Synopsis
The relationship between welfare and racial inequality has long been understood as a fight between liberal and conservative forces. Mary Poole challenges this basic assumption. Meticulously 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. Although northern white liberals were theoretically sympathetic to the plight of African Americans, Poole says, their primary aim was to save the American economy by salvaging the pride of America's "essential" white male industrial workers. The liberal framers of the Social Security Act elevated the status of Unemployment Insurance and Social Security - and the white workers they were designed to serve - by differentiating them from welfare programs, which served black workers. Revising the standard story of the racialized politics of Roosevelt's New Deal, Poole's arguments also reshape our understanding of the role of public policy in race relations in the twentieth century, laying bare the assumptions that must be challenged if we hope to put an end to racial inequality in the twenty-first.
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About the Author
MARY POOLE teaches history at Prescott College in Arizona. She previously served as an analyst with the Washington State Senate, where she drafted the budget for state and federal welfare programs.
From the Back Cover
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 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.
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The Segregated Origins of Social Security: African Americans and the Welfare State
Published by
The University of North Carolina, 2006
ISBN 10: 0807830240
ISBN 13: 9780807830246
Used
Hardcover
Seller: Midtown Scholar Bookstore, Harrisburg, PA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Good. Good - Bumped and creased book with tears to the extremities, but not affecting the text block, may have remainder mark or previous owner's name - GOOD Standard-sized. Seller Inventory # M0807830240Z3