A select group of 650 poor black women mostly in the Atlanta, Georgia area will receive $850 dollars per month of Universal Basic Income (UBI). The program, called “In Her Hands” is slated to last for two years and cost a total of $13 million. The purpose of said program is to improve their financial stability, tackle the racial wealth gap, and improve mental health. The program will also study the results of handing out cash with no strings attached. “In Her Hands” is funded by the Georgia Resilience and Opportunity Fund also known as the GRO Fund.
Programs that specifically focus on race aren’t often called out for racism when the focus is “people of color”. If this program were specifically for white women, then all of the alarms of racism would ring at a breakneck pace. There is also obvious gender discrimination. Why not include black men in this program? Some news outlets justify gender exclusion by comparing the wealth of black women to that of white men. This is done to show a large gap because the average income of white males is much higher due to people like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos skewing the numbers. Black men are not compared to black women because the number is much closer and doesn’t show a need for yet another entitlement program.
Handing out cash to “underrepresented” communities in the United States does not help. Conducting a study on this particular program will be a colossal waste of time. Lyndon Baines Johnson introduced the welfare state to the United States back in the 1960s. There is no need for expensive studies from large organizations on the effects of LBJ’s policies. The proof is evident for anyone to see. Welfare programs do not truly uplift the vast majority of people out of poverty. Instead, generations of people become anchored in poverty. There is no need for drive and ambition if underemployed and/or unemployed people are subsidized enough to remain comfortable.
SOURCES:
Pay Black women: Georgia program to be South’s largest in guaranteed income
Hundreds Of Black Women In Georgia Will Get $850 Per Month In Guaranteed Income
GiveDirectly – In Her Hands
Comments are closed.