Tribune Content Agency Opinions

Chicago's 'welfare queen' still colorizes our poverty debate

In 1976, as California Gov. Ronald Reagan struggled to gain traction for his first presidential campaign, he told a story to a lunch crowd in North Carolina that would help carry him to the White House four years later.

By then, his often-repeated anecdote would be known famously as his "welfare queen" story.

"In Chicago, they found a woman who holds the record," he said. "She used 80 names, 30 addresses, 15 telephone

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