Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now
Helene O'Brian; Maude Hurt
ACORN ( Association of Community Organizations engl. for Reform Now) was the governing body of a charity in the United States and other countries. The organization managed a budget of over $ 100 million and had over 400,000 members in over one hundred cities in the United States. Focus of the activities of ACORN were all forms of mutual aid, health care and voter registration for families of middle to lower income groups. ACORN was founded in 1970 by Wade Rathke and Gary Delgado. Since 1990, Maude Hurd was president of the grassroots democracy built American organization.
History
The organization was originally founded in 1970 to help the poor in Arkansas and first put their focus on it to regulate unfair practices in the granting of loans to small borrowers with the help of state laws. Another theme was the struggle for the introduction of a minimum wage in fifteen regions and cities of the United States ( Living Wage Campaign).
High reputation acquired the organization, as they aid money for storm victims collected after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and could support more than two thousand homeowners.
In New York, ACORN understood, to oppose the privatization of parts of the school system. Furthermore, the organization fights for a qualitative improvement of the state school system. Smaller classes, better trained teachers, parental involvement in the school and more realistic curricula should help improve the school system.
In the wake of the economic crisis of 2008/ 09 ACORN tried to prevent the home - stay campaign evictions from houses. The range of forms of activity ranged from assistance with this loan renegotiation of media campaigns to civil disobedience if necessary.
Since the 1980s, it is ACORN succeeded in showing that more than 1.8 million voters from low-income strata were registered in 21 states for the presidential elections. Right-wing media attacked ACORN repeated especially during election campaigns, with allegations of irregularities or even fake voter registrations. ACORN calls this accusation as a campaign of right-wing media and refers for example to any study of the former responsible for New Mexico U.S. Attorney David Iglesias; D.Iglesias was later fired by his own admission by the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush because he did not meet expectations, to bring fabricated accusations against ACORN. Stricter gun control law and legal assistance for low-income families from a foreclosure sale of their home property during the housing crisis is another concern of the organization.
For 2009, a membership of 400,000 is given, organized in 1,200 local chapters in 110 U.S. cities. 700 employees were employed, which should reflect according to a quota system the membership structure by ethnic and demographic aspects.
Also for Canada, Peru, Mexico and India activities were given.
In 2010, a total of at least 18 (former) employees of fraud were found guilty and sentenced to probation or several months of imprisonment.
In 2011 she supported the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Hidden Camera
2009 recorded with a hidden camera by filmmaker James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles edited the student films were released, which give the impression that ACORN counselor would give you tips on how to deal with the prostitution ban, taxes can be evaded legal and what opportunities, there is a profitable trade in women to operate (a sub- form of slavery ). The two ACORN consultants have now been released and the author of the film James O'Keefe, is a libel suit before. Even Fox News and Breitbart.com, one side of rechtspopulitischen blogger Andrew Breitbart, who spread the film extensively on television and the Internet, are injunctions. Similar recordings from offices in Washington, DC, Brooklyn, San Diego, San Bernardino, Philadelphia and Los Angeles followed thereupon. After becoming aware of the scandal, ACORN was excluded from the implementation of the 2010 United States Census, as well as the support set by federal funds, and ACORN has now been resolved.
By Governor Schwarzenegger investigation of the California Attorney Brown initiated revealed that the ACORN employees have no criminal offenses guilty. Rather pointed Brown, who evaluated the uncut originals of secretly recorded footage O'Keefe in the course of his investigation, pointed out that things are not always so be as partisan fanatics they represented through highly selective editing, and that sometimes a " fuller truth " in cutting room arises ( "that things are not always as partisan zealots portray them through highly selective editing of reality. Sometimes a fuller truth is found on the cutting room floor. "). In the progressively aligned Rachel Maddow show the edited version and original recordings were compared and evaluated as successful disinformation campaign of right-wing media, with the aim of a considered as ideologically hostile organization which campaigned for socially disadvantaged people off.