The Segregated Origins of Social Security African Americans and the Welfare State |
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| Author:
| Poole, Mary |
| ISBN: | 978-0-8078-3024-6 |
| Publication Date: | May 2006 |
| Publisher: | University of North Carolina Press
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| Book Format: | Hardback |
| List Price: | AUD $165.00 |
Book Description:
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Poole challenges that basic assumption that the relationship between welfare and racial inequality is a fight between liberal and conservative forces. Reconstructing the behind-the-scenes politicking that gave birth to the 1935 Social Security Act, Poole demonstrates that segregation was built into the very foundation of the welfare state because white policy makers--both liberal and conservative--shared an interest in preserving white race privilege. She argues that the liberal...
More DescriptionPoole challenges that basic assumption that the relationship between welfare and racial inequality is a fight between liberal and conservative forces. Reconstructing the behind-the-scenes politicking that gave birth to the 1935 Social Security Act, Poole demonstrates that segregation was built into the very foundation of the welfare state because white policy makers--both liberal and conservative--shared an interest in preserving white race privilege. She argues that the liberal framers of the Act elevated the status of Unemployment Insurance and Social Security--and the white workers that they were designed to serve--by differentiating them from welfare programs, which served black workers.