Stereotyping and the Narrative of the Welfare Queen
Contributed By
KQED Education
California Common Core State Standards - English Language Arts
- RI.11-12.8 Delineate and evaluate the reasoning in seminal U.S. texts, including the application of constitutional principles and use of legal reasoning (e.g., in U.S. Supreme Court majority opinions and dissents) and the premises, purposes, and arguments in works of public advocacy (e.g., The Federalist, presidential addresses).
- RI.6.8 Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not.
- RL.11-12.6 Analyze a case in which grasping point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).
- RL.6.6 Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.
- RL.9-10.6 Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature.
Stereotyping and the Narrative of the Welfare Queen
In the 1970s, America was introduced to Linda Taylor, a successful scam-artist who would eventually become known as the Welfare Queen. Taylor utilized 33 different aliases, 30 different addresses in various scenarios to defraud government welfare programs. She became a favorite example of welfare abuse at the expense of working Americans in the Ronald Reagan presidential campaign of 1976.