The Drama Surrounding SNAP Benefits Should Mark The End Of MAGA, But It Won’t

Jesus wasn’t a Christian, and neither are the so-called “believers” who are members of a political party that is content with leaving millions of Americans starving.

As we enter the holiday season — a time of the year focused on eating and drinking with friends and family in the name of fellowship and religious beliefs — it feels as if this year’s conversation won’t be about who people broke bread with, but about whether they were able to have a meal at all.

The pausing of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits is vile, and God don’t like ugly.

On Monday, the Trump Administration announced that it would provide only half of the regular benefits for food stamps in November, as it will use the program’s contingency funds while the government shutdown continues. 

As Kendrick Lamar said, “It’s not enough.”

“People really don’t understand the scale and scope of what is happening and the ripple effect it will have on the economy and with people just meeting their basic needs,” Angela F. Williams, president and chief executive of United Way, recently told The LA Times. To put it in perspective, SNAP feeds more than one in four American children. That means if you don’t receive SNAP benefits, you’re either related to, know somebody, or have colleagues who do — or some combination of the three.

Food stamps are an American rite of passage, especially in this economy.

The decision by the Trump Administration to partially fund the program comes days after a federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to distribute money owed to SNAP recipients “as soon as possible.”

With Thanksgiving and Christmas approaching, the silence from white evangelical communities is striking, especially considering that Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000 stands as one of the greatest representations of Christianity, illustrating the principle of “loving thy neighbor as thyself.” But, I guess those were the actions of Black Jesus, and not the mythical white one they apparently pray to.

Unsurprisingly, and always true to form, as approximately 42 million Americans were trying to figure out how they were going to eat this month, Donald Trump was hosting a lavish Halloween party for his friends and supporters at Mar-a-Lago that featured a Great Gatsby theme — a book that delves into the extravagance and emptiness of wealth. “Critics have been quick to tear into the president for hosting a party themed around an iconic work of 1920s fiction about the excess and moral emptiness of social privilege built on economic inequality,” wrote Daily Beast reporter Will Neal in his article on the event.

According to the USDA, about 37% of SNAP participants identify as White, compared to only 26% who identify as Black/African-American, and 16% who are listed as Hispanic. The data upends the racist narrative that “all Black and Brown people are on food stamps,” as the vast majority of SNAP households don’t even receive cash welfare benefits.

“This SNAP freeze is really f—ed up. And I keep seeing a lotta racist videos celebrating (mostly Black) families not being able to buy groceries…There’s this weird idea that since some people have taken advantage of welfare benefits in the hood, NOBODY should receive help, at all..?” Saturday Night Live star Michael Che recently penned on his Instagram account.

“This country is built on greedy motherf—-rs taking shortcuts and gaming the system to their benefit, but for some reason, when poor people find a way to turn [a] nickel into a dime, they’re judged more severely, especially Blacks. I know the whole hustle is to hate each other here so we can fight in the comments and up our engagements. But let’s draw the line at feeding the poor. I grew up on free cheese and powdered milk and waiting for your friends to leave the store so they won’t see me pay with stamps. That s–t ain’t as glamorous as it sounds. I promise.”

In short, the prejudicial ideology is “fake news.” But what can’t be denied or ignored is that white people have always been the face of food stamps, in the same way that they’ve been the face of Trump’s base. 

“The first (food stamp program) recipient was Mabel McFiggin of Rochester, New York, on May 16, 1939. The first retailer to redeem the stamps was Joseph Mutolo, and the first retailer caught violating the program was Nick Salzano in October 1939,” reads the USDA’s website about the history of the program.

None of the people mentioned above was Black.

But, leave it to a Black woman to be the one who wants to address the core issue for all Americans.

“I will agree that there are too many American people that are on SNAP benefits. But that means you gotta not look necessarily at SNAP, you gotta look at the reasons that they’re on SNAP,” Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett recently explained on MSNBC.

“We have not increased the minimum wage in ‘I don’t know when,’ Crockett pointed out. “And the minimum wage still sits at $7 while everything else is going up — whether we’re talking about the cost of food, whether we’re talking about the cost of rent, or whether we’re talking about the cost of actually trying to engage in home ownership, if we’re talking about the interest rates. And we know that under the failed leadership of this administration, this country has seen a loss of a million jobs.”

Earlier this year, a white couple in Beaufort County, South Carolina, faced charges after being accused of stealing more than $20,000 in SNAP benefits. The mugshots of the two epitomize just who the faces of food stamps are, as Trump is starving his own followers. Along with the data that shows who the majority of SNAP benefits go to, it should be the end of MAGA. But we know that won’t be the case. They would rather go hungry than choose to admit that their bigotry and prejudices are why they won’t have Thanksgiving leftovers.

Carron J. Phillips is an award-winning journalist who writes on race, culture, social issues, politics, and sports. He hails from Saginaw, Michigan, and is a graduate of Morehouse College and Syracuse University. Follow his Substack to keep up with more of his work.

SEE ALSO:

USDA To Grocers: No Discounts For SNAP Recipients

Government Says It Will Only Pay SNAP Recipients Half Their Benefits For November, Defying Judges’ Orders

If SNAP Benefits Get Cut Off, White Grievance Will Eat Itself

When The Government Starves Us: How SNAP Cuts Target Black Survival