Racial Discrimination Within the Welfare System - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1501 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2019/02/05 Category Society Essay Level High school Tags: Racial Discrimination Essay Racism Essay Did you like this example? When Franklin D. Roosevelt was nominated president in 1933, he acted fast to provide relief to those who were in need. On June 8, 1934, Roosevelt sent a message to congress that guaranteed a plan for social insurance as a safety net â€Å"against the hazards and vicissitudes of life.† Then, only fourteen months later, on August 14, 1935, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Social security Bill in into law (Martin and Weaver). The Social Security Bill enabled several states to make more adequate arrangements for people over sixty-five, blind people, crippled adults and children, public health, and unemployment compensation. The act also included programs that promoted the health and welfare of children. Under this, Welfare was created. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Racial Discrimination Within the Welfare System" essay for you Create order Welfare is a government program that gives financial aid to people who can’t support themselves. Welfare is paid by tax payers’ money, and because of this, many people find the welfare system susceptible to be being taken advantage of. Although many people think this, many facts prove that to be untrue or hypocritical. The welfare system has been discriminatory since it has been created, which in return has led to discrimination for minorities in everyday life. During the 1930’s and 40’s racial discrimination made it almost unimaginable for blacks to get involved in programs such as Aid to Dependent Children (ADC), which would allow low income families to get financial aid to support their children. In fact, at this time the majority of single mothers using ADC were Caucasian. Due to the extreme hatred of minorities at this time in history, it was unimaginably hard for especially blacks to earn and income. So, they were taking any job they could get. Because of this, many were paid in cash, which made them unqualified for social programs such as ADC. These issues continued, and even got worse through the 50’s and 60’s (Carten). The 50’s and 60’s was known as the time of prosperity. The economy grew by about 37% during this time. By the end of the decade, the average American family had about 30% more purchasing power than ever before (Shmoop). While life improved for whites, it was quite the opposite for blacks. Black women were particularly discriminated against in the welfare system at this time. There were different requirements and rules such as the â€Å"man in the house rule,† where workers would check to see if a man was in the house at any time of the night, and if he was, welfare benefits would be taken away. This was quite unconstitutional but allowed and accepted in the southern states. There were also requirements that the welfare recipient had to have an exceptionally clean house. If this was not followed through, welfare workers could take welfare away from the recipients (Ackerman). Because of these strict laws in the south, many single-parent black families tried to move to the north hoping for a better life, with better welfare, but that was proved to be difficult. Housing was hard to come by because of residency requirements. Many â€Å"desirable neighborhoods† were too expensive or didn’t accept blacks at all. This resulted in pushing blacks into the slums of the north (Library of Congress). As previously stated, if the welfare recipients’ housing was not a good environment, they would not be able to continue to receive welfare benefits, and because the blacks were being pushed into the slums, some could not receive welfare checks, leaving them extremely poor and having no where to turn. Eventually, presidents retreated from the safety net philosophy that was enforced in earlier decades. Specifically, Ronald Reagan enforced New Federalism. New Federalism is the transfer of certain powers from the federal government to the states government. As shown above, when the welfare system was in the states hands, it did not go well. Regan had a philosophy that poor people were poor because of their own misfortune, they didn’t need assistance, and that they could only help themselves if they wanted to get better. Because he believed this, he made plenty of budget cuts under New Federalism. The 1982 cuts exceeded 20% in many of the programs introduced since the 1960’s that were designed to help the unprivileged. These programs included AFDC, Food Stamps, Medicaid, education aid, Low-income Energy Assistance, and training and employment programs. It’s estimated that the typical mother on welfare who worked had a 20 to 30 percent decline in their monthly income (Danziger and Haveman). â€Å"Blacks will suffer disproportionately from the Reagan programs because a higher proportion of blacks are poorer than whites, a greater proportion will be affected by the reductions,† (Danziger and Haveman). Then, Reagan went onto expose a woman who allegedly took advantage of the welfare system. Reagan said, â€Å"There’s a woman in Chicago. She has 80 names, 30 addressees, 12 Social Security cards and is collecting veterans’ benefits on four nonexistent deceased husbands. She’s got Medicaid, is getting food stamps and welfare under each of her names. Her tax-free cash income alone is over $150,000.† Although some people believed that Reagan was using this as campaign strategy, since it wasn’t actually proven, this still reinforced black stereotypes among white people. Which then lead to discrimination, and problems within the system throughout the 90s. During the 90s, welfare was no longer about the people. It turned into politics. In 1996, the Republican-controlled Congress passed the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Block Grant of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. This was known as the â€Å"welfare reform.† â€Å"Welfare reform in 1996 had little to do with poverty; it had a lot to do with racialized politics of poverty. Conservatives declared that anything was better than the old welfare system for poor women and that their plans for tough work requirements and time-limited benefits was a policy of hope. What they were really interested in was politically exploiting the issue and painting the Democrats as defenders of ‘amoral’ black women in ghettos. Liberals rationalized welfare reform as necessary, but they also understood it to be a way of banishing race, and racialized poverty, from the political lexicon† (Brown 47). In fact, Jared Bernstein of The Washington Post claims, â€Å"It was and is about convincing a group of voters that, while you’re working hard to make ends meet, somebody’s making a bundle ripping off the system. And that somebody is an â€Å"other,† a minority or an immigrant.† So, since the welfare debate was now politically fueled, poor families, which was now mainly made up of minorities, were harshly treated and punished. With the new welfare reform bill in place, there were new requirements in the system. Single mothers were required to get a job two years after they started getting benefits. Then, they could only receive the benefits for up to five years for the rest of their lives. Also, teenage mothers were no longer allowed to receive benefits. To add to that, â€Å"States were banned from using federally funded TANF for certain groups of immigrants and restrictions were placed on their eligibility to Medicaid, food stamps and Supplementary Social Security Income† (Carten). Because of these requirements, many people were left without the help they needed. This has caused issues within the system today. Evidently, welfare has been a struggle for minorities since 1935. Despite the longevity, there are still issues within the system today. There is an over-representation of children of minorities within the welfare system. â€Å"In 2017, the State of California had 11,301 Black children in dependency care which was 23.8% of the total number of children in care (California Child Welfare Indicators Project, (2018). This becomes the true definition of disproportionality, when Black children only make up about 592,333 (7%) of the entire state of California’s population but make up 23.8% of the total number of children in care† (Long 1). Many believe that minority families face more disadvantages in the welfare system compared Caucasians. Disadvantages such as systematic circumstances that minorities can’t necessarily change, and this causes the disproportionate representation in the welfare system. This disproportionality is also due to the lack of cultural comp etency within the welfare system (Font qt. In Long 2). For example, although a major portion of welfare recipients are of minority groups, the adults who provided social services to these children are predominantly white. The welfare system claims that for over a decade, they have been trying to raise â€Å"awareness and sensitivity.† â€Å"Additional efforts have sought to increase knowledge and understanding about the unique aspects of the history and culture of specific groups, primarily African Americans and Latino Americans. These efforts however, have not addressed culturally effective practice in a comprehensive and sustained manner, and have been inadequate† (Jackson and Brissett-Chapman 252). Furthermore, a substantial amount of minority families who live in undesirable communities are prone to constant surveillance by police or other reporters that make child welfare reports more often. This also causes social worker bias, and harsh treatment from welfare workers (Long 2). Although the issues today are slightly different than those in the twentieth century, they still need to be solved. Ideally, cultural competence needs to be instilled into every welfare worker.

Essay on The Importance of Homosexual Rights - 2292 Words

The bestowed rights of humans have been distorted throughout time. Regarding all who deserve the same privileges as others, compassion is not shown with respect. Given that times are changing, it is only right that everybody follows suit and makes the necessary alterations to equalize all humans. I believe, if individuals are more informed on Gay Rights such as marriage, adoption and the military discussion of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) maybe we can fight to give same-sex couples the opportunities that the rest of the population have. The first and topic to establish a more equal world is same-sex marriage, collectively known as Gay Marriage. Marriage throughout time has been instituted as opposite sex only unions. As of†¦show more content†¦Vermont was the first state to permit civil unions in 2000 (HRC, 2011). Civil Unions are only recognized in states where they are preformed. But there are states that recognize the union no matter where it is performed. The states that permit the recognition of those unions consist of Rhode Island, Maryland, California, New Mexico and New York. They have also vowed not to discriminate against marriages formed in sanctioned states. There are roughly 24 states that are completely anti-gay rights. Outside of The United States, the very first country to legalize marriage was The Netherlands in 2001. Though they only accept the union if one of the members is Dutch. There are seventeen other countries in Europe who have legalized gay and lesbian marriage. Outside of Europe, South Africa and New Zealand accept the matrimony. Many countries in The Middle East have made it punishable by death to be homosexual (HRC, 2011). Judging by the knowledge I have acquired, it seems that most of the world will only grant marriage between a man and a woman. My answer to the ongoing debate reckons to state that everybody, no matter your orientation, should have the same rights. The last topic we can discuss in gay marr iage is the ethics of it. The religious aspect states marriage should be between a man and a woman. In Leviticus chapter twenty verse thirteen it says ‘if a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them haveShow MoreRelatedDiscrimination Imposed Upon Minority Groups Throughout History1446 Words   |  6 Pagescommunity has been a dominant and commanding principle, regardless of the increasing pressure to shift the constructs and discourse surrounding the current illegitimacy of homosexual relationships. In response, this essay seeks to discuss the extenuating circumstances resulting from the increased awareness in regards to the importance of marriage equality and how, although it s legalisation would be a significant progression towards acceptance and appreciation, we are far from overcoming the discriminatoryRead MoreOvercoming Homophobia And Physical Education Classes Should Be Addressed By Creating A More Informative Education Curriculum863 Words   |   4 Pagesin physical education classes should be addressed by creating a more informative education curriculum, awareness of successful homosexual athletes and teaching students the importance of individual rights. Thus, the awareness homophobic issues in physical education will be eliminated. †¢ The gendered sexuality of physical education includes challenges for young homosexuals. The curriculum should place more awareness about sexual gendered bullying in school and more focus should be given to understandingRead MoreShould Homosexuals Have The Same Rights?1106 Words   |  5 PagesShould homosexuals have the same rights as heterosexuals? Regardless of same sex marriage being legal in America, homosexuals have fewer rights than heterosexuals. All people deserve to obtain the same rights and respect regardless of who they choose to love. People are getting disrespected and mistreated all over America, because of which sex they choose to marry. Whether or not one agrees with a person’s sexual orientation or not, it does not give them a right to disrespect and mistreat them. Read MoreGay Marriage : Gay Rights And Peoples Rights737 Words   |  3 Pagesin fact, wrong. It actually can conflict with religious rights and people’s rights to an opinion. Although it is the United States of America and everyone deserves to be equal, gay marriage is still wrong, because if equal rights takes away another’s rights, it is not correct. Many gay people don’t even support homosexual marriage, which seems to make it less of an importance to people than previously thought. When you think of homosexual people, you think of incredibly militant people who are advocatingRead MoreHomosexual Marriage Should Be Legal Essay1111 Words   |  5 PagesHomosexual marriage should be legal because marriage is a symbol of love and passion for one another, the homosexual family life is just as good as heterosexual family life, and prohibiting gay marriage is unconstitutional discrimination. Homosexuality occurs in over four hundred and fifty species, but homophobia (irrational fear or dislike against homosexuality) only occurs in one. (Gay Marriage Research Paper) We live in the â€Å"land of the free,† but we still have laws that ban marriage of homosexualRead MoreHomosexuality as a Deviance The view that homosexuality is deviant allows society to discriminate against certain people.1602 Words   |  7 Pagesthis no n-accepting view cause discrimination towards homosexuals. Is homosexuality a way for some people to deviate, or is it just the way some people need to live their lives? If that is the way of life for some people than society has to become accepting towards this lifestyle. Homosexuals are a minority since they differ from the accepted sexual orientation. They become objects of discrimination and contempt. Some of societies anti-homosexual attitudes come from homophobia. Homophobia is the irrationalRead MoreThe Debated Issue of Same-Sex Marriage750 Words   |  3 Pagesbecause it concerns an issue of basic human and moral rights. According to the United States, a traditional marriage is the union of opposite sexes, a heterosexual union. One man and one woman unite to bind their marriage. This has been the tradition for many years until the issue of same sex marriage arose around the 1970s. The Defense of Marriage Act was passed in 1996 and gave the states the decision on whether or not they authorized homosexual marriage. It describes marriage as a â€Å"legal union betweenRead MoreEssay on Homosexuality in Hong Kong1477 Words   |  6 Pagesmovies and occasional news revealing celebrities homosexual behaviors. Simultaneously there has also been sign ificant growth in commercial venues such as restaurants and bars, catering to gays and lesbians. In short, the social context of Hong Kong and the attitudes gays and lesbians are likely to hold about their sexual orientation are very different from those of previous generations. However, this is not proper to indicate that the homosexual minority, which consists of 6 to 10 percent of populationRead MoreHomosexuality And The Modern Day Civil Rights Movement1701 Words   |  7 PagesIt is even considered that the battle for gay rights is the modern day civil rights movement. Just like in the 1960’s with African Americans, the government has began to regulate the personal lives of those who are openly homesexual. It is becoming a major part of the presidential election since Barack Obama announced his support of gay marriage.The controversy of homosexuality is centered around people s moral objections and the fight for gay rights. Some people see homosexuality as morally wrongRead MoreHomosexuality Is Genetic Or Merely A Learning Process?1697 Words   |  7 PagesThe topic of â€Å"homosexuality† in a political view attracts my interest because of the importance, in which it has in are government, people, and society we live in. People often argue of what is right and what is wrong, and for many years â€Å"homosexuality† has been a quite topic until recent years, and the argument wither homosexuality is genetic or simply a learning process? This is what brings a lot of attention to the media, scientist, and professors to keep trying to learn this different life style

C.S.I †Myth vs. Reality Free Essays

Jennifer Weaver L. Leggo Law Monday April 19, 2010 C. S. We will write a custom essay sample on C.S.I – Myth vs. Reality or any similar topic only for you Order Now I – Myth vs. Reality Crime Scene Investigation is a series that followers investigators that use evidence to solve murders. The show is very popular due to its courageous matter and popular characters. However, despite CSI’s popularity it has been heavily criticized for realism to actual crime solving. CSI portrays an inaccurate, to say the least, image of how police solve crimes. To begin with, CSI has depicted many manifestations to people who watch it. Two main things noticed in the episode watched are the myth of crime scene investigating and DNA testing. The show does a really good job â€Å"hollywooding† the field of forensic science. One clear myth of the show is it’s characters and how attractive they are. Forensic scientists are more likely to look like fat men with glasses rather than sexy women who wear camisoles to a crime scene, as seen in the show. In addition, the show depicts solving a case as easy and not time consuming, when in reality the majority of these cases would take months or even years to solve. Moreover, when collecting evidence and DNA in the show, it shows DNA results returning in a matter or hours when it would normally take years. This false interpretation contributes to viewers manifestation of DNA testing in real cases; thinking that its an easy process. The only reality of the show found was when one of the investigators collected a finger print, however, even that was glamorized because a print would never come out so clear, as it did in the show. Overall, the show itself is a good show, it is very entertaining, from its graphics to the acting, however, its realism is non-existent and it exemplifies the forensic field falsely. How to cite C.S.I – Myth vs. Reality, Papers