Reconciliation

Understanding the importance of action, the Cumberland Center has tackled controversial issues such as tax reform and gun control in Tennessee as well as eco-justice issues.

The inequities in Tennessee’s tax structure have led to CCJP’s involvement in the statewide campaign to address the issue of tax reform. The sales tax on food and numerous loopholes in the current law, releasing businesses and industry from tax responsibilities, causes the heaviest tax burden to fall on low income Tennesseans. CCJP members have testified before the Tennessee State legislature, addressed interested citizen and community groups, launched a campaign of telephoning and writing letters to state legislators, as well as writing letters to local newspapers advocating tax reform. CCJP is an organizational member of Tennesseans for Fair Taxation (TFT) and joined in their march on the state capitol protesting Tennessee’s unfair tax laws. We collaborated with TFT to draft a comprehensive justification of tax reform which is being used as a benchmark to judge tax structure proposals introduced in the Legislature.

Shortly after the Columbine murders, CCJP members joined over two hundred Sewanee citizens to march against lax gun laws. CCJP has collaborated with the Million Moms March to highlight gun control in our community. We organized a demonstration at a gun show in Chattanooga protesting the gun show loophole, which allows minors and people with criminal histories to purchase guns.

Recognizing that the nature of and solutions to environmental problems are deeply intertwined with principles of justice, CCJP strongly supports the need to protect, preserve, and improve the local and regional natural environment. We sponsor local Earth Day events, helped start an ecologically responsible gardeners’ market and recycling center, joined in efforts to oppose a housing development harmful to Sewanee’s natural beauty, lobbied to reform water and sewer rates (especially for low-income customers), and participated in campaigns opposed to locating a hazardous waste incinerator in Marion County, a nuclear processing facility in Oak Ridge, and unregulated chip mills along the Tennessee River. We advocated and have marched for the creation and preservation of a national park in Chattanooga. During the past several years, the environmental movement has gained considerable momentum in southeastern Tennessee. CCJP networks with groups like the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance (OREPA), the Grass-roots Environmental Network, Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM), and the South Cumberland Regional Land Trust whose efforts on the local and regional levels are meeting with great success in their goal of preserving and protecting our natural world.