Welfare Racism: Playing the Race Card Against America's Poor
Kenneth J. Neubeck and coauthor Noel A. Cazenave, both sociology professors, argue that "racism shapes public assistance policies and practices." They examine the role of racism in the early twentieth century and state that "Mother's Pension" and other welfare programs established the pattern for the New Deal's Aid to Dependent Children program (ultimately, AFDC). Using case studies, they explore manipulation of racial stereotypes in 1960s battles over welfare in both the North and the South. The authors trace the racialized political backlash against welfare from the 1960s to the 1996 abolition of Aid to Families with Dependent Children and then examine this "welfare to work" legislation in terms of its race-control functions. Finally, the authors call for progressives to confront welfare racism and demand that government recognize its responsibility to mitigate the suffering of the poor.Mary CarrollCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.