3
theory of a racially structured welfare politics, I find that the policymaking process for the
welfare reforms in the 1981 Omnibus Reconciliation Act could be connected to two of three
dimensions that compose this overall structure (see below for a full description of these
dimensions). However, there were also important ways in which this structure was resisted by
Reagan administration. In spite of the research findings tying the Reagan reforms to the racial
structured politics of welfare, however, there is little in the archival data that points to a distinctly
racially motivated political strategy on the part of the Reagan administration. Rather, I find that
the racially neutral approach permeates Reagan’s welfare reforms. The significance of this
approach, however, appears differently when considering the perceptions of blacks and
criticisms by black leaders. It is in the administration’s response to these criticisms that the
presidential archives find the clearest expression of the continuing importance of race in shaping
federal welfare policies.
Race and Welfare in the 1960s
In the 1960s, race and welfare became linked in national politics. In a comparison of New
York Times coverage of welfare of the 1962 and 1967 amendments to AFDC, for example, I
found a stark contrast in racial content. Out of 35 articles that directly addressed national
welfare, from June of 1961 through October of 1962, there were only 2 articles with explicit
racial content. In contrast, a reading of 108 articles dealing with national welfare issues from
January of 1966 through December 15 of 1967 revealed 23 articles with explicit racial content.
Six percent of the New York Times coverage of national welfare in 1961/1962 linked welfare and
race, compared to 21% in 1966/1967.
2
Of course this crude analysis doesn’t even begin to touch
2
All articles covering national welfare were included in the analysis, during the legislating of these two sets of
important amendments to AFDC. Stories with references to blacks, Negroes, or other racial references were counted
Convention