Black Women and Welfare

What I found compelling about this particular excerpt in Joanne Kilgour Dowdy's "Readers of the Quilt" is that many superstitions or rather accusations against black women and the welfare system have been proven to be untrue. One of the myths about black single mothers is that many are unwilling or do not want to work while this concept is actually on the contrary. Many black single mothers do want to work and willing to do various jobs just to support their family. Another myth is that black single mothers are uneducated and lack various literacies, while in reality black single mothers possess the various literacies such as motherhood, work, and church literacy.

With being a black single mother on the welfare system comes various stigmas. Many assume that these women do not want to work or that they have extremely low levels of education and do not have the skills to work so from first walking in those doors to seek public aid judgment has already been placed. Many women in the article all had similar stories in which they said the “SSC treats you like you are stupid” and overall that they feel like the government welfare system is too busy with preconceived judgments instead of caring for others wellbeing.

From this article I have learned many inside details regarding the SSC. Previously I did not know that women were assigned to the job readiness program even though the SSC had no knowledge of their employment background, skills, or educational background. What this means is that women were not assessed according to skill level so they were not placed in the proper job training programs. What I have learned is that what is preventing black women from growing under the welfare system is not that inability or lack of job opportunities but rather negligence from the SSC on finding proper jobs and accurately assessing the individual.

Overall what I have learned from this article is that many of the stigmas associated with black single mothers is not true and what really holds this group of people back is negligence and until negligence disappears that is when black single mothers will be able to rise against the welfare system and live prosperous lives.

-Kori Coleman