“WELFARE QUEEN” 

Maya Grullon
Period:3

What comes up to your mind when you hear the word “Welfare Queen”? Is it positive or negative? Well to

help out with that, it is considered a negative racial slur to lower class African American women on welfare. The

word Welfare Queen was created by Ronald Reagan when he was talking about Martha Miller, who is an African

American mother that according to ​New America “​ ​ used 80 names, 30 addresses, 15 telephone numbers to

collect food stamps, Social Security, veterans’ benefits for four nonexistent deceased veteran husbands, as well

as welfare. Her tax-free cash income alone has been running $150,000 a year.” The fact that she did this made

Reagan believe that all black mothers were capable of doing what Taylor did and after that others used the word

to describe black mothers as a Welfare Queen because they assumed they were on welfare because they had

kids.

African American women deserve the same respect given to the rest of the women on welfare. The fact

that they are categorized till this day as a welfare queen is unbelievable. There are so many mothers of different

races and ethnicities on welfare because they are not financially stable and need extra help from the

government to help support one’s children, why do black women have to be the ones affected by the slur.

According to ​The New York Times​ “ The idea gained enough political traction that California and 21 other states

passed “crackdown” laws during the welfare reform era of the 1990s, denying mothers on public assistance

additional aid if they had more children.” The fact that women that are on welfare can not be allowed to have

more children is outrageous, just because the the government does not want to add a little more money to a

family that is in need of it.

According to ​The Chicago Tribune ​“Conservatives refuse to give up their quest to bring down this lazy,

scheming, African-American woman who uses her food stamps and other government aid to support a lavish

lifestyle with countless jobless men who drift in and out of her bed.” This itself is a disgusting way for a

conservative to think of women. Not all women were planning on having children, some might have been

sexually assaulted and was against abortion, so they had the child.

According to ​The Huffington Post ​“ ​While the U.S. has a long and disgusting history of racism and 

demonizing people in poverty, the current failure to provide social safety nets for the struggling has roots in 

Ronald Reagan’s politics of hatred anchored by the false but effective “welfare queen” narrative.” The fact the 

world is cruel already, why add more hatred towards a group of people that are already going through trouble 

because of their skin tone. Now they got to face hatred from the government that is supposed to be providing 
 “WELFARE QUEEN” 
help to the citizens. They are black, women and minority, and what makes it even worse is that they it another 

name to the list of other racist names and slurs they are already called.  

​ ​It is both White and Black women who seek welfare, but only Black mothers are
According to ​Medium “

being labeled. Black women will continue to be labeled as welfare queens as long as they are denied the

opportunity to find a stable job and get out of poverty.” I’ve always known that it was not only black women on

welfare but also white women and various other races, but I never knew that white women had the highest

percentage in having government assistance. Also ​Medium​ shows the percentage that “34% of White

households receive welfare help, while Black households make up 23% of welfare recipients.” It is pretty

surprising because black women are the ones being labeled Welfare Queen when white women are provided

with more government help that black women.

According to ​NPR ​“In the popular imagination, the stereotype of the "welfare queen" is thoroughly raced —

she's an indolent black woman, living off the largesse of taxpayers. The term is seen by many as a dog whistle,

a way to play on racial anxieties without summoning them directly.” The word dog whistle is used because they

know that people use it to cover up racist slurs and say often to try to hide what they really mean. Not only is it

racist, but it is disrespectful and dangerous to use dog whistles because some do not usually know what one is

and say it to the wrong person without knowing what you said what a racist slur. You never no how a person can

react, or maybe you say it to someone thinking they do know what the word means and they actually do, it can

cause issues and lead to violence usually.

Thomas, P L. “In Matters Of Health Care And Poverty, The United States Is Ill-Informed And Heartless.” ​Huffington Post​,
17 July 2017, 7:06,
www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/on-healthcare-and-poverty-the-ill-informed-and-heartless_us_5968a2e7e4b06a2c8edb45af​.

Board, The Editorial. “Opinion | California Deposes Its 'Welfare Queen'.” ​The New York Times,​ The New York Times, 21
Dec. 2017, ​www.nytimes.com/2016/07/24/opinion/sunday/california-deposes-its-welfare-queen.html​.

Black, Rachel, and Aleta Sprague. “The Rise and Reign of the Welfare Queen.” ​New America​, New America, 22 Sept.
2016, ​www.newamerica.org/weekly/edition-135/rise-and-reign-welfare-queen/​.

Demby, Gene. “The Truth Behind The Lies Of The Original 'Welfare Queen'.” ​NPR​, NPR, 20 Dec. 2013,
www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/12/20/255819681/the-truth-behind-the-lies-of-the-original-welfare-queen​.

Glanton, Dahleen. “The Myth of the 'Welfare Queen' Endures, and Children Pay the Price.” ​Chicago Tribune,​ Chicago
Tribune, 17 May 2018,
www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/glanton/ct-met-dahleen-glanton-welfare-queen-20180516-story.html​.
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Landeros, Gabriela. “Stereotype of a Welfare Mother – Applied Intersectionality. – Medium.” ​Medium.com​, Medium, 9
Feb. 2017, ​https://medium.com/applied-intersectionality/stereotype-of-a-welfare-mother-779b4243b74c