The History of ACORN (Association of Community Organization for Reform Now)

There has been a lot of talk over the past month about ACORN in this 2008 presidential race. John McCain and the Republican Party have been bringing up some problems with ACORN concerning illegal voter registrations. John McCain has also linked this fraudulent act to Barack Obama and his campaign.

Although many who follow the politicians Barack Obama and John McCain in their presidential race may know of what ACORN is, I decided to produce a brief history of the organization, to provide background knowledge to voters in this 2008 presidential election.

ACORN is a community based organization who works on "bread and butter" issues, such as education, health care and neighborhood safety for low to middle income families. Some priorities of the Association of Community Organization for Reform now include things such as improved public school systems which include curriculum, community development projects and better wages and working environment for low income employees.

Started in 1970 by Wade Rathke and Gary Delgado, ACORN has over 350,000 members to do, with over 850 neighborhood chapters across the United States.

During the 70s, ACORN actually started off as the Arkansas Community Organizations for Reform Now, since that is where it had started. This particular ACORN was first in charge of clothing, food, furniture and other needs of welfare individuals living in the area. During this time, ACORN grew and started a bigger movement in the area, uniting welfare and other poor individuals around important issues such as education, free school lunches, and emergency health care.

In the mid-70s ACORN expanded to the states of Texas and South Dakota, and began focusing not only on local issues, but larger national issues as well. In 1978, ACORN marched to the Democratic National convention with a outline called the "People's Platform" listing things such as decreasing unemployment rates, protection of workers' rights, guarantee women's rights, and the protection of families.

Over the next few decades, ACORN has bee seen primarily focusing on housing issues, however have had success in education and health initiatives as well. In the 1990s and today, ACORN has been known for its efforts in voter registration, being linked to laws such as "Motor Voter" act signed by Bill Clinton.

Currently, much of the hype about ACORN has to do with voter registration fraud in a number of cities throughout the United States. Although ACORN is supporting the investigations and taking proper action against the employees responsible, there still seems to be a dark cloud over the organization. ACORN has publicly supported Barack Obama in this 2008 Election, which has caused some problems for the Obama campaign. Voter fraud investigations are still pending however.