Storming Ceasars Palace

Annelise Orleck brings up an interesting image in my mind during her introduction, “the profligate, promiscuous, Cadillac-driving welfare queen.” As a teacher, I have the privilege to design lessons next year regarding Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty” and this book brings some issues to light that I will have to deal with. I have students whose mother’s are on welfare struggling to get by and doing the best they can. I also have students whose mother’s are on welfare and, while not driving Cadillac’s, are not doing much of anything at all. But I do like that this casts a critical eye on government treatment of the poor and I hope to use this in class.
What I like about this book is that Orleck treats her subjects as if they were any other honorable historical figure. She treats the story of these mothers with respect and admiration. This makes the work seem original. I think this helps to make the book a more intriguing read and it presents another perspective that is foreign to those of us not on welfare. I feel as though she is taking the approach that these woman are dealt impossible odds by society and government so Orleck presents this story to show that these woman just don’t sit back and take it, they actually do the only intelligent thing they can do; organize. And while Operation Life has success, it ultimately is held back by these impossible odds.
I started out thinking I was going to write that I wasn’t sure I got much worthwhile out of this book, but the more I write, the more I respect the story Orleck lays out.