A Better Way Four Interviews On The — страница 3

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get proper nutrition. In general, Kate feels that the problems with welfare are many, especially after I pointed out problems with childcare and insurance. She notes the stigma that is associated with recipients and the lack of resources there are to help them get off. Resources that would be useful are job training and some sort of program where women with low paying jobs with no benefits can get medical coverage for themselves and their children. She thinks it would be useful for people to receive a lot of information when they go on welfare so that they might be more aware of their options, programs that pertain to them, and the non-profit/grass-roots organizations that can help them out. It is difficult to make good decisions when you are not properly informed, she notes.

They often don’t know how to make good financial and nutritional decisions and we can’t expect anything to change until something is done about this. By not ameliorating the situation, the government is perpetuating what Kate describes as both a dead-end (on an individual basis) and a cycle in which kids see parents and say “why not?” ” Welfare should be short term aid to get back on feet.” Interview #3 E is black male raised in Detroit, Michigan. He is a double major in Sociology and African-American Studies. He and his family received food stamps only for about a year in Detroit when his father was in between jobs. He identifies the stereotype as a black mother with three or more kids and pregnant. He said that this stereotype is perpetuated by the media and that he

was surprised by a statistic he found on his own in high school that 65% of people on welfare are white. He went to a predominately white high school. He feels that there are many circumstances which can lead to going on welfare. Among the reasons are lack of job skills, laziness, depression and drug addiction. Also, unfortunate financial situations created by a divorce or business folding could land someone with no other choice. People stay on welfare because they are not educated about their options nor are they taught job skills. Getting off isn’t easy because once you get on, and without job skills, it is difficult to find an occupation with enough benefits to support family. I began to inquire about the particular circumstances that landed his family on welfare and, as

stated above, he said that he received food stamps. There was a special store in his neighborhood that sold food stamp food only. He recalls the layer of oil that sat on top of huge tubs of peanut butter which he had to stir into it to make the peanut butter soft enough to spread. He said that he was not ashamed of being on welfare probably because so many of his family members were on it as well and as a child, he didn’t know the difference. He said that he respected his parents for providing for him as well as they could and that he never went hungry, though sometimes he “was envious of the other kids for their toys.” Despite the stereotype that welfare recipients are uneducated, both of E’s parents went to college. Eventually, after they got off of welfare, E’s

father was promoted and they moved to New Jersey where his parents have been successful. He is proud of him because of how far they have come considering that his paternal grandfather was a sharecropper and his maternal grandfather was never known to his mother. He said that it has helped “define character to see your parents struggle that way.” E says the government “shouldn’t be maintaining and providing,,” rather it needs to take responsibility for job training, taking into account the employment needs of the area, making welfare recipients aware of their resources. Their should also be a community place that people can get their GED, go to community college or technical school (or at least a resource that can point them in the right direction). As far as a new model

goes, he said there should be required programming for recipients and that he wouldn’t necessarily put a time limit on it. Finally, he made the comment “It is not a crutch. Nobody, let me correct that, very few people want to be on welfare. Just because you’re on welfare it doesn’t mean you’re living in luxury, like you’re middle class or anything. Welfare is not glamorous.” Interview #4 Willy is a lower class, white male, born in Midland, Michigan, and is a history major here at Duke. He was on welfare for seven years while both of his parents were in prison and he lived with both his grandparents (2 yrs.) and his sister (5 yrs.). He defines the stereotype as “trashy, bunch of kids, lazy with excuses for not working.” He believes quite a bit that the stereotype