Medi, are you fucking kidding me? Everyone knows that this country has "held the black man down so to speak, since their entrance into this country. Opression takes many forms, I think the mainstream media (news, magazines, talk shows, you name it)-which is often funded by the government or white-owned media conglomerates is the biggest contributor to this racially based oppression. Of course, when talking about welfare, you have to think in terms of both race and Sociology. Social engineering DOES exist. Sociologists refer to this well-known human phenomenon as marginalization and stratification.
Try finding a well-paying job or any merit system job three to five, ten or fifteen years (!!!) after being convicted of a felony or even a misdemeanor. It's damn near impossible, unless you have some kind of an "in." And how the fuck do you expect these so called "societal parasites" (aka potheads) to break the cycle of use and dealing to support their habits (and to pay the bills and EAT) when state laws prevent those with marijuana convictions from attaining food stamps? Jobs and food and shelter are very basic needs that are being denied to people not only on racial, but also on sociocultural grounds.
The reason blacks on welfare are maybe more likely to remain on welfare is because a black man on welfare is seen as less of a man than a white man fending for himself, less likely to get that well-paying job. And we're not even talking about the disparities between black and white women (not to mention hispanics, asians, native americans, iraquis, etc.)
