Summary: The Welfare Rights Movement

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This country was built by freedom seekers, but most of the credit in the popular narrative if given to those who colonized and oppressed individuals. However, history frames this as a good thing and does not highlight how this cycle continues to this day. Freedom seekers in history are not given the credit they deserve. They are too often the subject and not the agent of change. It is important to change that perception by acknowledging the work of freedom seekers and how they have to change the scope of what it means to proclaim their rights in this country. Putting together the powerful social movements that have changed this country and put them at the forefront of the positive change that has occurred. With the power of social movements …show more content…
The movement started locally and quickly became a national political movement. Welfare recipients were asking for the not only basic necessities to survive but also respect that they were not getting in mainstream media that demonized them and made them seem as if they were taking advantage of the system. They took action to obtain more than just nominal freedom and secure their rights. The National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO) brought together local grass-roots activists and middle-class allies to change the scope of the movement and elevate its impact. As we saw in Premilla Nadasen’s work Rethinking the Welfare Rights Movement, “Middle-class allies and supporters were essential to the formation of NWRO…[they]were veteran activists who had numerous contacts, an arsenal of organizing skills, and extensive experience navigating the political bureaucracy. They raised money, coordinated meetings, distributed literature, and provided staff” (21). This coalition proved vital to growing the movement and putting it on a national front. With the help of allies, we see how this movement was able to develop and become much more that just a local …show more content…
Ethnic studies radicalized students and allowed them to unite and fight for more of these classes. There was a call to action, these students felt that the white perspective of history should not be the only perspective taught in schools. Chicana/o Studies, Asian American Studies, African American Studies, etc. would not be around if these groups of marginalized individuals did not ally with each other and fight for a different way to learn about themselves. In other words, they wanted schools to teach the truth of how oppression and racial hierarchies have hindered the upward mobility of these groups. Latinos, African Americans, Asian Americans found a unifying truth and aimed to use that in order to make a difference. Pulido found that “Both the ethnic studies course content and the experience of being with other co-ethnics in a classroom had a profound impact. Ethnic studies offered a safe space for students of color that was empowering” (83). Efforts proved successful and these courses proved fundamental to teach students how alliances and social movements such as the ones that allowed for courses like these to be implemented and can really make a
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