The welfare queen stereotype (1976- ) is one of the pictures that white Americans have in their heads about black women. It sees them as living comfortably on welfare (the dole) bringing up a big family without a husband, with children from different fathers. It views black women as unwilling to work, unwilling to control their (apparently considerable) sex drive and unwilling to better themselves.
It is the stereotype that Shirley Q. Liquor plays for laughs.
Changes in the law in the 1990s outlawed welfare queens. You can no longer be on welfare forever. But even when the law allowed it, most welfare queens – women living on welfare as a way of life – were not black but white!
Most people on welfare are not black and about half of all blacks are middle class.
You would never know these things from the stereotype. That shows you how far from the truth it is.
But a stereotype is not so much based on hard-headed facts as on what it is convenient for the stereotyper to believe. Here the welfare queen shines:
- She supports white ideas of blacks as poor, oversexed and not particularly bright.
- She takes the blame for the troubles that poor blacks have. That points the blame away from whites, allowing them – and the country at large – to wash their hands of black poverty.
- She does not have a bad life: she gets paid for doing nothing!
- She gives the Republican party an excuse to cut public spending on the poor, therefore cutting taxes for the rich.
Like any good racist stereotype it is at once racist and yet hides racism!
You would not believe it now, but back in the 1960s the poor were were pictured as being mainly white – as they in fact are! It was only in the 1970s that “black” and “poor” came to mean almost the same thing. As if there were barely any poor whites or well-to-do blacks.
The true face of welfare is not some 19-year-old black woman with three children and one on the way, but a white woman in her 20s with one child.
The term “welfare queen” comes from Ronald Reagan when he ran for president in 1976. He told the story of a black woman who made $150,000 (36,000 crowns) from gaming welfare. She drove a Cadillac, he informed us.
The press tried to find this woman. They wanted to put her on the evening news. They never found her. Reagan had made it up. Yet the idea stuck – because it is a convenient lie for well-to-do whites to believe.
The bit of the stereotype that does have some truth to it, sad to say, is the number of black women who are bringing up children without a husband. In 1994 about half of all households with black children had no father at home. Compare that to one in five for white children – which is how it was for black children once upon a time back in 1960. But that is another story.
See also:
Abagond 
So regan is the one to blame for this! i live in England where the population alone should make it clear that most of these “welfare queens” are white. However throw enough mud and it sticks.
makes me sick, i can walk down the road with my 7 year old sister and get nothing but foul looks from people of all hues who make assumptions about me yet as many white juvenile dole mothers can pass by without the same scorn.
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Lifeisannoying,
Sad, but true. There’s a racist/sexist double standard in America that portrays poor white women as being “down on their luck”, while black women are portrayed as “undeserving ‘loose women’ who have baby after baby so they can get more money from the state.”
As a matter of fact, welfare was designed for poor white widows with children during the Great Depression. Black widows were excluded from the program on the grounds that they can find work in the fields or in other peoples’ homes.
When the officials include Black women in the welfare program, there’s a whole lot of resentment and resistence from the general public. This is especially true in the late 50s when Southern governors played on the public stereotype of oversexual Blacks to end welfare payments for Blacks while keeping them for Whites.
For more comprehensive nonpartisan look at racism and welfare, I suggest the book, Welfare Racism by Ken Neubeck at Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Welfare-Racism-Playing-Against-Americas/dp/0415923417/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205281995&sr=1-5
I could write more on this.
Stephanie B.
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Thanks for the book recommendation. I added it to my wish list.
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In a Dem debate, Clinton, Edwards and Obama used “black” and “poor” pretty much interchangeably.
The unfortunate truth is that it is hard to get off welfare because the programs have so many built in rules to keep you down. A professor of mine applied for assistance when her husband left. They told her that she needed to sell her car to get full benefits, the dinky car which she used to seek employment. She could either keep her car or feed and house herself and her young daughter. I **hope** those rules have changed but this was so appalling to me. If I were in her situation and had no other way to get food or shelter, I’d sell the car and thank my lucky stars that I now live in a city with great public transportation. I’ve been to several homeless shelters. None of the residents are living. They’re merely existing and going through the necessary motions while their depression, anxiety and other mental and physical health problems go untreated because sick people generally aren’t the best advocates for themselves. Just spending a few hours there left me depressed for weeks.
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Obama should know better.
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wow for letting me know of things about america i never knew of!!! welfare queen indeed!!!
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http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=29721
African American Illegitimacy rate= 70%.
You do the math.
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Most people on welfare are not black…
I guess that depends upon what you mean by most…currently there are more blacks on welfare (TANF – they used to call it AFDC..) than whites and that has the been the case for most of the past 18 years. There’s also quite a few Latinos on welfare:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/character/FY2003/1008.htm
In 2003 (the most recent figures..) the 24.8 of TANF recipients were Latino 31.8 were non-Hispanic whites 38.0 were black 1.5 were Native American and 2% were Asian. So nominally (without adjusting for overall population size) blacks outnumbered whites on what is called welfare.
One year (1995) before welfare reform was passed when the program was still called AFDC blacks represented 37.2% of AFDC recipients and whites represented 35.6%, Latinos were 20% and Asians were 3%.
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/character/FY95/t10.htm
So it would appear, that now and just before welfare reform was signed, that nominally there were more blacks on welfare than whites. Adjusting for population differences, blacks more than 6 times more likely than whites to be on welfare.
On a positive note there has been a marked decline in the usage of welfare as a sole means of subsistence:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temporary_Assistance_for_Needy_Families
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Is it such a surprise?
White people have always used lies, and stereotypes to keep their image in this world looking “superior.”
They always create “statistics” so that whites are on top and blacks and latinos are at the bottom.
They will never admit that more whites use
welfare, because white people use lies, not the truth to stay in power.
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They always create “statistics” so that whites are on top and blacks and latinos are at the bottom.
That’s interesting.. can you explain why Asians generally come out ahead in such statistics..?
They will never admit that more whites use
welfare, because white people use lies, not the truth to stay in power.
“They” meaning the US government has quite a few black employees.. why do you “they” are hiding “the truth” meaning the many black people in government positions including.. guess what our President.. are hiding the truth?
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The people in the apartment next to me use welfare and they are “white.”
I think they just make it seem like blacks and latinos use welfare the most, to hide the fact that white women are using it the most.
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Uncle Milton said:
That’s interesting.. can you explain why Asians generally come out ahead in such statistics..?
Whites read the statistics on Asians in a selective way. Most do not seem to know that the poverty rate among Asian Americans is higher than for whites, for example.
Whites read statistics in a way that favours Asians because that fits their model minority stereotype. Whites use that stereotype to prove to themselves that they are not so racist after all, that there must be something wrong with blacks.
https://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/05/20/the-model-minority-stereotype/
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Uncle Milton:
“They” meaning the US government has quite a few black employees.. why do you “they” are hiding “the truth” meaning the many black people in government positions including.. guess what our President.. are hiding the truth?
I do not think it is so much that anyone is hiding facts as how they get reported by the press, which is mostly controlled by whites.
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I believe this stereotype is the way whites veiw black women the most. It’s very insulting for hard working black woman such as myself who has never recieved welfare a day in my life for people to assue that. I do love the look on white peoples face when I let them know with a smile I have no kids.
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@Leaveumthinking:
Where I’m from, I know several people on EIA (Employment and Income Assistance) and so far, they happen to be white. I have yet to come across any POC using welfare. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, I’m just saying I haven’t seen it yet.
Btw, is that child your daughter in your avatar? She’s adorable. 😀
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Oops, my bad! You mentioned in your post you had no children. 😉 I’m guessing that pic is of you. Very cute!
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@leigh:
I’ve heard some people claim the same thing for immigrants! That they are on welfare! Funny that! When asked why people would immigrate here just to collect welfare, there is a lot of humming and hawing. They are referring to racialized immigrants as this is who they are talking about when they make these comments. They really expect an answer or some type of sympathy in regards to this view. Besides which, there is not much money to be got for those on welfare. The recipient is given subsistant amounts for which to live on. Immigrants come here to make money, they are not going to do this collecting welfare cheques! Something these people who make these remarks seem to not understand. Unlike some of the ‘native’ born, they are willing to take on the jobs no one else wants. I have known some who have worked several jobs to achieve their goals. However, you will not hear these same commentors using them as examples. Stereotypes abound on both sides of the border it would seem. Welfare is a tool to drum up votes during elections
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@Herneith:
I know what you mean. When my parents first immigrated to Canada, they were very surprised to learn about welfare. Welfare was unheard of where they came from (Philippines). They couldn’t understand how able bodied people didn’t want to work. My mother worked two full-time jobs as a sewing machine operator while my dad worked as a welder. Though my parents struggled to put food on the table, clothing on our backs and provided shelter, they would not be caught dead using welfare. It was considered shameful.
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@ Leigh
Thank you yes thats me
I hate when people stereotype minorities as lazy and on welfare. I know of many minorities who will except two low paying jobs than to live on welfare. I’ve worked since I was 16 years old.
@ Herneith
All the immigrants I know are some of the hardest working people.
Most work two jobs plus overtime while going to college at the same time.
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Welfare means a lot of things. The government subsidizes all kinds of interest groups with other people’s tax money. In the public perception, “welfare” tends to mean only one thing – money going to poor families.
Social Security and Medicare is welfare, but nobody thinks of it like that. Sarah Palin’s bridge to nowhere was welfare, but who called her out on it?
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Social Security and Medicare are understandable thats for the old folks who have worked all their life. We are talking about how whites accuse young minorities of being on welfare. Which is a big fat lie like all other allegations.
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You are very misleading with this entry. You claim that mostly whites are on welfare. Well here are the numbers:
39% white 11,661,000 of 29,900,000 recipients
38% black 11,362,000 of 29,900,000
17% Hispanic 5,083,000 of 29,900,000
These numbers are for 2006. Whites have blacks beat by a mere 1%. Not exactly the “majority” of welfare recipeints as you write, 39% is what you call a plurality. So blacks are at 38%, which means basically blacks and whites are tied. But here is the real issue, blacks only make up 13% yet are 38% of welfare recipients!!! Its people like you that re-enforce the false notion that there is not a major breakdown in the black community.
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Please learn to read.
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This stereotype is so overblown. With that said, I am almost sure that I heard somewhere that there unfortunately was a black woman that did rip off welfare. But even with that being the case, this was “one” women out of MILLIONS! So she does not represent all black women nor welfare recipients by a long shot.Other people have the problem if they think she does! She is worth explaining/apologizing only to a degree-because she has problems. She did not do this just because she was black and poor either. She did this because she was the typical scam artist that profited off or attempted to profit of other people by taking advantage of them.She was acting like the typical conperson; and although some folks pretend otherwise-these leeches are found across gender,race, class, and groups(both dominant and marginal!The executives responsible for the Enron debacle are a clear case of this !
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Secretagent72, worldnutdaily is NOT a credible source of information. Go crawl back under your rock rightwing troll
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Are you “african American”?
This crap seems to be very ill willed toward whites. But that’s the trend now. Black trash hypocrites try to hide their own racism while spewing racist verbal garbage at White People.
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Talking about racism is not racism anymore than talking about hatred is hatred.
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To Abagond:
Whites read the statistics on Asians in a selective way. Most do not seem to know that the poverty rate among Asian Americans is higher than for whites, for example.
Taking the average rates of poverty by race going back a decade Whites and Asians are almost exactly the same:
Click to access 11s0710.pdf
I am sure the data from the 80s and 90s shows Asians as a whole having higher poverty rates because that’s when the US was taking in a large number of refugees from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Second generation Vietnamese now graduate from college at a higher rate than Whites.
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I have an idea. Instead of trying to find out what percent of people on welfare are Black, why don’t we…
1)Find out how much of the U.S. population is on this program.
2)Isolate the Black population and compare the percent of Black people on welfare to those who are not.
3)See how much of the 2010/2011 national budgets was/will be spent on aiding America’s poor citizens.
Racist myths serve to justify discrimination and inequality. If a majority of Blacks are welfare recipients and welfare takes up large swaths of our federal spending(excluding Medicare & S.S.) maybe, just maybe this myth is justified. If not, then people with political and racist motives should keep their mouths closed.
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Uncle Mllton:
Right, many of the Asian American numbers have come close to the white numbers and in some cases even passed them, especially in the past eight years or so. But the stereotypes go back to at least the 1980s when there were no honest facts to support them.
Also, MOST of the drop in the Asian American poverty rate seems to come from the continued immigration of engineers and nurses and so on.
For example, from 1998 to 2007 there was no net change in the white poverty rate: 10.5%. Meanwhile the Asian American poverty rate dropped from 12.5% to 10.2%. Which sounds wonderful. But in absolute numbers there was barely any net change at all: the number of Asian Americans living in poverty dropped from 1.360 million in 1998 to 1.349 million nine years later. The Asian underclass shrank by only 11,000 people.
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Before welfare reform, at least in California, white women were the biggest group of women, by race, on welfare, followed by black women then Latinas. It was close, though, about 1/3 for each group. After welfare reform, it looks like black women became a larger % of the total and Latina women the biggest group. One reason is the disparity in education and training opportunities for mothers on welfare, by race. The Urban Institute has done some good research on how white mothers were given more opportunities for education and training under welfare reform than mothers of color. I have to say that as a white woman who used to be on welfare, it was no easy experience for any parent, regardless of race, the caseworkers dumped on you at every turn and our governement i.e. elected officials use ‘welfare mothers’ as a political football whenever they can.
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FYI Uncle Milton the most current info on the racial characteristics of TANF parents is from 2008:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/character/FY2008/tab08.htm
Nationally, 34% black, 32% are white, and 28% Latina.
In California, where 30% of TANF parents nationwide live, 50% are Latina, 21% white, and 19% black.
The perception that most ‘welfare mothers’ are black is due, in part, to the fact that more black women are on welfare as a % of all black women than are white women; that and politicians using the welfare queen stereotype to rile people up and get re-elected.
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Another great book on this issue:
From Mammy to Miss America and Beyond,
Cultural Images and the Shaping of U.S. Social Policy by K. Sue Jewell
http://www.amazon.com/Mammy-Miss-America-Beyond-ebook/dp/B000FBFE00/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1299123322&sr=8-1
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Since nobody bothered with my challenge I’ll do part of it.
3)Obama’s proposed budget from 2010 and 2011.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/02/01/us/budget.html
Just look at how much Section 8, Food Stamps, and TANF compares to National Defense and other welfare programs like Social Security. I admit that I am a bit flimsy on the welfare issue , however I don’t understand how anybody thinks getting rid of these programs will balance our federal budget.
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Where I live and work all I ever see are black women on welfare with numerous kids. They appear to be very young and uneducated. The best part is that while they are living on welfare, food stamps, medicaid, ect and I am working my butt off to take care of them (I am a health care provider), they always have their hair and nails done and have fancy expensive cell phones. I guess if my kids healthcare were given to me for free and I didn’t have to pay for my groceries maybe I could have enough money left over to have a nice phone too. As it is I WORK and provide my kids health insurance to the tune of $800 per mo and that doesn’t include copays on top of that. My phone is a piece of crap from Walmart as that is all I can afford and I am white. I just don’t see many white women on welfare, just black where I live. The white women on welfare generally have kids by black men too. Just an observation. I say mandatory drug testing for ALL people on welfare regardless of color.
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Perhaps you should be blaming your government for the lack of affordable health care or free health care for that matter, instead of the people on welfare. What does mandatory drug testing have to do with welfare and health care? If there is rampant drug problems where you live, one should ask why? These things do not occur in a vacuum. Blaming poor and disaffected people solves nothing. If anything it detracts from the causes of said problems.
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**Where I live and work all I ever see are black women on welfare with numerous kids.**
You must live in a predominantly black neighborhood.
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To The Cynic:
Just look at how much Section 8, Food Stamps, and TANF compares to National Defense and other welfare programs like Social Security.
If you add everything at the Federal level that can be construed as “Welfare” it adds up to around to a half Trillion dollars. The DOD (which does not include some of the spending in Iraq and Afghanistan…) is 50% higher than that and this does include Veteran’s retirements or future health costs. There is money provided at the state level for multiple programs.. although I do not have the figures as such.
I admit that I am a bit flimsy on the welfare issue , however I don’t understand how anybody thinks getting rid of these programs will balance our federal budget.
Just quickly eyeballing things you would have to eliminate everything that could be considered welfare and the department of defense to balance this year’s budget.
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To Diana:
FYI Uncle Milton the most current info on the racial characteristics of TANF parents is from 2008:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/character/FY2008/tab08.htm
Nationally, 34% black, 32% are white, and 28% Latina.
Yeah, the percentages haven’t changed much in the last 15 years.
In California, where 30% of TANF parents nationwide live, 50% are Latina, 21% white, and 19% black.
In California, there are more Latinos and fewer Whites and Blacks compared to the national averages.. so the numbers are a little skewed… I guess you tossed that out there since you live in Cali… so do I.
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To Abagond:
But the stereotypes go back to at least the 1980s when there were no honest facts to support them.
I had read that self identified Japanese Americans in the 1980s had higher incomes than Whites and were more likely to have college degrees. (most Japanese immigration occurred before WWII.. the majority of which arrived in the US as laborers…) I believe the model minority stereotype originated earlier.. I think in the 1960s.
On a side note…I am trying to find a quote from Herbert Hoover that dates from the 20s in his support of the continuation of the Asian exclusion laws that basically says in effect that the White man can not effectively compete against Asians. Note he and his wife had lived in China for about 3 years and used to speak Chinese to each other when they wanted to pass each other private information in public.
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@decot: well, there you go. You have unfair healthcare system in your country. But do not feel bad. Those poor schmucks who get it free, won’t get that good healthcare as you do from private sector, that is if your insurance company will accept your costs.
Now a days in USA, that is not given anymore. They deny healthcare insurance policies from people who have had them for decades, includin cancer patients and the elderly. Way to go!
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@sam
**Now a days in USA, that is not given anymore. They deny healthcare insurance policies from people who have had them for decades, includin cancer patients and the elderly.**
In case you didn’t know, for the past couple of years, there’s been a huge uproar over Obama’s new healthcare plan–a plan in which health insurance companies would be unable to deny a person coverage due to a pre-existing condition. So, yeah, all that’s changed now.
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Decoct said:
“Where I live and work all I ever see are black women on welfare with numerous kids. “
1. Only about 6.4% of black families receive TANF.
2. Most people who receive it are NOT black.
3. The average black woman has 2.1 children.
Even “Precious” had to be set in the 1980s because in the 1990s the law was changed so that welfare can no longer become a way of life.
So, yes, what decoct is describing is a stereotype, a piece of left-over Reaganite propaganda. So much so that I think it is more likely decoct is a troll than a commenter making an honest observation. But even if decoct is being truthful, it is not a common thing in most of the country, not even among blacks.
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@calculator; did it pass as a law already? I surely hope so, because it was a bit too much when they started to deny these insurances from the sick.
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@Uncle Milton
I said take out Social Security, the Military, and such bc most people who solely focus on the Welfare Queen stereotype do not care as much about those programs. Although they can be seen as welfare or wasteful spending they usually aren’t connected with race.
It’s a double standard. Give to the old, but fuck the poor and black. Abagond’s post already lays out the reasons these people should connect race and welfare programs for poor ppl.
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@Uncle Milton
Those programs and can certainly be seen as welfare or wasteful spending, but they are hardly ever connected to race/racism.
Racist who take this stereotype to heart usually don’t care if their money is going to their grandparents and bombs. As long as poor ppl and blks are not in their pockets, they are good.
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Uncle Milton, yes I live in Cali, but I put the California data because 30% of the national welfare caseload is in California, so whatever happens to welfare policies in our state will have national significance. Ten percent of the national welfare caseload is in L.A. county alone. FYI, in San Bernardino county, 78% of Latina mothers are in poverty – that’s an astounding fact.
FYI, since the Great Recession officially began in the fall 2007, the unemployment rate for single mothers has more than doubled, reaching a 25-year high; the poverty rate is at its highest level in 15 years; and welfare rolls are on the rise for the first time since TANF/welfare reform was passed in 1996. This recession has been the first time that TANF has been tested during an economic downturn, and it’s failing miserably. Even one of its chief authors, Ron Haskins, now admits that ‘it’s not a very good safety net.” California is one of a handful of states that still has a safety net to speak of, and it’s now being shredded by state budget cuts. As a single mother and former welfare recipient, I am so glad I now have a good job and don’t need assistance any more, because the current system is arbitrary and cruel.
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@sam
**did it pass as a law already?**
Yes, it did pass maybe a year or two ago. However, when the Democrats lost their Senate seat in Massachusetts to Republican Scott Brown–a seat formerly held by Robert Kennedy– the Democrats lost the 60-seat philibuster-proof Senate and they quickly did some kind of complicated political maneuver that got the bill passed.
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The statistics are distorted. People fail to realize or they remain in denial that Arab, Asian and US born Hispanics persons are in fact able to mark “white” as their ethnicity on government or state welfare applications. No one factors this truth, they would rather blame each others “color” than be real about it.
I worked in a State office, I know how the sad game is played.
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@ MeAgain
So, what you’re saying is that they are not REAL White people.
Hispanic guys who look like this:
Arab women who look like this:
and Asian women who look like this:
are not in fact, White, because the only place that REAL White people come from is Europe, Down Under, or the US.
While we’re at it, let’s get it straight that people who speak with a Jamaican accent also aren’t Black.
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@King:
Of course they ain’t white! They are only white when they are needed to shore up the ‘real’ white peoples’ numbers.
Didn’t you know that?
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“I worked in a State office, I know how the sad game is played”
Why do I have trouble believing this?
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^^^ Maybe Mencken has somehow slipped back in under my spam filter.
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@ King:
MeAgain is right. For Middle Easterners to count as white they have to do something whites would want to claim credit for, like build a pyramid or become a messiah. Applying for welfare is not on that level.
Here is my handy learning aid:
Jesus + walk on water = white
Jesus + applying for welfare incognito = not white!
or:
Steve Jobs + creation of the iPod = white
Steve Jobs + robbing a 7-Eleven = a man of Arab descent
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“For Middle Easterners to count as white they have to do something whites would want to claim credit for…”
Like build an atomic bomb?
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To Abagond, MeAgain, and King:
Steve Jobs + creation of the iPod = white
Steve Jobs + robbing a 7-Eleven = a man of Arab descent
Steve Jobs is mixed… European mother / Syrian Father (as is his sister Mona Simpson…) but adopted and raised by generic White Americans. To my eyes some Middle Eastern people appear White and some appear mixed and some appear Black. Arabs and Iranians (most assuredly not the same people as almost every Iranian/Persian will tell you..) tend to commit crimes at a fairly low rate in the US… probably not exceeding the non-Hispanic White rate. North Africans and Yemenis tend to have a darker completion whereas Lebanese, Syrian, and Iranian immigrants tend to have a lighter completion. There are of course multiple exceptions. The Middle Eastern population has done pretty well in the US (unlike parts of Europe…) likely because the United States has filters for education from many of the immigrants of Middle Eastern origin. I don’t have the data but I would not be surprised at all if Iranians and Lebanese outperformed non-Hispanic Whites in income and education. Really I consider the Middle Eastern population as a non issue when looking at this data because they represent a fairly small segment of the population in the US.
Since Hispanics are placed into a different category when we look at school performance I don’t see why we shouldn’t also place them in a separate category for Welfare (which they are …) and for crime (which they are not…) Overall I accept the data presented HHS as being pretty accurate.
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To MeAgain:
The statistics are distorted. People fail to realize or they remain in denial that Arab, Asian and US born Hispanics persons are in fact able to mark “white” as their ethnicity on government or state welfare applications.
Looking at the numbers for Hispanics, I would say it is a non issue. They look correct to me. Asians opting as White…? South and East Asians.. no…
But Iran and the Arabic world are in Western Asia and North Africa… that said I would guess that their numbers are not that far off from non-Hispanic Whites.. Octomon notwithstanding.
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Shavondaa second agoIn 2009 there were 307,000,000 people in the United States, Blacks make up about 12.6% of this population (38,682,000) – (not including blacks of latino heritage) There are 1,726,560 people on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families(TANF) of that number 33.3% are black ( 574,944.48) that is less that is 0.0148633597 or 1.5% of the black population yet people like to throw these numbers out there. The fact is that more blacks work to care care of their families than those who do not.
References:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/character/fy2009/tab08.htm
http://www.prb.org/Publications/Datasheets/2009/2009wpds.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States#Race_and_ethnicity
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Well, unfortunately, I haven’t read all the comments.
BlueLake wrote:
“White people have always used lies, and stereotypes to keep their image in this world looking “superior.””
Yes, lies, lies and more lies to get the job done….Anyway, I don’t think it’s only white people who use lies to forward their agenda because other groups do it as well….But, yeah, lies are used to brainwash the gullible sheep very often….I see this on a daily basis.
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Also, I don’t know how some people like the so called 1% who literally own everything and themselves have a parasitic or is it predatory, blood sucking nature have room to talk about anyone else…..Really?
Isn’t it through direct or indirect exploitation that they got to where they are?
So, who is the parasite?
Oh, I just looked up predator, parasite and host…..I think it’s worth looking those up…..the way I see it, there is alwyas somebody, or some ‘creature’ feeding off of another.
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Also, the welfare queen stereotype is not solely for black Americans or black people, in general. Alll kinds of people from different races are dependent on the dole……The dole system is designed to make people DEPENDENT and HELPLESS and the people put there to oversee the whole thing feel that they are IN CHARGE.
In fact, from what I have seen, some people or groups of people will go out of their way to STOP people from getting a decent job, or will even go to a person’s job and make trouble so that the person can lose their job.
So, I don’t know how some people even have room to complain…..If you don’t want people hanging on to the dole, then mind your own business and let people get along as they have always done, without interference and they will find a suitbale job, as they always did.
What is the good in interfering if you are not going to offer any positive help, but actually be a hinderance?
I just don’t know.
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I remember a while ago when I heard a news story about a woman named vanee Sykes who was accused of stealing 8 million $ of foodstamps with the help of three or four other woman by having created different aliases (or rather people that didn’t exist…) so she could collect from them! I tryed to find a picture of her because they never showed what she looked like…I could only find one picture of her and she is a white woman! I’m pretty sure if she was black then her picture would be everywhere!!! Vanee sykes is a real life welfar queen lol! 😀
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CBS points out that only nine percent of Iowans on food stamps are black —and 84 percent are white. Nationally, 39 percent of welfare recipients are white, 37 percent are black, and 17 percent are Hispanic. So Santorum’s decision to single out black welfare recipients plays right into insulting —and inaccurate —stereotypes of the kind of people some voters might expect to want a “handout.” Attacking families who receive government aid has been a theme among many of the Republican candidates. In nearly every speech, Newt Gingrich accuses President Obama of being a “food stamp president” and even said “really poor children” have bad work habits and no knowledge of how to make an income “unless it’s illegal.” (HT: Raw Story)
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TANF v TARP: Too White To Fail
The main welfare programme in America is TANF – Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. It took the place of AFDC in 1997 as part of Clinton’s welfare reforms.
Its budget in 2010 was $17.1 billion. Of that 27.8% is sent as cash payments to families (in 2009). And of that 34.2% went to black families (2008).
So poor black families received about $1.6 billion in welfare payments from the government in 2008.
Meanwhile:
The government bailed out the banks and the car industry in 2008 and 2009. That was done under TARP – Troubled Asset Relief Program. It spent $296 billion – equal to 185 years of welfare payments to blacks.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temporary_Assistance_for_Needy_Families
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troubled_Asset_Relief_Program
http://womenslawproject.wordpress.com/2010/11/02/debunking-the-myth-of-the-%E2%80%9Cwelfare-queen%E2%80%9D-who-actually-receives-tanf-benefits/
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@ leigh204, you are absolutely beautifull.
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What I want to know is why do black women who have no job and no way to care for a child, keep having children? And do not try that excuse, “It happend true da heat o passion.” Plus as soon as they get pregnant they head for the welfare office.
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@R.S.
I could ask the same about White women.
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Yes I hate this stereotype with passion. thank you. People still believe that stupid lie. A lot of these people who are barely above the poverty line people who are drawing food stamps themselves while being the working poor. It is so frustrating becuse they are white they don’t realize they are talking about themselves. Holy hell. Single moms aren’t professional con artists. Most want to raise their kids properly and do a damn good job. It’s not like most of them want to raise their children by the themselves the hardest way to raise a child. Children in poverty is sad. However most white people don’t see how harmful this stereotype is. I also can’t stand it when a married women says this while being a dependant on her husbands taxes.not saying white men don’t believe this stereotype becuse god knows they do. they seem almost jealous about it like they don’t have to work and i do bullshit. This mentality is harmful definitely for women of color but also harms all women. The women that believe this stereotype shoot themselves in the foot by voting by this belief. Its a horrible racist and sexiest stereotype. However from what I see the stereotype is evolving to include all forms of government aid not only welfare per se.
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Happiness that is an excellent point about the dole system. Help people don’t hinder them I agree
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I hate this stereotype so much. I am not on welfare yet people especially Whites assume that I am on welfare because of my ethnicity and race. I am sick of this stereotype and I know more Whites on welfare than Blacks and Latinos.
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I found this link and video from UC Berkeley very interesting.
(http://www.upworthy.com/if-you-think-only-poor-people-need-welfare-wait-till-you-see-what-really-rich-folks-do-with-it?)
It recasts the actual welfare queen recipient as large corporates, not the stereotyped poor fat mother.
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37% of people on welfare are black, 39% of people on welfare are white. Blacks only make up 12% of the population, you do the math….
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Jean
Blacks make up 13.1% of the population. I bet if you did research instead of being spoonfed information you might actually have a clue every now and then.
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White people may be the majority of people on public aid but why is it that when white people come into inner city offices they conduct themselves like they have good sense and manners and black women don’t?
Why is it that when some black women come into the offices they act as if they are 3 years old? Yelling at the receptionist and always in a hurry? The security guards in the offices are no better than the clients. Playing on cellphones and sitting in cubby holes. Some of the guards are no more than glorified aid recipients. When black women come into offices they are always cursing and acting as if they don’t need the benefits they are begging for and too busy telling everyone in earshot that ‘they act like this money is they money.’ They curse and fuss until the caseworker comes out to get them then when they get to the caseworkers desk they become docile sometimes. I wish they would end welfare at least food stamps. Because it won’t be any looting or great disaster like the welfare recipients have threatened. All they do is talk. They will continue to make it by braiding hair, selling Cd’s and dvd’s running daycares, selling drugs, etc. Welfare is a joke.
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^^^^ probable sock puppet.
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@Abagond: Are you seeing all those ratchet stereotypes by this Lisa Johnson? Some whites who reside in the hood are just as ratchet.
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@ Lisa Johnson
You are suffering from what psychologists call confirmation bias.
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I think maybe Lisa should check out the welfare offices around here. The whites welfare conduct would shut her mouth real quick or she will just overlook it one.
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If there are more whites on welfare? Its because there Are more white people (simple)..it is
About percentages
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“How to End the Criminalization of America’s Mothers”
http://www.thenation.com/blog/181333/how-end-criminalization-americas-mothers#
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@Maria
It is not that simple and it is simply an excuse. Being more does not explain why so many are on it now does it?
On the flip side In a recent jail report several whites were arrested for food stamp fraud. A story some years back was of a white couple living in a multi-million dollar beach home while getting government assistance.
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“The double-standard of making the poor prove they’re worthy of government benefits”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/04/07/the-double-standard-of-making-poor-people-prove-theyre-worthy-of-government-benefits/
“Many, many Americans who do receive these other kinds of government benefits — farm subsidies, student loans, mortgage tax breaks — don’t recognize that, like the poor, they get something from government, too. That’s because government gives money directly to poor people, but it gives benefits to the rest of us in ways that allow us to tell ourselves that we get nothing from government at all.
Political scientist Suzanne Mettler has called this effect the “submerged state.” Food stamps and welfare checks are incredibly visible government benefits. The mortgage interest deduction, Medicare benefits and tuition tax breaks are not — they’re submerged. They come to us in round-about ways, through smaller tax bills (or larger refunds), through payments we don’t have to make to doctors (thanks to Medicare), or in tuition we don’t have to pay to universities (because the G.I. Bill does that for us).
Mettler’s research has shown that a remarkable number of people who don’t think they get anything from government in fact benefit from one of these programs. This explains why we get election-season soundbites from confused voters who want policymakers to “keep your government hands off my Medicare!” This is also what enables politicians to gin up indignation among small-government supporters who don’t realize they rely on government themselves.”
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https://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/20/1394908/-U-S-Attorney-General-Lynch-Announces-Biggest-Medical-Fraud-Bust-In-DOJ-History-243-Arrested?detail=emailclassic
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Words and their meaning. When you think that you know everything about the meaning of every mundane word you are caught by surprise!
A propos: did you know that Sean Hannity is a welfare queen?
Yes, he is. And a big one at it! Bigger than the ones he made a career rallying against!!
(De)salacious… and ironic, to say the least.
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/04/23/opinions/sean-hannity-is-a-welfare-queen-begala/index.html
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