Well and Fair

Trapped in a revolving door. Can you see her? Her face full of distress and anguish. She is shackled by a system that will not allow her to stand on her own; but does she want to? Is she willing to sacrifice the lifestyle of dependency, and risk the foundation that barely allows her to stand? Or will she attempt success, relinquishing all the comforts that she believes is vital to her living. As we discuss Sandra Golden's piece in class, this is the image that replays in my mind. She's stuck. I realized that it is not just the physical aspect of depending on government assistance, but it is the mental state that it leaves single-parent women. She feels inadequate. "I felt dehumanized and humiliated. My self-esteem had been reduced because of the caseworker's discriminatory attitude. I also felt mentally abused by the caseworker's insensitivity." Is this the purpose of Welfare? The definition of welfare is: financial aid and other benefits for people who are unemployed, below a specific income level, or otherwise requiring assistance, especially when provided by a government agency or program. Nowhere in that definition are words like DEHUMANIZED and HUMILIATED. Assistance. Assisting or blaming. Blaming black women for being, "...unmotivated, unskilled, uneducated, and responsible for bringing fatherless children into the world." There have always been doubts about whether Welfare was helping or hurting our black women, but after reading the first page of this piece, the whole idea of Welfare is far more questionable.