I used to work for subsidized housing and saw it ALL the time. The white case workers would go out of their way to help minority apps even though on the border of being over income. Whereas white apps wouldn’t get the “full force” of help, especially not from minority caseworkers. I also have a personal story:
I have two children (grown now). One is white and one is bi-racial. A LOOOOONG time ago I qualified for “reduced price school lunches” due to my income. My children are six years apart in age. I submitted a application for each one of them, same city school district, different schools (i.e. middle school and elementary school)
EVERY time I got an audit of my application for my child who is white, requesting “more information” bank statements, paystubs, etc.
But NEVER did I get an audit of my applications for my bi-racial child who appears “black.” EVER.
Same exact household, same exact income.
My bi-racial child was rubberstamped through every time. When I finally got tired of being audited EVERY time (I qualified for 3 years in a row), I brought this up to the school district who of course had NO answer. Supposedly it was a “random” audit!! Three times in a row. For the same non-minority child. And in this particular school district there were VERY few non-minority children so I suppose any of them that did qualify for programs were audited/turned down.
The fact of the matter is that any non-minority chid who didn’t qualify for reduced price lunch probably had the good sense to move out of the crime ridden school district.
The school where my children (both white) attend is about split on white and minority, although I believe the minority are now about 60%. The majority of the children that attend here are eligible for free or reduced lunches. Although, we do not apply for any of the programs, we were encouraged to "apply anyway." I was told that simply applying helps the school.
Under the assumption that there was some sort of program that benefited the school for having parents participate, I applied for everything they threw at me. (This was our first year in a public school.)
Well, I got some of the nastiest rejection letters! lol There was no, "Dear Mrs. H., we regret to inform you that you do not meet eligibility blah, blah, blah..." Instead, we got letters stating that "Due to EXCESSIVE income...." rofl
It's not really excessive and I kinda resent the implication that it's a bad thing. lol Anyway, after that experience, I simply tell the school registration folks that we will not be applying because we make "excessive income." :D