they are not allies with Black America. Their destroy-the-village-to-save-the-village approach harms struggling families and households all across the country, and blacks are hardest hit.
The so-called Affordable Care Act was always an expensive boondoggle doomed to fail, and the latest demands pushed by progressives prove that its problems are fundamental. A solution that requires more and more taxpayers to work is no solution and puts the next generation in a debt vice.
The Schumer Shutdown was always a terrible strategy, and now the most vulnerable in our country will suffer starting this weekend. Progressives should end their stranglehold on federal government funding and allow it to reopen.
Evie Harris
Evie Harris (“Shelly E”), Project 21 ambassador and small-business owner:
The vast number of Americans receiving SNAP benefits says way more about Americans’ dependency on government than it does about the government shutdown. Too many Americans are fully dependent on taxpaying Americans to feed and house them.
Meanwhile, our politicians of both parties are more than happy to fill this “provider” role to maintain their control over Americans’ lives, as they distribute the fruits of working Americans to millions who won’t even plow their own fields.
Linda Lee Tarver
Linda Lee Tarver, Project 21 ambassador:
Leftists in the U.S. Senate “have said the quiet part loud.” Senator “Chucky” (a Halloween homage) Schumer and other extreme acolytes have shut down the government for political leverage.
The nation’s poor, especially 26% of the nation’s black population, are losing SNAP benefits as part of this liberal hostage taking. This shutdown belongs solely to the left, and their hatred for America should be exposed and rejected.
Terris Todd
Terris Todd, Project 21’s director of coalitions and outreach:
“They’re going to put you all back in chains,” the infamous 2012 quote by former President Biden, has actually been the leftists’ own playbook for decades while they’ve claimed it’s someone else’s fault.
Today the shutdown of our government is a part of the same leftist blueprint, and everyday Americans continue to suffer from their need to remain in power.
To quote a famous maxim, “a government big enough to give you everything that you want is a government big enough to take away everything you have.”
Andre Barnes
Andre Barnes, Project 21 ambassador and immigration expert:
The impact of the shutdown should be a wake-up call to black Americans. Leftists are holding the country hostage in order to get benefits for illegal aliens.
Why are they ignoring the needs of almost 11 million black Americans? Black Americans need to ponder that — not forget it — and respond accordingly.
Author: The National Center
