Putting a Black Face on Welfare
PPT Slide
"Everyone who knows anything about welfare knows that most recipients are white." This is a common statement among educated individuals concerned about racist representations of welfare in the mass media, and it often goes unchallenged by defenders of welfare. But the statement is not only factually dubious; it is fraught with political pitfalls. Failing to acknowledge the racial composition of the welfare population serves to "whitewash" the racial disparities in the US economy which often force low -income African-Americans and Latinos to rely on public assistance far more than whites. Moreover, the problems of racial representations of welfare spill over into questions of advocacy, as only by acknowledging the disproportionate numbers of persons of color on welfare can we challenge racial inequality in the economy. There are political pitfalls involved in doing this, but the consequences of whitewashing welfare may be worse. Recent scholarship on how racial representations of welfare undermine support for public assistance is important but it too often fails to appreciate the complexities involved. Yet there is no getting away from it, racial representations of welfare involve layers of political complexity and pose a variety of strategic problems for political activism. More stress does need to be given not so much to the frequency of racialized depictions of welfare in the mass media but instead to how the broader society, the culture, and the prevailing modes of perception prime people to interpret such issues in less than salutary ways. Responses that can enhance understanding of the racial dimensions of welfare, and in doing so promote racial justice, are what this analysis is designed to engender.
Email: sschram@brynmawr.edu
Home Page: http://www.brynmawr.edu/Acads/GSSW/schram
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