The justifications that white Americans made for this racial distinction was that the African race was inferior to the white race based on their rationalizations on the skin color, intelligence, and sexuality of the African people. The main focus of attack was the sexuality of the African woman. Incidentally, the Jezebel' woman directly caused the development of another stereotype upon the African American woman, "Mammy' who was the African American female slave considered the complete opposite of Jezebel'.
Collins observes, " the Black woman as welfare mother remains essential to White hegemony because the White culture blames the woman for her impoverished condition and again deflects attention away from White, racist, patriarchal structures. African American mothers were also subjected to "suitable homes"' rules in which states could deny benefits to mothers who were declared to be living immorality as stated by a judge "that having babies out of wedlock reflected weakness in the women's character" and such children were living in neglectful homes. The welfare queen image has continually been used to instill disgust for the welfare state. …show more content…
Welfare queens are attributed as being "promiscuous unmarried women who sit around, collect government checks, and gave birth to a lot of children." Collins observes, " the Black woman as welfare mother remains essential to White hegemony because the White culture blames the woman for her impoverished condition and again deflects attention away from White, racist, patriarchal structures. In essence, the welfare mother "represents a woman of low morals and uncontrolled sexuality, factors identified as the cause of her impoverished state." This stereotyped was the justification behind the racist welfare state that continues