This is my final exam for sociology of poverty...I recieved an A in the course and this paper was 50% of my final grade.

1. Critically discuss how the New Racial Politics and Social Policy in the Nixon years (1970's) and Reagan and Bush years (1980) affected women and people of color. Also, discuss the factors that set the stage for the New Racial Politics. Acceptance of equality of opportunity as a principle by a majority of whites and the achievement of Black voting rights set the stage for a new politics. The republican party realized that open appeal to racism …

…that welfare reform was a great success. Local organizations could have moved into serious policy discussions about what changes were needed for real welfare "reform": quality childcare, access to transportation, exemptions from paid work, due process before imposing sanctions, real educational opportunities, etc. A civil rights strategy could have supplied both firm legal and moral ground to win specific, immediate changes and a way for local welfare rights groups to enter into the wider debate.