>> Thompson: THE STEREOTYPE OF
THE SO-CALLED WELFARE QUEEN HAS
BEEN USED TO DEMONIZE THOSE ON
PUBLIC ASSISTANCE FOR DECADES.
IT'S A POLITICALLY POTENT IMAGE
DEPICTING AN UNDESERVING AID
RECIPIENT GETTING RICH ON THE
BACKS OF TAXPAYERS.
POLITICIANS, INCLUDING FORMER
PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN, HAD
BEEN ACCUSED OF EXPLOITING THIS
IMAGE IS A KIND OF RACIST DOG
WHISTLE.
MEANWHILE, THE ORIGINAL WELFARE
QUEEN THAT REAGAN USED AS A
BASIS FOR HIS CARICATURE WAS
BASED ON A REAL PERSON.
THE NEW BOOK, "THE QUEEN," TELLS
THE STORY OF A WOMAN WHO WENT BY
MANY NAMES, WAS ACCUSED OF MANY
CRIMES, AND WHOSE IMAGE AS A
CADILLAC-DRIVING WELFARE
RECIPIENT HAS LIVED ON.
HARI SREENIVASAN RECENTLY SPOKE
WITH THE BOOK'S AUTHOR, JOSH
LEVIN, ABOUT THE REAL-LIFE WOMAN
BEHIND THE MONIKER.
>> HER NAME WAS LINDA TAYLOR,
AND SHE WAS IDENTIFIED BY THE
"CHICAGO TRIBUNE" IN 1974 AS A
PERSON WHO HAD COMMITTED WELFARE
FRAUD WHILE DRIVING FANCY CARS,
INCLUDING A CADILLAC.
AND VERY QUICKLY AFTER THAT, SHE
WAS GIVEN THE NICKNAME, THE
"WELFARE QUEEN."
AND IT WAS A NICKNAME AND A
STEREOTYPE THAT REALLY, VERY
QUICKLY BLEW UP.
>> Sreenivasan: YOU KNOW, IT WAS
A CHICAGO PAPER THAT GAVE HER
THAT NICKNAME, BUT IT'S REALLY
RONALD REAGAN ON THE CAMPAIGN
TRAIL THAT MAKES THAT PHRASE
SUCH A HOUSEHOLD IDEA.
HOW DID IT GET FROM THE CHICAGO
PAPER INTO HIS SPEECHES?
>> REAGAN WAS LOOKING FOR KIND
OF OUTRAGEOUS STORIES ABOUT
WELFARE.
AND THIS IDEA THAT THERE WERE
WELFARE CHEATS OUT THERE WAS
SOMETHING THAT CREATED OUTRAGE.
>> IN CHICAGO, THEY FOUND A
WOMAN WHO HOLDS THE RECORD.
SHE USED 80 NAMES, 30 ADDRESSES,
15 TELEPHONE NUMBERS TO COLLECT
FOOD STAMPS, SOCIAL SECURITY,
VETERANS' BENEFITS FOR FOUR
NON-EXISTENT DECEASED VETERANS
HUSBANDS, AS WELL AS WELFARE.
HER TAX-FREE CASH INCOME ALONE
HAS BEEN RUNNING $150,000 A
YEAR.
>> HE DIDN'T SAY THE PHRASE
"WELFARE QUEEN" IN HIS SPEECHES,
BUT THERE WAS SUCH BAGGAGE
ATTACHED TO WELFARE AT THAT
POINT THAT I THINK THE
ELECTORATE REALLY UNDERSTOOD
WHAT HE WAS SAYING AND REALLY
KNEW WHAT HE WAS TALKING ABOUT.
WELFARE HAS BEEN AN EFFECTIVE
TALKING POINT FOR A WHOLE
GENERATION OF POLITICIANS.
>> I HAVE A PLAN TO END WELFARE
AS WE KNOW IT, TO BREAK THE
CYCLE OF WELFARE DEPENDENCY.
>> WHEN BILL CLINTON SAID HE
"WANTED TO END WELFARE AS WE
KNOW IT" DURING HIS 1992
CAMPAIGN, THAT WAS ENORMOUSLY
POPULAR WITH PEOPLE ON BOTH
SIDES OF THE AISLE.
I THINK IT'S PARTLY RESPONSIBLE
FOR HIS VICTORY IN 1992.
AND THEN, WHEN WELFARE REFORM
PASSED IN 1996, WELFARE WENT
FROM BEING AN ENTITLEMENT TO
BEING TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE.
AND IF YOU'RE BELOW THE
REQUISITE POVERTY LEVEL, YOU
STILL DON'T NECESSARILY GET
BENEFITS TODAY.
>> Sreenivasan: TELL US A LITTLE
BIT MORE ABOUT HER.
I MEAN, SHE WAS KIND OF A RACIAL
CHAMELEON, ALMOST.
>> IN THE '70s, SHE WAS CODED AS
BEING BLACK.
PEOPLE PERCEIVED WELFARE
RECIPIENTS AT THAT POINT AS
BEING BLACK.
BUT SOME OF THE FIRST STORIES
ABOUT HER NOTED THAT SHE COULD
CHANGE HER IDENTITY BY CHANGING
A WIG, THAT SHE COULD BE BLACK
OR WHITE, OR LATINA, OR
FILIPINA.
AND THIS WAS SEEN AS JUST
ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF HER
DEVIOUSNESS.
BUT, AS I FOUND IN MY RESEARCH,
HER HISTORY WITH RACE IS FAR
MORE COMPLICATED, AND, IN MANY
WAYS, SAD.
SHE WAS BORN IN THE DEEP SOUTH
AND WAS REJECTED BY HER WHITE
RELATIVES DUE TO HER, YOU KNOW,
MIXED-RACE IDENTITY.
SHE WAS SOMEBODY WHO WAS FORCED
TO PASS BECAUSE OF THE WAY,
GROWING UP AS A BLACK PERSON IN
A WHITE FAMILY IN THE SOUTH, IT
WAS ILLEGAL FOR HER TO BE BLACK
IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.
IT'S JUST A VERY COMPLICATED AND
FRAUGHT HISTORY FOR HER.
>> Sreenivasan: DO YOU THINK
THAT THIS WELFARE QUEEN IDEA
WOULD HAVE STUCK NEARLY AS MUCH
IF SHE HAD PRESENTED AS A WHITE
WOMAN OR WAS JUST A WHITE WOMAN?
>> I THINK THAT SHE WAS THE
RIGHT PERSON AT THE RIGHT PLACE
AT THE RIGHT TIME.
OR DEPENDING ON YOUR VANTAGE,
THE WRONG PERSON IN THE WRONG
PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME.
I THINK THIS IDEA OF THE WELFARE
QUEEN WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS SO
POWERFUL-- I MEAN, SUCH A STRONG
MESSAGE, POLITICALLY.
AND YOU CAN SEE THAT IN HOW, YOU
KNOW, SHE WAS ARRESTED FOR
KIDNAPPING IN CHICAGO.
SHE WAS ACCUSED OF MURDER.
BUT ALL OF THAT INFORMATION GOT
LEFT OUT AND SANDED AWAY.
THAT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT REAGAN
EVER MENTIONED, CERTAINLY.
>> Sreenivasan: I MEAN, THAT'S
WHAT... SOME OF THE FASCINATING
STUFF AROUND YOUR REPORTING IS
THAT WHILE SHE'S OFFICIALLY
ARRESTED FOR WELFARE FRAUD,
KIDNAPPING AND POTENTIAL MURDER
CHARGES IN HER LIFE ARE SOME
THINGS THAT WE DON'T HEAR ABOUT.
>> ONE OF THE MORE REMARKABLE
THINGS THAT I FOUND IN MY
RESEARCH WAS THAT SHE WAS
ARRESTED AND INDICTED FOR
WELFARE FRAUD IN 1974.
WHEN SHE'S OUT ON BAIL, SHE IS
SUSPECTED OF HOMICIDE.
A WOMAN THAT SHE WAS LIVING WITH
DIED OF A DRUG OVERDOSE, AND
THERE'S A VERY STRONG REASON TO
BELIEVE THAT TAYLOR HAD BEEN
RESPONSIBLE FOR IT, AND YET SHE
ISN'T ULTIMATELY CHARGED.
WHEN THE STORY OF HER LIFE IS
TOLD CONTEMPORANEOUSLY IN THE
NEWS, ON TELEVISION, IN SPEECHES
BY RONALD REAGAN AND OTHERS,
THAT JUST DOESN'T GET MENTIONED
AT ALL.
IT'S LIKE IT NEVER EVEN
HAPPENED.
>> Sreenivasan: SO, WHAT DO WE
KNOW ABOUT HER TODAY?
DOES SHE EXIST ANYWHERE?
DID SHE DIE?
DOES SHE HAVE FAMILY?
>> WHAT I'VE LEARNED IS THAT SHE
WENT TO PRISON FOR WELFARE FRAUD
IN THE LATE 1970s.
WHEN SHE GOT OUT, SHE EVENTUALLY
MOVED TO FLORIDA.
AND IN THE '90s, SHE WAS HIT
WITH FEDERAL CHARGES THERE,
ENDED UP INCARCERATED.
SHE WAS EVENTUALLY RELEASED, AND
HER FAMILY TOOK HER BACK TO
ILLINOIS WHERE SHE DIED IN 2002
IN TOTAL OBSCURITY AND UNDER A
DIFFERENT NAME.
>> Sreenivasan: JOSH, WHY DO
THIS STORY?
WHY SPEND YEARS RESEARCHING
THIS?
WHAT DREW YOU TO IT?
>> I WASN'T AWARE THAT THERE HAD
BEEN A REAL-LIFE MODEL FOR THE
WELFARE QUEEN MYTH AND
STEREOTYPE.
WHEN I LEARNED ABOUT IT BACK IN
2012, THAT LINDA TAYLOR HAD BEEN
REALLY THE FIRST PERSON TO BE
GIVEN THIS NICKNAME AND THAT THE
IMAGE OF THE FUR COATS AND THE
CADILLAC CAME FROM HER, I WAS
FASCINATED BOTH BY THAT FACT AND
THE IDEA THAT A MYTH AND A
STEREOTYPE COULD ENDURE IN A
PERSON'S IMAGE.
BUT THAT PERSON HERSELF COULD BE
FORGOTTEN AND ERASED WAS JUST SO
KIND OF TRANSFIXING TO ME, AND I
BECAME OBSESSED WITH TRYING TO
FIGURE OUT WHO THIS PERSON HAD
BEEN AND WHY SHE HAD BEEN
FORGOTTEN.
>> Sreenivasan: ALL RIGHT, THE
BOOK IS CALLED "THE QUEEN."
JOSH LEVIN, THANKS SO MUCH.
>> THANK YOU.
