Fact Check: Is Oakland Program Excluding White Families Living in Poverty From $500 Checks?
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A new program of grants for low-income families, funded by private donations, is being rolled out in Oakland, California.
© Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Volunteer Christopher Lindstrom packs boxes of food for needy families at the Alameda County Community Food Bank December 18, 2008 in Oakland, California. Food banks across the country have seen a surge in demand.
Eligible individuals will receive $500 a month for at least 18 months in a guaranteed income program designed to tackle poverty in the city.
The initiative borrows ideas from similar universal basic income programs that provide a monthly payment, only this will be means-tested.
The Claim
While the program has support among groups representing low-income families, some on social media have criticized it, arguing that the program will exclude low-income white families.
except poor white families. you left that out. a single white mother living in oakland gets no help because of the color of her skin. how very "progressive".
— Veruca Salty (@VerucaSalty76) March 26, 2021
The Facts
The initiative is a privately funded program that will give low-income families of color $500 per month, and with no rules on how they spend it.
According to the Oakland Resilient Families program website, the following groups are eligible: "Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) families (i.e. groups with the greatest wealth disparities per the Oakland Equity Index) with low-incomes and at least 1 child under 18, regardless of documentation status."
The guidelines states that the term "family" is defined broadly to recognize that families "come in all shapes and sizes."
"Low-income" is defined as at or below 50 percent of Area Median Income, which works out to about $59,000 per year for a family of three.
Half of the funding is reserved for "very-low-income families"—those earning below 138 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $30,000 per year for a family of three.
Payments will begin being administered to families this spring and the goal is to have the entire program up and running by the summer.
Some 600 families will receive $500 per month for 18 months, unconditionally, to use however they choose. They will have the option to participate in surveys and interviews but are not required to.
However, it is not designed to function as a universal basic income.
The program states on its website: "UBI is meant to go to everyone and provide enough of a payment to cover all basic needs, whereas a guaranteed income is meant to provide an income floor but not meant to be a replacement for wages and can also be targeted to those who most need it.
"UBI would provide everyone—regardless of income—with equal cash support (often instead of existing social benefits). Oakland Resilient Families is intended for low-income BIPOC families and therefore is by definition not 'universal'."
You do realize that they are factoring the income of all white families in Oakland. The program itself is to help low income families to deny low income families because of skin color is racist this will accomplish unnecessary division ,resentment and violence amongst neighbors
— Stephen (@kropp88) March 26, 2021
Oakland Resilient Families is funded entirely by philanthropic donations and the program has already raised $6.75 million.
In the Frequently Asked Questions section of the program's website, in answer to "Who is this for?" it states: "Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) families ... with low-incomes and at least 1 child under 18, regardless of documentation status."
Under the headline "Where will the families be located?" the website states: "Any low-income BIPOC family in Oakland is eligible to apply to be randomly selected to receive the money..."
The targeted nature of the grants also has a historical relevance. A form of basic income is a legacy of the Black Panther Party, which was founded in Oakland in 1966.
White households in the city earn on average roughly three times as much per year as Black households, according to the Oakland Equity Index.
Jesus Gerena, CEO of Family Independence Initiative, which is partnering with the program, told the Associated Press: "Guaranteed income has been a goal of the Black Panther platform since its founding. Direct investment in the community in response to systemic injustices isn't new."
Armando Nieto, executive director of the Oakland-based Community Food & Justice Coalition, said: "It is way past time for our larger community to recognize the responsibility we have to target the least among us for the place to start a pilot project."
Non-targeted support is available for all families via a variety of channels including several nonprofit organizations that work in the city.
Newsweek contacted City of Oakland representatives for further comment.
The Ruling
True.
The program website states it is geared only to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) families in Oakland.
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Isn't it just lovely to see how inclusive those folks are?
Some 600 families will receive $500 per month for 18 months, unconditionally, to use however they choose.
The guidelines states that the term "family" is defined broadly to recognize that families "come in all shapes and sizes."
regardless of documentation status."
So booze, drugs, and smokes are OK? Discriminating against a single white mother while providing welfare for an undocumented "family" is OK?
It's the liberal way/
That white guilt thingy is real to them, I guess!
LMAO!
Imagine if an independent group gave out a fund that was intended to only poor white US citizens- with the exact same stipulations (families ... with low-incomes and at least 1 child under 18)? The left and media would be in full melt down mode. Racism would be screamed everywhere; lawsuits would be filed; and any donors would receive death threats and have their businesses looted and fire bombed by the ever tolerant left wing Brown Shirts Antifa and BLM.
Exactly.
Folks would be calling for the resignation of every one of those board members and for anyone working for that group to be harassed.
The group would be likened to the KKK.
pathetic.
I wouldn’t give a shit kinda how I don’t give a shit about this. This is basically a charity, and seeing as how I do t qualify for charitable funds from any charity, why would I get upset if some group did the same thing for white people? I won’t be seeing any of it anyways so whatever.
Regardless of who is funding the program, the city is apparently running it and even if not, it is ILLEGAL.
I don't see anything either in the article or on their website that states this is the case. Link?
So now we're going to dictate how private donations are to be spent? Awesome. I want the Salvation Army to start housing same-sex couples.
Conservatives seem to be all about the government determining how private entities conduct their business all of a sudden. Unless you are a religious group, then you can do whatever the fuck you want.
I’m pretty white looking, but don’t be fooled. My Ancestry DNA scan says I am 3% Mali (that’s west Africa, if you failed Geography). So, I should be eligible for some of that sweet government cheese.
Also, I tan up pretty good in the sun, so I guess that could make me a person of color.
It isn’t a government effort, privately funded, as stated repeatedly in the seed.
Ok then private cheese. Either way, I get some!
Hehe, not if they decide you don’t qualify 👍
Racist! See how private charities discriminate and oppress this black man. Disgraceful!
Fuckin a, as a white man from an upper middle class family they have been tryin to hold me back my entire life. Bitches.
Meh, it’s privately funded so whatever. Plenty of private groups/funds exclude people based on all kinds of things.