The Equity Matters Podcast Hunger Games (We The People)
Nov 7, 2025
Explore the origins of America's social safety net and the stark divisions of 'deserving' versus 'undeserving' poor. Discover how early welfare programs were rooted in racial bias, privileging white, middle-class mothers. Unpack the impact of the New Deal's exclusions and the harmful welfare queen narrative. Learn about the real beneficiaries of programs like WIC and SNAP, and how local action can combat myths and inequities in welfare policies. Join the call to use storytelling for change and promote social responsibility.
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Welfare Was Built With Exclusions
- Welfare policy in the U.S. was built to include some people and exclude others based on race, gender, and moral judgments.
- The system has always been about power and control, not pure compassion.
Motherhood Framed As Civic Investment
- Early mothers' pensions rewarded 'respectable' white motherhood and framed caregiving as civic labor for the nation's future.
- These policies aimed to preserve a stable white middle class, not advance women's equality.
New Deal's Safety Net Had Racial Holes
- The New Deal created national safety nets but excluded agricultural and domestic workers, disproportionately leaving Black workers out.
- Political compromise with Southern segregationists preserved racialized economic dependency.