Lansing rally pinpoints economic issues

As chants of “We are the Americans” and “We are the Union” echoed through downtown Lansing on Monday, hundreds gathered at the Capitol, coming together for one common goal: Bring jobs back to Michigan.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke at the Reinvest in America: Keep the Dream Alive rally, as did U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D -Mich., U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, and other political and union leaders. Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero said he organized the event to talk about the three elements of the American Dream he felt were in jeopardy: jobs, housing and education.

“The point is, we decide, I decide to take it up as part of my job as mayor, as a public official,” Bernero said before the rally. “I have to stand up for the American Dream.”

Jackson said American workers are at a disadvantage because other countries limit their imports and pay lower wages.

“Why are these (foreign) workers getting the plants? Are they better workers, are they more inventive? I think not,” Jackson said. “If in the Olympics, if our brothers had to run 110 yards and the others had to run 80 yards, we couldn’t win. Not because we weren’t fast enough, but because there were two sets of rules.”

Beth Miller, who will start graduate school at MSU in the fall, said she doesn’t trust plans to make the auto companies profitable by opening manufacturing plants overseas.

“With all this talk about making these companies leaner, I feel like it’s just code for screwing over Michigan,” she said. “If we expect people to work at these ridiculously low wages, they can’t spend any money.”

Several speakers called for a moratorium on foreclosures. Jackson said student loans should be interest-free to bolster education.

“If banks can get 0 percent money, then students get 0 percent money,” he said.

Sarah Clark, a curriculum and teaching graduate student, said the issues of education and the economy are related.

“The more job loss there is, the more people move out of state, the fewer kids enroll,” she said.

The Rev. Edie Worthy from Hartford Memorial Baptist Church in Detroit said she came because she’s seen the economy affecting her neighborhoods.

“Robberies are up and domestic violence is up,” she said. “We just want Lansing to pay attention.”

Anne Dorshimer, an MSU international relations and Chinese sophomore and intern in the mayor’s office, volunteered at the event and said she thought it had made an impact.

“We all have voices, but when we speak alone nobody hears us,” she said.

Meredith Skrzypczak contributed to this report.