Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
ImpoverishedwhitesaretheoreticallyableviatheSection8housingvoucherprogram
to gain access to subsidized housing in racially segregated and class exclusive com-
munities, but the demographic composition of communities like Newton or Brookline,
Massachusetts, reveal that very few do. Communities find formal and informal ways of
maintainingracialandsocialclassboundaries.Todiscouragelow-incomeresidents,loc-
al officials limit the development of low-income or affordable housing projects, land-
lordsorrealtorsspecifically priceapartmentsoutoftheSection8housingvoucherprice
range, and others may list their rentals with the following, albeit illegal, clause: “Sec-
tion 8 need not apply.” In response, welfare dependent white women who desire spatial
and social mobility for themselves and their families devise strategies to gain access to
housing in racially segregated and class privileged areas.
Welfare dependent white women, like Becca, Theresa, Leanne, and Joy, utilize their
whiteness as a form of property and bodily capital to conceal and cover up welfare
status, to manage stigma, and to facilitate spatial and social movement into racially se-
gregatedandclassexclusivecommunities.Thesewomenemployedanumberofpassing
techniques:alteringaspectsofone'sbiography,withholdingkeyinformationaboutone's
current or previous welfare status, and modifying one's physical appearance, speech,
and mannerisms to fit normative racial, gendered, and class expectations of a particular
community. Passing did not only occur during their attempts to gain access to housing
but also throughout their time in residence in these communities. Although the labor re-
quiredtopasswasphysically,mentally,andemotionallytaxingforthewomeninvolved,
welfare dependent white women endured the process to gain important social, cultural,
and material resources for their families unavailable in low-income communities and to
the majority of welfare dependent women, white and nonwhite.
In this chapter, we identified six potential benefits white welfare dependent women
gain from concealing their welfare status in a racially segregated housing market. First,
it enabled them to secure access to Section 8 housing located in middle- and upper
middle-class suburban communities that are often hostile to low-income residents. Se-
cond, it provided access to material resources due to reduced competition for donated
food, clothing, gifts, and in-kind services provided by local charities and nonprofit or-
ganizations. Third, these neighborhoods provided access to physical safety, a key emo-
tional resource, by reducing their exposure to physical violence and theft. Fourth, the
children of welfare dependent women gained access to superior public education ser-
vices, especially important for those children with special needs. Fifth, concealing one's
welfare status provided access to privileged social networks and social capital. Finally,
concealing one's welfare status mediated welfare stigma and provided welfare depend-
ent white women with a form of respectability. The material, educational, cultural, so-
