Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” PBS host Tavis Smiley said “uprisings and riots” are the “new normal” and “will happen a lot more” unless America addresses poverty in the inner city which he said is becoming a national security problem.
Smiley said, “What do we see in Baltimore and Ferguson and beyond, racism, poverty and militarism. So Poverty is clearly connected to this. My sense is that this is going to become the new normal. These kinds of uprisings and riots will happen a lot more if we can’t get serious about jobs, jobs, jobs with a living wage for all fellow citizens.”
He continued, “Poverty I think is threatening our very democracy. Poverty now matter of national security.”
He added, “If we can’t get real serious conversation about jobs with a living wage then what’s the answer going to be? My problem with these Republicans is that they’re against everything but can’t put on the table what they’re really for when it comes to job creation. So for all the years that Barack Obama has been president we’ve been debating how to get the economy started we can’t get serious conversation about jobs.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN