New Benefits Available for Black Americans

• Author: Bryan Miller
• Posted: 2024-07-24

Long before COVID became the mass media's favorite story to push on people to cause panic, the United States was dealing with a lot of racial incidents due to the killing of George Floyd in broad daylight, and the shooting of Breonna Taylor. This brought about quite a few different protests, a lot of riots, and millions of people claiming that America owes black people money as part of a plan for reparations and restorative justice. You might think that this was only a fringe portion of society with a grievance to air out in public, but it was actually pushed from the top down in America. From politicians to mass media and even celebrities; they were all talking about the same thing. The government responded, especially state governments. Of the billions of dollars given to states by the federal government in the CARES Act for grants, it is estimated that states spent about 80% of that money on black-specific businesses and individuals, ignoring everyone else. The idea of racial justice in America has a lot of legs, and Georgia has now become the first state to give out guaranteed benefits to someone based on nothing but their race.

Well, to be more specific, it's a race and gender thing. Georgia is handing out a $850 per month, for two years, in their new program, but only to black women. No one else is allowed to apply, and the state makes it abundantly clear that no one else should even think about applying. This money is specifically earmarked for black women, and no one else is allowed to spend it. Coming in at just over $10k per year, this isn't necessarily a fortune being given to people by way of a government benefit. It is, however, a new law signed by the state that absolutely shattered the Civil Rights act, and constitutional law, and yet there are talks of expanding the program (to men) rather than adjusting it as is.

No one is sure yet just how many women will qualify. All that can be said to date is that this is already the law in Georgia, and they will be handing over $850/month in guaranteed income to Georgia residents on the criteria that they are black and female.

From Georgia, and Spreading

This program, which many are calling Universal Basic Income (UBI), may just now be official in a state like Georgia, but it has been coming for a very long time. As mentioned above, a lot of state governments did this with grant money, and were legally allowed to. Courts wouldn't even take the cases where the states were challenged. This means that, in the coming months, you are going to see different measures like this popping up in different states. There's also very little likelihood that the amount is going to stay at $850. That seems to be a starting bid on what will satisfy the contingent. If California starts a program like this, for instance, they will likely be giving three times that money to people.

What Andrew Yang Really Meant

Former Democratic Presidential candidate Andrew Yang, a businessman from California, had a very similar UBI program he was running on. Basically, his program claimed to grant everyone over 18 a UBI monthly payment of $1,200. However, as critics delved into Yang's plan, it became pretty obvious that he did not mean everyone over 18. He merely meant racial minorities over 18. His plan, like Georgia's plan, was to close the supposed racial wealth gap between whites and blacks. Though this fails to take into account that while some of the wealthiest people in America are white, most of the poorest people are also white. This is why these sorts of programs get a lot of push-back. They use political platitudes to make policy and never even look at the data available.

Where Does This Leave Everyone Else?

Unfortunately for the other people in Georgia who are not black and are not female, they will have to find other ways to make ends meet if they're poor. Critics claim that this plan isn't about justice; it's about building up Stacy Abrams' voting bloc, because black men are in the same boat as black women, and they're getting nothing.

Regardless of how this plays out, Georgia has set a precedent in post-civil rights America. States are now allowed to once again legally discriminate based on race.