The 'Welfare Queen' Is a Lie

Rachel Black spoke on Solomon Jones's morning radio show, Wake Up With WURD, to discuss her piece on the myth of the welfare queen:

Though it was Reagan who gave her the most salient identity, the welfare queen emerged from a long and deeply racialized history of suspicion of and resentment toward families receiving welfare in the United States. Today, 20 years after welfare reform was enacted, this narrative continues to inform policy design by dictating who is "deserving" of support and under what conditions. Ending the reign of the welfare queen over public policy means recognizing this lineage, identifying how these stereotypes continue to manifest, and reorienting policy design around families as they are—not who they are perceived to be.