Welfare Dependency a Residual Culture of Ex-Slaves Essay Sample free essay sample

I have frequently wondered why so many Afro-american adult females end up depending on public assistance. I presently live in Virginia but I am from the island of Jamaica where the Public Assistance plan is indistinguishable to the American theoretical account. Besides indistinguishable are the civilization and traditions of many Black individuals whose households were encultured with patterns and traditions from the pre-emancipation plantation epoch. I was in awe at the similarities and I frequently wondered ; what was the root cause for that common dependence syndrome that is apparent in Black people in America and Jamaica. It is non a pleasant topic but the fact is. the system of bondage is the foundation for many of the traditional cultural patterns and behaviours within the Black American communities. In retrospect. it can be argued that. the bondage based usage of trading strong illiterate black work forces to be used as he-man. thereby increasing the slave population and by ex tension the slave owners’ wealth ; had a residuary consequence on the African-American community. The ex-slaves carried the plantation civilization into their new emancipated lives ; in that. work forces continued to repeatedly infuse ( strain ) as many adult females as possible. and they continued to walk off without holding any sense of duty towards their legion kids. It can besides be argued that. the plantation male’s belief that the kids were â€Å"Massa’s† responsibility/property. prevailed in some households even to this twenty-four hours. Similarly. in Jamaica. the work forces and adult females on public assistance frequently say that the authorities will take attention of their kids same attitude as the mentally enslaved Black-American male. On the other manus. on the plantation. the every bit illiterate adult females were used as breeders ; with no pick in the affair ; they were forced to mate with any male he-man that their proprietors chose. and they had to reproduce really frequently. as a mean of increasing the slave owners’ stock. White work forces could hold sex with any female slave without fright of prosecution because slaves were non deemed to be persons but plantation belongings. Bing able to hold many kids was a mean of finding their self-worth and self-value by their owners’ definition. As a affair of fact. slave proprietors used to purchase lone females with wide hips and large butts ; the grade that they were good breeders. Obviously. the choicest good breeders’ outlook besides prevailed beyond bondage. in that. many Afro-american adult females continued to hold many kids. oftentimes for assorted work forces and they sat on their buttockss. with the outlook that the authorities ( Massa ) will care for their progeny. To this twenty-four hours. in the southern provinces ; many adult females are. fleshy. with the inordinate fatso wide hips and large butts ; marks of the slave owners’ pick and penchant. The pattern of holding multiple gestations with the outlook to roll up nutrient casts for them is morally incorrect. In the same mode that bondage was morally incorrect ; public assistance dependence in this instance. is besides morally incorrect. I am taking a retaliatory stance on this issue because Black adult females who continue to act as if they are baby mills ; holding no beginning of income to care for them ; ought to confront punitory effects. In an effort to stem the hemorrhage of revenue enhancement remunerators financess into public aid plans ; at that place ought to be a regulation in the public assistance plan that requires each province to care for no more than one kid per household. The other kids ought to be the family’s duty. The public assistance dependence type of behaviour is called Free Riding. â€Å"Free siting. in economic science expresses the thought of one who enjoys the benefits of society without paying for it. either by devouring more than oneâ⠂¬â„¢s portion or paying less for what one consumes. † ( Mosser 2010 ) . Introduction Moralist Len Goodman wrote. â€Å"Slavery is the deepest development. overruling subjecthood to do a individual a tool for usage. Slavery keeps its victim alive while depriving her of bureau. delegating it to others who do non portion her undertakings. hopes. or involvements. but subordinate her capablenesss to their wants. † ( Goodman 2010 ) The Afro-american plantation outlook. that overvalued holding many kids. as a manner of turn outing their self-worth and self-value ; prevailed beyond bondage. emancipation and station emancipation periods. into modern times. Therefore. it is safe to reason that. in these modern times. the residuary effects of that type of behaviour coupled with illiteracy. is still apparent within some Afro-american households. Counter to that statement. instruction made the difference in the lives of infinite African-Americans who have risen above assorted unsound stereotypes to stand out even to the place highest power in America. Yet. there remains within that group. a great figure who are still populating below the poorness line. and they depend on monthly public aid public assistance cheques to last. This group needs to be empowered with several demands specific. culturally/academically realistic cognition and accomplishments that will fit them to be engaged in paid income generating activities. The difference with this grownup instruction push would be the alone civilization based attack ; the purpose of such a plan would be. to put group members on the way to reconstruct their liberty and human self-respect. It was the ancient Sage Aristotle who said. â€Å"Education is the best proviso for old age. † hypertext transfer protocol: //www. quotationspage. com/subjects/education/ Therefore. a more methodical. scientifically researched. group-needs-specific. reeducation ; must be implemented in order to liberate the greater figure of people of colour. from mental bondage ( Marley. Bob ) ; in a renewed effort to interrupt their rhythm of poorness. It is frequently said. â€Å"Old wonts die hard ; † and if the societal policy shapers do non kill the wont of public assistance dependence now ; taxpayers will be caught in the rhythm of duty for these same households ; from the uterus to the grave. However. ethically. those work forces and adult females did non perpetrate any offense because they were transporting on their traditional household civilization ; ( Nowak A ; Laird. 2010 ) where females had sex ( oftentimes emotionless ) with a adult male and gave birth afterwards. It was cogent evidence that the adult female was strong. By comparing. in Jamaica adult females. in many station emancipation plantation communities sometimes have every bit many as 13 kids for many different work forces and they survive on child care and public aid cheques. Technically. this behaviour can be ethically classified. as a victimless offense. because the woman’s behaviour is harmful to her alone and no 1 else. ( Mosser 2010 ) . Still. when a kid is born into the state of affairs. a victim is created. because that kid is likely to be raised in low poorness and deficiency. On the other manus. the work forces were socialized on the plantation to act like cocks in a barnyard ; to catch a biddy. have unemotional sex. so walk off. caput in the air. without a backward glimpse. Judging by normal social criterions. this was colza ; albeit. the act was covertly encouraged by the governments of the twenty-four hours. ( However. if a charge was laid against a Black adult male with a Black adult female ; a relativist could reason the instance down to traditional cultural patterns ) . The traditional behaviour did non necessitate the adult male to settle down and rear his kids. In this instance. Applied Virtue Ethical motives can non hold that adult male to be immoral ; because his moral criterions were predetermined by a system over which he had no control. ( Mosser 2010 ) . Simultaneously. there seem to hold been an overall social credence of what could hold been a residuary keeping of a matriarchal system of belief and civilization. which demanded that the Black adult female on the plantation took on the duty of raising the kids ; so that the adult male could be free to make more kids. The national ideal is ; the male parents should be held responsible for their kids and non taxpayers. hypertext transfer protocol: //archive. acf. Department of Health and Human Services. gov/programs/cse/pubs/2008/preliminary_report_fy2007/ Theoretically. the relativist would demand that policy shapers conduct thorough sociological probes before making policies for that community ; thereby. deriving a better apprehension of the people’s value systems and their endemic cultural patterns. ( Mosser 2010 ) . That acquired cognition would organize the footing on which policies are developed for that mark group. Alternatively. the Social Welfare policy shapers included the African-Americans into a system that was designed for and catered to the bulk of people who were Caucasian. In other words. developers of societal policy took the Utilitarian attack that considered the good of the bulk ; disregarding that minority group of former plantation dependants ; merely to detect decennaries subsequently. that non all societal groupings have the same demands. On the position of deontological moralss. one should handle others as one would desire to be treated. Those who design and implement policy may necessitate to inquire themselves whether the policy is designed in such a manner that they would experience comfy working under it themselves. ( Mosser 2010 ) Deontological moralss besides emphasizes the regard and self-respect owed to human existences merely because they are human existences. ( Mosser 2010 ) Back so. there should hold been post emancipation reeducation plans ; to interrupt the rhythm of dependence by educating the Black people with vision and hope of future liberty. Public Assistance and Public Education Social policy determination shapers and developers had to make plans to turn to the issues of illiteracy. poorness and unemployment in countries where there were big concentration of Black people. State Authorities implemented public assistance aid for destitute kids and they besides built public schools specifically for African Americans. However. the job with the public aid public assistance plan was ; more kids equaled more money. ( The public assistance system merely replaced Massa ) . The Public Assistance plan is non-contributory and it is funded by taxpayers. It is a system whereby the societal worker makes recommendations based on the single demand ; but where there are kids at hazard of hungering within the household ; the child/children get ( s ) particular consideration. Therefore. public assistance receivers in the yesteryear. approaching the clip for the expiration of their benefit ; got pregnant ( sometimes for any available adult male ) in order to maintain and increase the sum on their cheques. Many of them do non win in the public assistance to work plans. because they are uneducated and unskilled. hypertext transfer protocol: //urbanhabitat. org/node/858. Consequently. puting adult females on public assistance into occupations without first preparation and educating them ; is kindred to seting the proverbial cart before the Equus caballus. Unlike their Caucasic opposite numbers who normally are better educated ; the adult females of colour normally measure up for entry degree. low paying occupations. hypertext transfer protocol: //urbanhabitat. org/node/858 An extract from an Urban Habitat study â€Å"There is some grounds that racial disadvantage in the labour market is besides being played out in footings of the rates at which different racial groups are go forthing the axial rotations. Welfare usage is worsening quickly among all races. but white receivers are go forthing the public assistance rolls at a much more rapid rate than Blacks or Latinos. In New York City. for illustration. the figure of Whites having public assistance benefits declined by 57 per centum between 1995 and 1998. while the rate of diminution for Blacks was 30 per centum and that of Latinos. seven per centum. White receivers have led the diminution nationally every bit good. Some explanatory factors may include: higher mean educational degrees among white receivers ; greater concentrations of receivers of colour in job-poor interior metropoliss ; and racial favoritism in employment and lodging. Susan Gooden’s findings sing racial favoritism in the proviso of information and aid. 16 every bit good as her findings of racial derived functions in employment results among Black and white participants in one province public assistance reform plan. 17 are clearly relevant here. Though the combination of lending factors is doubtless complex. the more rapid passage of white receivers into the labour force is one index of the racially disparate impact of public assistance reform. † hypertext transfer protocol: //urbanhabitat. org/node/858 The reformed public assistance system requires each donee over 18 old ages old. to be employed or actively seeking work ; exclusions are made for breastfeeding female parents with neonates. Added to that. the figure of needed on the job hours is besides dependent on the age of the youngest kid. Having said that. I will repeat an earlier observation. the adult females have kids on a timely footing in order to stay on the plan and non travel out to work ; hence. the ground for so many kids in the families. However. it is worthy of note. that under the reformed public aid system. no household can be on the plan for more than 60 months. The authorities had to admit that at that place had to be a budget decrease of the Federal outgo on public assistance aid ; for illustration. the province of Ohio in its Public Assistance study of one-year outgo ; spent about two million dollars on nutrient casts in 2009. hypertext transfer protocol: //www. docstoc. com/docs/52123855/Public-Assistance-Monthly-Statistics-Report-State-FiscalYear-2009 Whether this was the purpose of the developers of the reform or non ; the societal public assistance policy alterations coupled with the panic acquiring of the HIV/AIDS virus. helped to deter repeat gestations among immature Black adult females. Further to that. the public instruction attempts about the wisdom of household planning. and the personal pick to abstain from sex until one is matured and educated adequate to manage it ; seemed to hold affected the behaviour of the many individuals in the those targeted communities ; aided by the panic of the HIV/AIDS virus. The public instructio n runs for rubber use worked ; it was effectual. Nowadays. one can compare the one time despised rubber. to a human extremity ; it goes everyplace. In these modern times. in the Afro-american civilization. holding many kids is no longer recognized as the beginning of wealth because public instruction on household planning is available to all. Sill. a few affluent African American twosomes sometimes have more than three kids and follow others because they can afford to keep them financially. As ever. there are those who argue that. America needs to establish a run against adult females holding kids for taxpayers’ attention ; and the demand to prosecute able bodied. lazy. uneducated people of every tegument colour. in paid employment. Many of the receivers of the destitute household benefits are immature adult females. At the same clip. at that place needs to be feasible plans in topographic point. to help those donees to acquire out of the rhythm of poorness. It can be argued that. a state that has excessively many people pop ulating in low poorness ; will finally pass more in countries of offense decrease. wellness. personal and national safety and renewed investings. Worthy of note at this occasion is that. the majority of the national budget is military outgos ; that is common cognition. In comparing. for argument’s interest. China’s household planning policy of one kid per family. worked in favour of their economic system. Such a societal policy appeared to be highly Draconian to those of us who live in broad western societies. However. in the long tally. it helped the Chinese economic system by cut downing the outgo of public resources on societal public assistance plans. The financess were redirected in countries such as instruction. wellness. agribusiness. scientific discipline and engineering. transit. exportation. and above all fabrication. In add-on to all that. the Chinese people actively sought after entrepreneurship ; whether at place or abroad. North America is China’s best client. China is now in a place to help. and is assisting developing states like Jamaica. with proficient expertness and skilled workers. particularly in the country of civil technology. Whereas. before the nation’s economic development. poorness afflicted Ch inese subjects used to stow away from place by any agencies possible ; so escape the abrasiveness of their country’s economic system and to eke out being elsewhere. â€Å"The authorities has an duty to protect its citizens. but main among the protections it provides are the rights of those citizens. † ( Mosser 2010 ) . Protection in this instance extends to societal protection. as in supplying a societal safety cyberspace for the vulnerable and disfranchised members of the society. I mentioned China to indicate out that. the procedure of reeducating Black adult females on public assistance ought to hold a strong component of the sense of belonging to America. understanding the function they must play in personal and national development. the wagess of entrepreneurship and self-government. Equally good as the instruction of good work moralss. Unlike the Chinese. American societal workers should take a Dialectic ( Mosser 2010 ) attack ; where they engage the individuals in focal point. in treatments and arguments before doing determination that will impact those persons’ lives. The purpose of this reeducation push would be to take as many of the residuary. suicidal plantation patterns as possible. Some would reason that it takes hard currency to care and many provinces can non afford the extra outgo that a reeducation plan could incur. However. a cost benefit analysis ought to be done to pre-determine the program’s affordability. Harmonizing to Mosser. cost-benefit analysis evaluates a determination in footings of its advantages ( benefits ) and disadvantages ( costs ) . Although it is frequently used in measuring the economic impact of a determination. many argue that costs and benefits should non be understood merely in footings of fiscal impact. ( Mosser 2010 ) . The instruction of good work moralss ought to get down with ; working for oneself to pay oneself ; entrepreneurship. DecisionThe ex-slaves carried the plantation civilization into their new emancipated lives ; in that. work forces continued to repeatedly infuse ( strain ) as many adult females as possible. and they continued to walk off without holding any sense of duty towards their legion kids. It can besides be argued that. the plantation male’s belief that the kids were â€Å"Massa’s† duty. prevailed in some households even to this twenty-four hours. The traditional behaviour did non necessitate the adult male to settle down and rear his kids. Applied Virtue Ethics. in this instance. can non hold that adult male to be immoral because his moral criterions were predetermined by a system over which he had no control. ( Mosser 2010 ) . After emancipation. some Afro-american adult females continued to hold many kids. oftentimes for assorted work forces and they sat on their buttockss. with the outlook that the authorities ( Massa ) will care for their progeny. This sort of behaviour is called Free Riding. â€Å"Free siting. in economic science expresses the thought of one who enjoys the benefits of society without paying for it. either by devouring more than one’s portion or paying less for what one consumes. † ( Mosser 2010 ) . State Authorities implemented public assistance aid for destitute kids and they built public schools. However. the job with the public aid public assistance plan was ; more kids equaled more money.