The Welfare Talk...

What is welfare you might ask? 

Welfare is the provision of well being and social support for all citizens. Also, it could be known as governmental aid. Usually with welfare it helps people in many diverse situations. For instance, welfare helps with people financial assistance in small amounts. Welfare also aids citizens with food stamps based on their family size and the household’s income. Welfare also provides child care for individuals who meet the financial requirements. Welfare only provides child care only for individuals who need to work, but can't afford daycare. 

Now since we have the bases that welfare covers let's get down to the main focus of this discussion. Many people associate the topic of welfare with African American people mainly. In the text White Like Me Tim Wise states, "And when one speaks of welfare in this country, whether or not one wishes to acknowledge it, one is almost always speaking of black people, not because black people are the only folks receiving state aid (indeed more white receive benefits from the myriad social programs than do blacks), but because that is the image we have been encouraged to have when we hear the term. (90)” This is the image that has been implemented into the minds of many Americans I believe. Even at one point in my life I thought the same exact way that black people were the main people using welfare. According to statistics, whites form the largest racial group on welfare. 

White Privilege?

In Tim Wise book White Like Me he talks about the topic of white privilege. I know in class we touched upon the topic of white privilege sometime ago in previous classes. The question proposed in class was what is white privilege? Many people ask this question. So, I'm going to explain what white privilege is. White privilege is a special advantage or benefit that a white person possesses. This term shows the obvious and less unspoken advantages that white people may not recognize. I would like to say that not all white people are racist, but all white people have white privilege.

         

 It is very important for people to define white privilege. Many people other than white deny the existence of the term white privilege. I believe the concept of denial is bias or prejudice itself, which makes it a form of racialism. Many people of color believe that white people enjoy there white privilege. Some white people believe that they don't have white privilege and it doesn't exist. In the book Wise talks about how he recognized his white privilege at a early age. In first grade he noticed that he possessed white privilege. Wise stated, "In very real sense, white racial privilege had empowered me to stand up for myself and for social justice more broadly." By Wise noticing his privilege as a kid, does this make you question do white people notice there privilege at a young age? If so, do they tend to ignore there knowledge of it?

What exactly is post racialism?

What exactly is post racialism?  
         

In chapter 6 of the Philosophical introduction of Race by Paul Taylor, he talks about the topic of post racialism. Post racialism a term used to describe a society in which discussions around race and racism have been deemed no longer relevant to current social dynamics. This especially came into effect after the election of Barack Obama as the United States of America president. The election of Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States brought questions about race in America to the forefront of political and social discourse in novel ways.

Since, Barack Obama has taken the presidency in 2008; he has been used as a figure head for the movement of post-racialism. Many people argue that racism is over because we have an African American as president in fact those people are wrong. Many Americans rejects the overt practices of racial discrimination and hierarchy that have marked the nation’s history. Post-racialism also picks on minorities who have been subjected to such discrimination to themselves. In which they become race-neutral and start to refrain from appealing to the history of racism. Instead Barack Obama took it upon himself and commented on the killing of Trayvon Martin, Many of the president Obama critics believe that he had known right in talking about the tragedy of Trayvon Martin. President Obama was reported saying “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon,” Many people targeted president Obama for invoking race, with some people stating that the presidents comment was disgraceful. My essential questions are there such thing as post-racialism? Why do a lot Americans believe that we've moved on passed the racism era?