Ever Present, Sometimes Acknowledged, but Never Addressed: Racial Disparities in U.S. Welfare Policy

Race continues to be a central organizing principle of American society. By noticing race we begin to challenge racism, the state, institutions of civil society, and individuals to combat unequal and unjust legacies. Much of the emphasis placed on concepts of diversity, multiculturalism, and color-blind society plays a significant role in minimizing America’s race problem. Opposing racism requires that we notice race, not ignore it, that we afford it the recognition it deserves and the subtlety it embodies (Omi & Winant, 1994). Ignoring race and pretending to be “color-blind” means doing nothing to change the institutionalized racial inequalities and racial discrimination that still pervade American society.