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BOYCOTT WHIRLPOOL PRODUCTS! By Rev. Edward Pinkney
Whirlpool Corporation, the world's largest manufacturer of household appliances, has its corporate headquarters in Benton Harbor, Michigan. It is a multibillion dollar corporation. Whirlpool has not given a substantial number of jobs to the predominantly Black and poor community of Benton Harbor. It has outsourced jobs while at the same time benefiting from tax breaks and favorable land deals, profiting from the dire situation of the local population. Benton Harbor is a company town and Whirlpool wields strong influence over the local economy, the political government, and the judicial system.
Black people in Benton Harbor are desperately poor. Seventy percent are unemployed, 90 percent live below the poverty level, and the city is 96 percent Black. Meanwhile, the neighboring city of St. Joseph is predominantly white and prosperous, with 2 percent unemployment and average incomes of $44,000 per household. In Benton Harbor, there is a long history of police brutality against the Black population, as well as misconduct by the prosecution office and local law enforcement officials. Residents of the city have been made scapegoats for economic and social conditions beyond their control. They have been subjected to discriminatory practices and procedures by local police agencies and judicial officials who cover up for the excessive use of force and racial profiling.
Whirlpool created a phony civil group called the Committee for World Class Communities which many people in Benton Harbor recognize. The group has done nothing to reduce poverty in Benton Harbor, nor has it provided any tangible resources for the community. The committee does not advocate sharing political power nor major reinvestment in the Black community. In fact, Whirlpool is the hidden economic base of the racist government in Berrien County.
For example, Fred Upton -- an heir to the Whirlpool Corporation founder -- has served in the U.S. Congress since 1986 as a Newt Gingrich Republican, dismantling the social gains of the 1960s civil rights movement. Upton resides in St. Joseph and is part of its power base. Whirlpool money put him in power and has kept him in office for the last eight Congressional terms. Although the Congressional district Upton supposedly serves covers both Benton Harbor and St. Joseph, it is the city of St. Joseph which has benefited from his years in Congress. He has secured millions of dollars in block grants, federal loans and contracts, state community and economic grants, and other funding for the St. Joseph community, while obtaining virtually no support by comparison for Benton Harbor's Black and poor residents.
We are calling for a worldwide boycott of Whirlpool. We ask you not to buy Whirlpool, Maytag, Kitchen Aid, or other subsidiary products because Whirlpool is clearly subsidizing racism and poverty in Berrien County.
For a listing of Whirlpool's entire products line, please go to its website at http://www.whirlpoolcorp.com/products.
STOP THE JOB OUTSOURCING AND COMMUNITY NEGLECT BY WHIRLPOOL CORPORATION. BOYCOTT ALL WHIRLPOOL PRODUCTS!
For further information about how you can support this campaign please contact: Rev. Edward Pinkney, BANCO (Black Autonomy Network Community Organization), 1940 Union St., Benton Harbor, Mich. 49022
From the People's Tribune Editors
The struggle in Benton Harbor represents the poor taking on the corporations and the government, (which today are one and the same). We encourage our readers to support the Whirlpool boycott and Rev. Pinkney, who is facing a jail term for standing up to Whirlpool.
Boycott Whirlpool! Defend Our Leaders!
Stop job outsourcing and community neglect by Whirlpool Corporation!
E-mail: banco9342@sbcglobal.net
Tel: 269-925-0001
http://www.bhbanco.blogspot.com
