Candidate Profile: Sam Johnson For U.S. House

Sam Johnson, a Detroit resident is running for U.S. House of Representatives District 13.

Age: 82
Party affiliation: Working Class Party
Family: Sadie B. Johnson, deceased, my mother who taught me how to fight in the Jim Crow South. She was a strong person and wasn't taking anything, from cops or anyone else. A lot of men don't give women respect, but they gave my mother respect.
Occupation:I was a worker all my life. Worked 30 years at Chrysler, where I was active in the union, sometimes in union office, sometimes as a rank-and-file militant.
Family members in government:For the county, the city and the state -- but not in boss positions.
Campaign website: https://workingclassfight.com

The single most pressing issue facing our state is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.
Lack of jobs. Government won't solve our problems. But working people can do it by organizing. We should take money back from the profits of the big corporations, money they make by keeping our wages low and making fewer people do more work. Take money back from the tax breaks big corporations get. Use it to fix things that need fixing. That would create jobs.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?
I have confidence in my class, the working class, not in government, not in Democrats or Republicans who promise every election that they will do things for us.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?
I grew up in the Jim Crow South, survived by learning to fight back. I lived in LA under racist cops, survived that by standing up for myself. I've lived in Detroit for 43 years, and survived that by learning to stand together with other workers to solve our problems.

What steps should state government take to bolster economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic for local businesses?
The problem isn't coronavirus. It's big business and the two big parties that take from our taxes to give more money to the biggest thieves in the country.

How will you address the calls for racial justice and police reform?
It's not possible to reform a system that needs police. I believe Black people can defend ourselves, when we bring ourselves together to fight back. I believe all working people can figure out how to do that.

List other issues that define your campaign platform:
Health care -- it was not set up to serve the majority, the working people. It is set up to make money for big drug companies, hospitals, nursing homes. The basic principle of health care should be that no one makes a profit off of it, and there is no cost to anyone who needs it. Medical care can mean your life. No price should be put on our lives.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?
Most of us have to work. I believe we are all part of the same class, blacks, immigrants, earlier immigrants who are now called "white". Everyone here, except Indians, came from other countries, slaves or "free." We have all been abused by the ones who brought us here, slave owners before, factory owners today. The people who brought us here try to create divisions, try to get us fighting each other. They exploit all of us. They are our enemy.

This article originally appeared on the Detroit Patch