The Segregated Origins of Social Security: African Americans and the Welfare State / Edition 1

by Mary Poole

Overview

The relationship between welfare and racial inequality has long been understood as a fight between liberal and conservative forces. In The Segregated Origins of Social Security, Mary Poole challenges that basic assumption. Meticulously reconstructing the behind-the-scenes politicking that gave birth to the 1935 Social Security Act, Poole demonstrates that segregation was built into the very foundation of the welfare state because white policy makers—both liberal and conservative—shared an interest in preserving white race privilege.

Although northern white liberals were theoretically sympathetic to the plight of African Americans, Poole says, their primary aim was to save the American economy by salvaging the pride of America's "essential" white male industrial workers. The liberal framers of the Social Security Act elevated the status of Unemployment Insurance and Social Security—and the white workers they were designed to serve—by differentiating them from welfare programs, which served black workers.

Revising the standard story of the racialized politics of Roosevelt's New Deal, Poole's arguments also reshape our understanding of the role of public policy in race relations in the twentieth century, laying bare the assumptions that must be challenged if we hope to put an end to racial inequality in the twenty-first.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807856888
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	05/29/2006
Edition description:	1
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.62(d)

About the Author

Mary Poole teaches history at Prescott College in Arizona. She previously served as an analyst with the Washington State Senate, where she drafted the budget for state and federal welfare programs.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     ix
Introduction     1
So Now Mr. President, We Are Looking for Something: African Americans, the Social Security Act, and the Great Depression     12
The Not-So-Solid South: Southern Democrats in Congress     28
Colorblind Public Policy: The Staff of the Committee on Economic Security     61
Shaky Ground: Black and Interracial Organizations     97
Gender and the White United Front: The Women of the Federal Children's Bureau     140
Conclusion: Those Old Discriminatory Practices     174
Notes     189
Bibliography     233
Index     251

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

This well-researched book makes a valuable addition to our knowledge of the racial origins of the welfare state.—American Historical Review



Mary Poole [contributes] significantly to the debate regarding the role of race in the history of welfare state development.—Deborah E. Ward, Journal of American History



Makes an important contribution to an understanding of the cultural, social and political factors that contributed to the adoption of the Social Security Act. . . . [Poole's] meticulous scholarship and attention to detail sets an exemplary standard for future research.—Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare



A long overdue book. . . . A detailed reading. . . . No one interested in the foundations of the modern U.S. welfare state can afford to ignore [Poole's] analysis.—The Journal of Social History



Poole's book is a page-turner as she exposes the nature of the rise of social security legislation during the Great Depression. . . . Simply a must-read. . . . While it is often difficult to find excitement in a subject as turbid as the history of Social Security, Poole has managed to do this in an extraordinary manner.—Journal of International Affairs



In this important and revealing study, Mary Poole calls into question the usual characterization of the origins of Social Security in the New Deal as the simple triumph of liberals over conservatives. She shows how a shared commitment to protecting white privilege shaped a program that preserved structures of racism even as it ameliorated the worst effects of capitalism in the lives of white workers. Carefully researched and clearly written, the book casts new light on the complex origins of welfare policy in the United States.—Joan W. Scott, Institute for Advanced Study



This is an important and original work. Historians have never before viewed the policy decisions surrounding the Social Security Act at such close range, and Poole's work of historical reconstruction is a valuable achievement. She plumbs vital sources—particularly the records of the Committee on Economic Security, the Children's Bureau, and the NAACP—and sheds new light on racial meaning and content in the act's beginnings.—Robert C. Lieberman, Columbia University

Editorial Reviews

"Makes an important contribution to an understanding of the cultural, social and political factors that contributed to the adoption of the Social Security Act. . . . [Poole's] meticulous scholarship and attention to detail sets an exemplary standard for future research."
-- "Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare"

"A long overdue book. . . . A detailed reading. . . . No one interested in the foundations of the modern U.S. welfare state can afford to ignore [Poole's] analysis."
-- "The Journal of Social History"

"This well-researched book makes a valuable addition to our knowledge of the racial origins of the welfare state."
-- "American Historical Review"

From the Publisher