The Cycle of Systemic Control: Breaking Free from a Manufactured Struggle

We all know those people—the ones who are able-bodied, don’t work a traditional job, yet seem to have multiple streams of government assistance. From food stamps to rental aid, their financial support comes from public programs rather than employment. Society often labels them as lazy, unmotivated, or even burdens to taxpayers, painting them as people who only take without giving back. Some even assume that this lifestyle leads to crime, reinforcing negative stereotypes.

But what we fail to do is ask the real questions: Why do these patterns exist? What created this level of dependency? And why do we only highlight Black communities when discussing these issues, while ignoring the fact that other races benefit from the same assistance? The media and public discourse always seem to focus on Black people in “the ghetto” as the root of social problems, completely disregarding the historical and systemic forces that made survival a struggle in the first place.

Overcoming Amidst Oppression

Black people have been systematically disenfranchised—consistently. While our history didn’t begin with slavery, let’s start there for the sake of this discussion. A vast majority of our ancestors were stolen from their homelands, packed into ships under inhumane conditions, and transported across the world to be enslaved, raped, murdered, mutilated—even eaten. That level of brutality is beyond comprehension.

Fast forward to when slavery “ended,” and Black people were still trapped by barrier after barrier—denied education, land, economic opportunities, and basic human rights. Let’s not even get started on the infamous promise of 40 acres and a mule—a promise never delivered. Instead of reparations, we were given Jim Crow laws, segregation, redlining, and racial terror in the form of lynch mobs and the KKK.

Despite these obstacles, we still overcame. We built thriving communities, established successful businesses, led movements, created schools, and shaped culture. We thrived. And every time we did, the system found a way to destroy our progress. Black Wall Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was bombed. Thriving Black neighborhoods were bulldozed to make way for highways. The war on drugs was strategically used to target Black men, criminalizing them for survival tactics that White communities were also engaging in—but without the same level of punishment.

Welfare as a Tool of Control

At some point, in an effort to “balance the playing field,” the government began offering assistance to Black communities. But let’s be honest—it wasn’t about uplifting us. It was another form of control. The same system that denied us access to quality education and profitable skills was now funding us to do absolutely nothing. And what happens when people are forced into idleness? Crime increases. Instead of using restorative justice to address these systemic issues, they criminalized us further.

The impact?

• Black men—who have traditionally been the heads of households—were disproportionately incarcerated, leaving families vulnerable.

• Welfare policies discouraged two-parent households, leading to fractured family structures.

• Generational poverty became a cycle, with limited access to wealth-building opportunities.

This isn’t just a coincidence. It’s the design. Control has always been the goal.

Forcing Accountability & Rewriting the Narrative

At what point do we force them to acknowledge the roots of the problems they created? They want to act like history is distant, that slavery was too long ago to matter, that Jim Crow and redlining have no impact on today’s world. But they don’t have to use blatant racism anymore—it has been institutionalized in everything we do.

This is why balancing the scales isn’t just a dream—it’s a necessity. There is strength in numbers. When we find innovative ways to organize, plan, and be strategic, real change happens. We have more power than we realize. The question is: When will we start using it? Because the fight for justice isn’t just about proving our worth to a system built to destroy us.

We already know our worth. Now it’s time to reclaim our power.