WHEN THE GOVERNMENT SHUTS DOWN AND THE PEOPLE GO HUNGRY: HOW FOODSTAMPS WERE BUILT FOR WHITE FAMILIES AND WEAPONIZED AGAINST OTHERS

Two months ago, I stepped away from this blog to breathe, to study, to watch. What I saw while quiet was a government in pause and hungry people everywhere still waiting.

In 2025, the halls of Congress locked their doors, but the grocery aisles remained open for everyone except the poorest among us. Meanwhile, the food-stamps program known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) was suddenly threatened: more than 42 million Americans, roughly one in eight, faced losing or delaying the benefits meant to feed them. This is a national decision to let people starve while politicians argue about numbers they’ll never feel.

I’ve spent years studying law, policy, and the history of how this country treats its poor. And here’s the truth that needs to be said out loud — food stamps were never created for us.

Who They Were Really Made For

When the first food stamp program started in 1939 in Rochester, New York, it wasn’t about feeding the poor. It was about helping farmers sell extra crops and keeping the economy steady during the Great Depression. The first person to ever use food stamps was Mabel McFiggin, a white woman, on May 16, 1939.

In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Food Stamp Act, and for the first time, food assistance became a formal federal right. But from the beginning, the system was designed to support white working families whose husbands were away or unemployed. It gave them a safety net.

At the very same time, laws and local welfare offices found ways to keep Black families out. Rules like “suitable home” requirements gave officials the power to deny aid to mothers simply because there was a man in the house or because they didn’t approve of how she lived. The result? Many Black mothers were forced to choose between keeping their families together or feeding their children. That wasn’t a flaw in the system. That was the system working exactly as it was designed.

The Real “Welfare Queen”

You’ve heard the term “welfare queen,” right? That phrase was meant to shame poor women, especially Black women, and turn the country against them. But here’s what most people don’t know: the original “welfare queen” wasn’t a Black woman at all.

Her name was Linda Taylor, a white woman from Chicago who committed welfare fraud in the 1970s. Ronald Reagan used her story in his 1976 campaign, claiming she stole $150,000 in benefits. In reality, it was closer to $40,000. But he didn’t care about the truth, he cared about creating a symbol that America could hate. And soon, the image of the “lazy Black welfare mother” became political currency.

That single lie helped justify decades of policies that punished the poor instead of helping them: strict work requirements, time limits, drug tests, and welfare cuts that destroyed safety nets for millions.

AI Is the New Propaganda Machine.

Fast forward to now. Artificial intelligence has given those same stereotypes a new mask. Fake videos are spreading online showing “Black women stealing groceries” or “EBT fraud”  and people believe them. These AI videos look real, and that’s the danger.

They’re modern propaganda. They take centuries of racist storytelling and feed it through technology to make the lie look like truth. They distract us from the real crisis: a government refusing to feed its people during a shutdown.

These fake images aren’t harmless. They shape public opinion. They convince people that hunger is a moral failure instead of a government failure.

The Human Cost

When those cards stop working, it’s not just numbers on a spreadsheet. It’s a mother skipping meals so her children can eat. It’s a father taking extra shifts while deciding between rent and groceries. It’s the elderly neighbor stretching one can of beans across three days.

And when AI videos flood the internet, painting these same people as lazy or criminal, it adds insult to injury. It tells the world that poverty is personal failure when it’s really political failure.

Let’s be clear. Denying food assistance during a government shutdown isn’t just cruel. It’s illegal.

The Food Stamp Act of 1964 made it a federal obligation to provide food assistance to eligible families. Courts have ruled that the government cannot simply “pause” or “suspend” benefits during a shutdown. Doing so violates established law and the principles of due process.

The Constitution doesn’t mention “welfare,” but it does promise equal protection under the law. When millions of people are denied access to food because politicians can’t agree, that’s not fiscal responsibility. That’s neglect. And it’s a violation of our nation’s duty to its people.

What We Must Do

This is not the time for silence. It’s the time for accountability.

• Document everything. If your benefits are delayed or denied, record it, report it, and share it.

• Demand transparency. Call your representatives and ask what plans are in place to keep SNAP funded during the shutdown.

• Challenge the lies. When you see AI-generated stereotypes, call them what they are: modern propaganda designed to divide.

• Support your community. Organize food drives, share resources, and look out for one another. Because the system may not feed us, but we can feed each other.

The Bigger Truth

The original food stamp program was created to keep white families afloat while keeping Black families apart. The “welfare queen” was a white woman who became the face of Black poverty. And today, artificial intelligence is rewriting the same old script with new technology. But we know better now.

Food is not a privilege. It’s a right. And when a government refuses to feed its people, it’s not the people who are broken — it’s the system.