8 Times the U.S. Government Gave White People Handouts to Get Ahead

The 1830 Indian Removal Act With the help of the U.S. Army, Cherokee, Creek and other eastern Native American tribes were forced to relocate west of the Mississippi River to make room for white settlers. The 1862 Homestead Act This act gave away an overwhelming number of acreage to white settlers out west — land that had been previously settled by Native Americans. According to California News Reel, nearly 270 million acres of Indian Territory was converted to private property for white settlers. The 1790 Naturalization Act Under this legislation, only "free whites" were allowed to become naturalized citizens of the United States. Thus the doors were opened for European immigrants — but not anyone else. The right to vote, serve on juries and hold office was exclusively reserved for American citizens. The Social Security Act of 1935 Enacted under President Roosevelt's New Deal, the Social Security Act provided a financial safety net for millions of workers and guaranteed that they would continue to be paid after retirement. But this luxury didn't extend to everyone, however. The act excluded agricultural and domestic laborers, many of whom were Black, Mexican and Asian. The G.I. Education Bill, Veteran Administration Housing Authority, and Health Care System Because of these government programs, (mostly white) members of the armed forces were able to continue their education, guaranteed private housing, and granted access to a public health care system. Many of these benefits were reserved for white veterans, however. For the handful of Black veterans who could participate in these programs, their benefits were still fewer than those of their white counterparts. Police and firemen, some with their wives and children, assembled on Philadelphia's Rayburn Plaza, Nov. 13, 1956, to carry their wages and hours demand to City Council. The police and firemen were demanding an increase of $1,000 a year and a 40-hour week. (AP Photo/Sam Myers) The Wagner Act of 1935 Also known as the National Labor Relations act, this legislation gave labor unions the power of collective bargaining, defined unfair work practices, and established consequences if those rules were broken. As unions excluded non-white workers from better paying jobs and benefits like health care, pension, and job security, millions of white workers were able to work their way into the middle class. Federal Housing Administration Under this bill, white families were granted home loans, making it possible for them to purchase their very first humble abode. Unfortunately, mortgage eligibility was often tied to race while those living in integrated neighborhoods were deemed a "flight risk" and denied loans. 1960s Jim Crow Laws These outwardly discriminatory laws not only barred African-Americans from drinking at the same water fountain as whites, but also reserved the best jobs, schools, neighborhoods and hospitals for white people.

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8 Times the U.S Government Helped White People ‘Pull Themselves Up by Their Bootstraps’ with Handouts