Following an up-and-down week for Pete Buttigieg, which saw him jump in the polls again before coming under fire for comments he made about minority students, the South Bend, Indiana, mayor traveled to North Carolina on Sunday for a conversation on poverty in America.

On a cool, rainy morning, Buttigieg attended a packed service at Greenleaf Christian church, led by the social justice activist William Barber and the group Poor People’s Campaign. Afterwards, Barber and Buttigieg took part in a roundtable poverty discussion where the 2020 candidate fielded questions on everything from climate change to the minimum wage.

“We’re here to address the issue of poverty and low wealth as a moral crisis,” said Barber, who is behind the Forward Together Moral Movement group that gained national attention with its Moral Monday protests at the North Carolina general assembly beginning in 2013.

“Every generation has its struggles. And that’s part of the story,” Barber said. “But the question is how long are we going to stay divided and how long are we going to stay still? That’s our choice.”

On the anniversary of Rosa Parks’ protest that launched the Montgomery bus boycott, audience members pressed Buttigieg on his plans to tackle what Barber called the “interlocking issues” of poverty, including voter suppression, gerrymandering, education and healthcare.

“Frankly, people in politics are often specifically advised to speak of the middle class and not to use the word poor or poverty too much,” Buttigieg said. “There’s so much theorizing about poverty, and theorizing leads to misunderstanding.”

Buttigieg touted his record of economic development during his time as mayor, and acknowledged the necessity of discussing issues such as voter suppression and climate change alongside poverty.

“There’s a whole lot we have to do to get people a better income,” he said.

In 2018, roughly 38 million people lived in poverty, according to the Census Bureau, with Native Americans (26%) the most affected, followed by black Americans (21%), Hispanics (18%) and white Americans (10%).

In Buttigieg’s hometown of South Bend – which is 26% black – black unemployment stands at 9.2% compared with 4.9% for whites, with black households earning roughly half the income of their white counterparts, according to one 2017 study.

The event was a bit of a makeup for Buttigieg, who did not attend a similar Poor People’s Campaign forum in June, during which eight of the presidential candidates spoke about their plans to address poverty and low-income communities in the US. But Sunday’s discussion came at a good time for Buttigieg, who has so far struggled to garner support from black voters.

Last week, a video made the rounds of Buttigieg from a mayoral candidate roundtable in 2011 discussing the need for mentors to help minority children succeed in education.

“The kids need to see evidence that education is going to work for them,” Buttigieg said in the clip. “There are a lot of kids, especially the lower income, minority neighborhoods, who literally just haven’t seen it work. There isn’t somebody they know personally who testifies to the value of education.”

The Root writer Michael Harriot was among those to criticize Buttigieg for overlooking the role systemic racism plays in holding back minority students.

“White kids get more resources, more advanced classes and have access to more technology. But Pete says it could all be solved with a vision-board,” Harriot wrote in response. “Men like him are more willing to perpetuate the fantastic narrative of negro neighborhoods needing more role models and briefcase carriers than make the people in power stare into the sun and see the blinding light of racism.”

Buttigieg has previously been criticized for firing South Bend’s first black police chief, Darryl Boykins, in 2012, as well as his response to the killing of a black man, Eric Logan, by a white police officer in the city over the summer. Buttigieg’s landmark policy to address structural racism, titled the Douglass Plan after the abolitionist Frederick Douglass, has also come under fire for using a stock photo of a Kenyan woman and listing several prominent black South Carolinians who later rescinded their support.

Despite a recent uptick in the polls – a 16 November tally of Democratic primary voters marked Buttigieg the frontrunner in the predominantly white Iowa caucus race, 10 points ahead of Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden – the 37-year-old has yet to achieve similar success among black voters.

Nationwide, Buttigieg has the support of just 4% of black voters, according to a Quinnipiac poll released last week. In South Carolina, ahead of the state’s 29 February primary, that number is zero.

Sekia Royall was among those in attendance Sunday. A self-described Bernie Sanders supporter, the longtime Goldsboro resident said she appreciated Buttigieg facing potentially difficult topics head-on.

“His message is consistent,” the 47-year-old said.

Royall, who previously met Buttigieg at an event in South Carolina, said that her main issue lies with the candidate’s “Medicare For All Who Want It” healthcare plan, which she said doesn’t do enough to cover low-income populations.

As for Buttigieg gaining support among minority voters, Sunday was a step in the right direction, she added.

“Coming out to the community where he needs a vote is a good look,” Royall said.