[A. L.]

Why do the statistics seem disproportionate with the number of African Americans dependent on welfare compared to the number of white Americans?

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Name : A. L., City : Nowhere, State : NA Country : United States, 

[ShellyStrauss Rollison]

Discrimination was legal up until the civil rights movement. "Separate but equal" schools were set up that were anything BUT equal. It was 1968 before blacks were legally allowed to marry whites in 16 states. That's less than 40 years ago! Discrimination continues even today. If you think of it as a playing field, blacks started out in a hole and whites were (and still are) standing on raised mounds. Welfare is one attempt (and a very ineffective one) at leveling the playing field so that everyone has an equal opportunity to make a good life for themselves. Welfare, however, is a trap and once you get into it, it's almost impossible to get out. You can't make enough on welfare to live above the poverty level, and you can't make enough working without losing the other benefits that welfare

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Name : ShellyStrauss Rollison, Gender : Female, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : New Age/Metaphysical, Age : 49, City : New Alexandria, State : PA Country : United States, Occupation : Minister, writer, activist, CNA, draftsman, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Dot]

It is very difficult to pull oneself out of generational dependency and most people of any race couldn't do it. Clearly there are exceptional people who do, more with each passing decade... But, when you are taught that it's hardly worth trying, that the game is so stacked against you, you are at a disadvantage to even try. There are plenty of poor whites in America as well and they don't seem to do much better than their black counterparts. Again, so much of it is generational apathy about "the system". The good news is that the chief determinant of future poverty, unwed childbirth, is decreasingly in both racial groups.

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Name : Dot, Gender : Female, Age : none, City : L.A., State : CA Country : United States, Social class : Middle class, 

[ErnieH]

This one is easy. The number is disproportionately African American on welfare because a disproportionate amount of slave owners were White.

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Name : ErnieH, Gender : Female, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 35, City : Warner Robins, State : GA Country : United States, Occupation : personal trainer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

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