The New Look: Black and on Welfare

When I first saw the title Black and on Welfare, I had to admit that my mind was already judging the people involved. I had formed a hypothesis stating that most of these women will tell us how to manipulate the system. From my prior knowledge of welfare I was under the misconception that majority of the women on it was there for a long period of time. The reason I was under this belief system was because I grew up around women manipulating the system. They weren’t necessarily doing it because they were lazy but because the women knew that assistance was needed. After reading the article I discovered this view is not the case. Most women actually don’t want to stay on Welfare for long periods of time and do not appreciate the “discriminatory attitude” (27) that caseworkers often portrayed. I was also able to learn that it is most likely the government’s fault for the long term status of Black women on welfare. I found that self-sufficiency coaches (SSCs) are assigned to people who are on welfare. SSCs are responsible for finding the people on welfare a long term job so eventually the people on welfare will be able to get off of welfare. So, instead of the SSCs acquiring knowledge about the dependent and assessing them correctly, SSCs usually “ignore and disrespect them” and are placed in jobs that are “part hired… poor salaries, and offer(s) little or no benefits” (31). Thus, the dependents on welfare return to the welfare department to get a better job or something long term. In order to fix this, I believe it is as simple as checking the educational status of the dependents and putting them through some sort of training so they know the job at hand. SSCs also need to be able to put the dependents in jobs that could eventually turn into a career, something that is more long-term.