Barack Obama: Lack of "Redistributive Change" Was Tragedy of Civil Rights Movement

Does Barack Obama really want to redistribute wealth in America?

Apparently, yes. He said as much in a 2001 interview on Chicago Public Radio, WBEZ.

Obama's words, in part: "...one of the, I think, the tragedies of the civil rights movement, was because the civil rights movement became so court focused, I think that there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power through which you bring about redistributive change, and in some ways we still stuffer from that...."


"2001 Obama WBEZ Interview Redistribution Wealth Warren Court"
YouTube (October 27, 2008) (repackaging of January 18, 2001, interview)
video (4:17) [audio recording with video embellishments]

"Redistributive Change:" An Idea Whose Time Has Come - And Gone

Large-scale redistribution of wealth has been tried.

In the early years of the 20th century, the idea of taking wealth from people who had a lot of property, and giving it to people who didn't, was quite popular in some circles. As of the eighties, when I ended my last stint in college, it still was on American campuses.

Russian leaders made an earnest effort to make "redistributive change" work, from 1927 to 1991. (I'm not counting the 1917-1927 transitional period.) The experiment didn't work out quite as well as some had hoped.

Maybe Barack Obama believes that he'll do better at achieving "redistributive change."

No, I don't think Barack Obama is a 'commie.' I do, however, think that he has some wonderfully idealistic notions which work much better in the faculty lounge than in the real world.

Previous post on this subject:

• " 'Spread the Wealth Around,' 'Change,' 'Redistributive Change' What's the Big Deal?"
  (October 27, 2008)