There has never been a year since records have been kept about social programs that the number of non caucasian recipients outnumbered the number of caucasian recipients. PERIOD. Yet the haters have never been averse to making up their own "facts".
Racism pure and simple.

It all started there. To Republicans he might as well have included something about basketballs and fried chicken - they knew what he meant.

If he had said "picking up welfare checks in Buicks" or "Lincolns", it would have had a different connotation.

The Nixon era also inspired songs like "Welfare Cadillac" (1970- Guy Drake). When Johnny Cash performed at the White House in 1972 for Nixon, they requested he play Welfare Cadillac, among others. Cash refused and instead played main-stream, non-racially charged tunes.

.......... ............

That line only played so well because so many people already believed it. Long before Reagan's election, my mother used to rage about people buying expensive steaks with food stamps. She swore she saw this happen all the time. This has probably gone on since the programs began.

I think. He took it into the mainstream or at least broadcast it.

racist fuck.

And when you talk to right wingers all recipients are permanent. Thus they will say things like they have to work because someone has to pay for benefits. Always so smug it will never be them that I end up wishing it would.

The total number of TANF (Temporary Aid to Needy Families) recipients per month was 2,414,448. The U.S. population was 325,700,000. If you do the math that means 0.007% of Americans were "on welfare" since TANF as the replacement for AFDC is the means tested program that most Americans think of as "welfare." And in most states TANF recipients have work or schooling requirements attached to their receipt of benefits.

One percent of 325,700,000 is 3,257,000.

The ration would be 0.007 but percent is an automatic divide by 100.

Welfare is something that is available if you need it and can prove that need. That includes not only the traditional welfare portion but SNAP, WIC, Medicaid, etc.

Entitlements are things you've earned or have a right to.

Voting at the age of 18 is an entitlement that can only be taken away in certain instances set out by law. Any other infringement is illegal.

Unemployment payments are an entitlement paid for by deductions from each check and employer dues.

Social Security retirement is an entitlement that has been earned by work or specific categorical instances in the law.

In my younger days, my family qualified for SNAP & WIC because of our situation.

Have gotten unemployment checks a couple of times due to business cutbacks.

Now, we're going to receive SS starting this month for both of us after a working career of more than 40 years.

We got aid when we needed it and will now enjoy what we've earned.

eta: syntax correction

Capitalizing on the deep seated racial animosity of the country, they went from explicit racial language to "forced bussing" to decry integration, then when that became a settled issue, they moved on to "entitlement reform" which were all ways of resisting the idea of racial equality.

simply because it also helps some black people.

in the general population.

If you are an able bodied person with no kids and live in an area of high unemployment, you can get food stamps for 3 months. Cash assistance for families with children can last a maximum of 5 years with some states putting a 1.5 year limit on it. If you are not here legally, you can't get anything. No food stamps, no medical, no cash.

Receiving something one did not earn - such as an inheritance. It seems that we had a rather strong disagreement with hereditary aristocracy some 240 years ago, but love it now.

What about farm subsidies? Very few farms between the mountains could survive without them.

Ethanol regulations support major corporations.

Mortgage interest deductions, capital gains exemptions on selling one's primary residence, a tax credit for putting in renewable energy generation, buying a hybrid, capping dividend tax rate at 20%, IRAs 401Ks, carried interest, offshore income that is taxed at a lower rate, and a host of other things are nothing more than welfare. The list goes on and on, although the big issue is that the very welathy most commonly are paid tax - at least partly through the privatization of government services.

However, it is welfare for the privileged "us", and thus OK.

Get secret welfare that isn't available to white people. That's why they can afford Cadillacs and Tbones with food stamps.

....back then, did a study of all the people on welfare at the time.

My numbers may be slightly off since it was so long ago (can't use the "I don't recall" defense, though!) but here is the breakdown:

About 75% of all recipients were children under 18
About 15% were the single mothers of those children
About 5-7% were people legally disabled

That leaves maybe 3-5% of ALL recipients being adults who were capable of working, and the AVERAGE duration of them being on the welfare rolls was six months.

This idea that people make a career out of being on welfare is total BS, as is the idea that a huge portion of those on welfare are too lazy to go out and get a job.

Again, this was a study done by a RIGHT WING organization who was against welfare!!!

The GI Bill, FHA loans, and helping poor people were generally agreed to be good things-- until non-white people became eligible.

If you look at the stats in the article neither Clinton or trump voters were close to being correct. Not making a conclusion about anything, just posting the facts from the article that is linked

Food Stamps as an example

Clinton Voters Trump Voters Actual numbers

White 44 % 12 % 36 %
Black 12% 38% 26%
Hispanic ____ ______ 17%
Unknown ____ ______ 21 %

Looks like both sets of voters were incorrect with the actual numbers lying in the middle. (as you might expect)

(For a point of reference in case anyone wonders, the white population is 79% with Black being 12% of the total population )

i.e., monthly checks in the mail. This form of welfare hasn't existed for a few decades now but most repukes and other low-information voters are under the false impression that it's still a thing.

To fix the misconception about the word, they'll need to start at the beginning and what exactly it includes (medicaid, food stamps), before they start identifying the recipients.