“What good is having the right to sit at a lunch counter if you can't afford to buy a hamburger?''
-- Martin Luther King Jr.

This is the quote I’m thinking about today as we reflect on the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. The topic of racial justice has dominated the news over the last year, but as I watch the news, I think about the stories that don’t make the headlines. 

The Black woman working two or three jobs to support her family. The Black man facing eviction because making rent in the middle of a global pandemic isn’t possible on his salary. 

The bottom line is that true racial justice also means economic equality. 

As a magistrate judge, I saw racial wealth inequality on a daily basis. If a person couldn’t afford their bail, they sat in jail for no other reason than the fact that they were too poor to pay $100 or $200 for their freedom. Sitting in jail meant they could lose their job, their home, and in some instances, their children. Most of the folks who couldn’t pay were Black.

As a public defender, I represented people who were homeless, finding their next meal in the discarded food of others. In the winter, I represented kids who stole only because they didn’t have the money to buy warm clothes. Most of them were Black.

Growing up in Petersburg, I witnessed poverty up close in my own family and my friends’ families. We had to make tough choices based on what wasn’t in our bank accounts. I worked long days at fast food restaurants for minimum wage. And I saw the entry of violence in our community as jobs left our town.

I know we must fight as hard for economic equality as we do for racial equality, because they’re one and the same.

As a delegate, I successfully pushed for policies to level the playing field for all Virginians — a higher minimum wage, Medicaid expansion, and legislation that gave small minority-owned businesses better opportunities.

Now I’m running for Governor of Virginia to continue the fight for economic equality. We’re going to support workers, labor unions, and families in a real way so that Virginians don’t just survive – they thrive.

And that’s what MLK’s vision was. In 1968 when Dr. King was assassinated, he was going to sanitation workers’ protests over unfair wages. He died fighting for economic equality. That’s the legacy we’re picking up and carrying forward — today and every day until we truly achieve economic equality. 

Sincerely,
Jennifer Carroll Foy