Race and Gender: Stories Told in Storming Caesars Palace?

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Course
Instructor
Date
Storming Caesars Palace
Introduction
African American women on welfare have been cast in the public discourse as welfare receipts, whose only purpose is to profit from the system, but Orleck challenges this view. These women are also casualties of poverty where classism, racism and structural barriers are intertwined with oppression. However, the resistance efforts of black women challenged the narratives about poor women on welfare. The disdain for welfare was so bad, that even one white woman in a hotel was told to work as a prostitute by a state official rather than receive welfare (Orleck 161). This paper highlights how experiences of lowly paid African American women influenced their activism and support for welfare rights.
Race, gender and the women’s’ experiences
African American women recounted their lives in the 1940’s where absentee landlords were called by fancy names like Mr. Johnny and his son little Mr. Johnny by the farm workers (Orlek 12). Little had changed even after the women left Louisiana and the delta region with the black families living in fear of their employers. Violence and repression in the 1940’s and 1950’s in the American South made it difficult for the older generation to fight for their rights as they lived in fear (Orleck 20). For the African American women, there was no dignity for those living in poverty, and this was compounded by the way they were treated by the white employers to the extent that Caucasian children would at times order around the African American children (Orlek 20).
The participation of African American women in the National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO) highlighted the challenges facing working class women to be seen as dignified members of the society. Blacks started migrating from the South, especially the Delta region from the 1940’s westward, including Las Vegas as they sought for better economic opportunities. The women supported the group while supporting feminist principles that differed from the other groups dominated by middle-class feminist. To these women, performing care work for families was liberating itself as they highlighted the social values of families for the poor non-white members. The women had to be better organized to have impact on legislators including organizing a march where the governments in Las Vegas, Nevada to tackle their economic concerns (Orleck 140). The women supporting the group including Johnnie Tillmon had to challenge the notion that they were merely breeders and welfare cheats and highlighted, that they were caring mothers struggling to feed their children.
Even after migrating to Las Vegas, the African Americans faced discrimination in jobs and housing, while they mostly took lowly paid jobs. However, this was also an opportunity for them to join unions that offered cross-racial solidarity and alliances (Orleck 56). The immigrants also had negative experiences with the unions. Some of the officials were paid by the management and failed to address their working conditions. For instance, the African American women mainly found work in hotels, but the employers used sexist and racist hiring practices (Orleck 248). Some of the hotel worker...