#159-160 Fall/Winter 2009-10

Acorn’s Down… and Up Again?

ACORN, the 40-year-old, nationwide community organizing group has suffered more political fallout in 2009 than any number of shamed political officials embattling a public scandal, never mind the fact that […]

ACORN, the 40-year-old, nationwide community organizing group has suffered more political fallout in 2009 than any number of shamed political officials embattling a public scandal, never mind the fact that the organization hasn’t exactly been a darling of the right wing over the years.

But when the group was stripped of its federal funding by way of a resolution passed overwhelmingly by the U.S. House of Representatives in the wake of an embarrassing incident where two right wing activists, dressed as a pimp and a prostitute, filmed themselves receiving home buying advice from a local ACORN chapter, a handful of Acorn supporters cried foul. And now a federal judge agrees. The move to ban federal funding was, indeed, unconstitutional, according to a ruling handed down in December by a U.S. District Court judge.

The Justice Department is reviewing the decision, and it will be interesting to see how the largely right-wing opposition to ACORN will respond. But perhaps it will be more interesting to see how one-time friends of ACORN will react, or if they will react at all. Is there any turning of the political tide for ACORN?

OTHER ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE

  • Slipping Away

    February 12, 2010

    As a wave of HUD mortgages expires in the next four years, an already dwindling supply of affordable units may nosedive with owners making windfall profits -- unless the right mix of federal legislation and local organizing can save the day.

  • HUD’s New Team

    February 12, 2010

    The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under the Obama administration is equipped with an impressive list of housing experts at the top.

  • Heard and Not Forgotten

    February 12, 2010

    What started out as a "weird art project" in Toronto is providing aural illustrations into a northern New Jersey community's past, and, organizers hope, laying the groundwork for the future.