Racism Makes Cutting Welfare Programs Easy

Some presume only Black people benefit, weakening the social safety net for all

Portrait of a man with a black vest | Photo by Joseph Eulo via Pexels

Racism weakens the social safety net, as it limits which citizens are seen as worthy of aid. It’s one of the main reasons debates about welfare programs continue to ignite controversy. White Americans often view “welfare recipients as Black, female, and violating the norms of work ethic,” according to a study published in the Journal of Political Behavior (Myers et al., 2024). Their findings highlight a discrepancy between perception and reality. Of course, Black women are not the only group benefiting from welfare programs, and many hard-working individuals depend on government assistance. However, conversations about welfare are often obscured by racist misconceptions.

Consider, for instance, how presidential nominee Ronald Reagan popularized the “welfare queen trope.” By highlighting a high-profile case of a Black woman prosecuted for committing fraud as the average welfare recipient, he diminished support for these programs. He fed into the notion that they weren’t needed. This campaign was successful. In 1981–82, the Reagan administration “made more than $22 billion in cuts to social welfare programs,” according to a report cited by the New York Times. While this shift harmed low-income families of various…