A VACCINE IS NOT BLACK WOMEN AND THE “BACK TO SCHOOL” REFUGEES VS. AN ARMS RACE P. 12 THE PAY GAP P. 34 DILEMMA P. 14 AMAZON P. 9 What’s at Stake for Labor? EVERYTHING. BY HAMILTON NOLAN + Rebecca Burns reports from inside the eviction crisis OCTOBER 2020 A MISTAKE FROM OUR PAST. A VOTE FOR OUR FUTURE. “People have been arguing against the Electoral College from the beginning. But no one, at least in recent years, has laid out the case as comprehensively and as readably as Jesse Wegman does.” —THE NEW YORK TIMES “Wegman is exactly the right person at the right time to take on the Electoral College.” —JEFFREY TOOBIN “Combines in-depth historical analysis and insight into contemporary politics to present a cogent argument that the Electoral College violates America’s ‘core democratic principles’ and should be done away with.” —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY New York Times editorial board member Jesse Wegman draws upon the history of the founding era and modern presidential campaigns to make a powerful case for abolishing the Electoral College. In Let the People Pick the President he shows how we can at long last make every vote in the United States count—and restore belief in our democratic system. AVAILABLE WHEREVER BOOKS, EBOOKS, AND AUDIOBOOKS ARE SOLD LetThePeoplePickThePresident_InTheseTimes_FullPage_Final.indd 1 8/12/20 1:20 PM VOLUME 44 NUMBER 10 ON THE COVER What’s at Stake for Labor? EVERYTHING. 18 The Big “Back to LABOR Dodging the School” Question Refugees Eviction Cliff Who decides when it’s vs. Amazon A new federal order could “safe” to go back? East African workers tell protect millions of tenants A DISCUSSION WITH LOIS WEINER, JACKSON Amazon enough is enough. from being evicted—but they’re POTTER AND CHANDRA THOMAS WHITFIELD not taking any chances. BY MICHELLE CHEN BY REBECCA BURNS 14 9 26 OCTOBER 2020 = IN THESE TIMES 1 No political movement can be healthy unless it has its own press to inform it, educate it and orient it. “ — IN THESE TIMES FOUNDER JAMES WEINSTEIN ” TABLE OF CONTENTS FOUNDING EDITOR & PUBLISHER JAMES WEINSTEIN (1926–2005) DISPATCHES FEATURES EDITOR & PUBLISHER Joel Bleifuss EXECUTIVE EDITOR 6 Deported to Death 18 LABOR (ON LEAVE) Jessica Stites EXECUTIVE EDITOR BY ARVIND DILAWAR What’s at Stake for (ACTING) Diana Babineau Labor? Everything. EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER Christopher Hass 7 LABOR BY HAMILTON NOLAN WEB EDITORS Miles Kampf-Lassin, Serving Up Solidarity Sarah Lazare BY ALICE HERMAN 26 Dodging the GUEST EDITORS Dayton Martindale, Eviction Cliff Susan Rinkunas 9 LABOR LABOR REPORTER Hamilton Nolan BY REBECCA BURNS INVESTIGATIVE FELLOWS Refugees vs. Amazon Alice Herman, Indigo Olivier BY MICHELLE CHEN COPY EDITOR Bob Miller PROOFREADERS Sharon Bloyd-Peshkin, DEPARTMENTS Rochelle Lodder, Lindsay Muscato SENIOR EDITORS Patricia Aufderheide, VIEWPOINT 4 In Conversation Susan J. Douglas, David Moberg, Salim Muwakkil, Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007) It’s Not an Arms Race CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Kate Aronoff, 12 7 This Month in Theo Anderson, Michael Atkinson, Frida BY SARAH LAZARE Late Capitalism Berrigan, Michelle Chen, Sady Doyle, Pete Karman, Kari Lydersen, Moshe Z. Marvit, 9 By the Numbers: Jane Miller, Shaun Richman, Slavoj Žižek IN PERSPECTIVE Eating Meat CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Dean Baker, Rebecca Burns, Barbara Ehrenreich, 10 In Case You Missed It Jeremy Gantz, Leonard C. Goodman, Mindy 14 LABOR Isser, Naomi Klein, Chris Lehmann, John LABOR The Big “Back to 13 Nichols, Rick Perlstein, Micah Uetricht The Big Idea: EDITORIAL INTERNS Natalie Chun, School” Question Just Transition Elizabeth Janowski, Patsy Newitt, A discussion with Lois Camille Williams, Janea Wilson Weiner, Jackson Potter and CREATIVE DIRECTOR Rachel K. Dooley Chandra Thomas Whitfield DESIGN ASSISTANT Matt Whitt ON THE COVER CARTOONS EDITOR Matt Bors CARTOONISTS Terry LaBan, Dan Perkins CULTURE Photo illustration by Rachel K. Dooley DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Photos via Getty Images Lauren Kostoglanis DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR 34 LABOR Jamie Hendry The Roots of Black PUBLISHING ASSISTANT Caroline Reid CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Rebecca Sterner Women’s Pay Gap IN THESE TIMES BOARD OF DIRECTORS BY CHANDRA THOMAS WHITFIELD M. Nieves Bolaños, Tobita Chow, Kevin Creighan, Dan Dineen, James Harkin, 38 Comics Robert Kraig, Paul Olsen, Rick Perlstein, Margaret Rung, Steven Saltzman, Stacy 40 In Those Times: Sutton, David Taber, William Weaver An Old Refrain: Voter Fraud The work of In These Times writers is supported by the Puffin Foundation. Our staff and writers are represented by these unions: pms 3015 pms 130 2 IN THESE TIMES + OCTOBER 2020 EDITORIAL Saving Our Collective Soul wenty-two speakers took to about the rioters and criminals spreading may- the virtual stage of the Democratic Nation- hem in Democrat-run cities. al Convention (DNC) and fretted about the Trump said he is there to help: “We will take state of America’s “soul.” Hillary Clinton care of your problem in a matter of hours.” As for wants to “redeem” it, Sen. Bernie Sanders the white supremacists who can’t wait that long, T(Vt.) to “heal” it and Pete Buttigieg to “contest” it. they know they will receive not condemnation but Kerry Washington and Jill Biden wanted to “fight praise from Fox neo-fascists like Tucker Carlson. for” it. Five others, Andrew Cuomo, Colin Pow- Are those fireworks we hear … or gunshots ell and Sally Yates among them, want to “restore” from Kenosha, Wis.? it. And another five want to “battle” for it, in- cluding Sen. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and Joe Our national heritage of white Biden, who, when accepting the nomina- supremacy and chattel slavery tion, asked Americans to join him in “the has been on full display since battle for the soul of the nation.” Claims of American exceptionalism the murder of George Floyd. to the contrary, countries don’t have souls. They do, however, have collec- The soul-invoking DNC speak- tive histories. Historian Jon Meacham ers—who ranged from democratic so- used his time at the DNC podium to cialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to describe two Americas. “Seneca Falls conservative former Gov. John Kasich and Selma and Stonewall dwell in the (R-Ohio)—framed the 2020 election as a American soul,” he said. “But so do the impuls- moral choice. They called upon all Americans to es that have given us slavery, segregation and sys- let their better natures shine. temic discrimination.” He asked that we confront Given the horrors of the Trump era, that pitch our history. “Often we’d prefer to hear the trum- for a return to decency may be enough to secure a pets rather than face the tragedies, but an honest Biden victory in November. But we are embodied accounting of who we’ve been can enable us to see beings with material needs, and we need not only who we should be.” roses for the soul but bread for the body. Progres- “Who we’ve been”—our national heritage of sives must insist on old-fashioned material objec- white supremacy and chattel slavery—has been tives like Medicare for All, relief from student debt, on full display since the Memorial Day murder universal child care, a Green New Deal and work- of George Floyd. Yet, as the Republican Nation- ers’ rights. We need concrete measures to protect al Convention neared, the Republican Party ap- Black and Brown citizens from state violence. peared to celebrate the legacy of what some have In a 1967 speech at Stanford University, Martin called America’s original sin. In his RNC accep- Luther King Jr. said: tance speech, Vice President Mike Pence ridiculed [A] riot is the language of the unheard. And what Biden for saying that systemic racism exists in is it America has failed to hear? … It has failed America and that the police had “an implicit bias to hear that the promises of freedom and justice against minorities.” Said Pence, “The hard truth have not been met. And it has failed to hear that is, you won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America.” large segments of white society are more con- Accepting the GOP nomination for president, cerned about tranquility and the status quo than Donald Trump did what he does best: gin up hate, about justice and humanity. sow fear: In 2020 and beyond, we need a Democratic Par- If the Left gains power, they will demolish the ty that hears the unheard and fights for justice and suburbs. … We have to give law enforcement, our humanity—a party that speaks to the pain so many police, back their power. … We can never allow are feeling, not one that quiets them with bromides mob rule. … During their convention, Joe Biden for our collective soul. and his supporters remained completely silent — JOEL BLEIFUSS OCTOBER 2020 = IN THESE TIMES 3 IN CONVERSATION on the streets, along with a No part of healthcare should must insist on a progres- lot of other homeless peo- be a for-profit business. Ev- sive platform. ple, because the city pro- ery single time there is an —Jean Samargia Niemi vided them all with shelter upper-level management Via Facebook while the Democratic elite group and shareholders in- were in town (my word, volved, the profit angle be- Barack Obama’s wing “elite”—because that’s who comes way more important sounds good to me right they were). The city didn’t than patients’ lives. now! The platform is objec- want any of the high-paid —Claire Johnson tively to the left of where consultants in their 5-inch Via Facebook Obama was and Trump is heels having to step over a literal fascist. Let’s beat people on the sidewalk. THIS PARTY SUCKS the fascist and worry about —Laura Sabransky Obama notably left Alexan- the rest later.