I don’t want to muddy the waters here, but damn, I hadn’t heard anything about DeSantis’ overhauling Florida’s alimony laws.

An old friend of mine was married at 18 and divorced at 33. Since then, he has been sending his ex-wife alimony checks every month. Today, Dexlan is 77 years old, has been married to another woman for 42 years, and is still sending his ex-wife alimony checks every month. According to Dexlan, family court judges consider his race when he appeals (and I believe him).

In the eyes of conservative white judges in the family courts, alimony is punishment, revenge, the means to keep black men in “their place” – and maintain the white hierarchy. In addition to his earned wealth, Dexlan served two tours in Vietnam and receives a pension and free healthcare from the Veteran’s Administration (which he needs as agent orange slowly eats him away). He served as a homicide detective for the L.A. police department and receives a pension. When Dexlan retired from the L.A. police force, he opened a security business, and made himself a multi-millionaire – and a target of white resentment. As a self-employed man, he receives social security as well. When Dexlan took up ranching, he turned his herd and land to gold. A few years ago, Dexlan’s ex-wife took him to court, and the judge looked at his income and granted the women he’d divorced 44 years ago an increase in alimony.

As improbable as Dexlan's story may sound, it makes sense once you know that Dexlan is a black man. It must be said, that in very conservative parts of the country, the same thing is now happening to young career women who file for divorce only to find themselves paying alimony to ex-husbands. Alimony is a double-edged sword and it cuts both ways.

However, even more disturbing, is the little discussed relationship between racism, alimony, and welfare among white women. Simply put, alimony corrupted the moral, social, economic and political world of white women.

White women have been motivated by alimony for a century or more. Alimony assured white women that submitting to the patriarchy guaranteed them a lifetime of financial support, and they would never have to work. As a result, white women view alimony as “earned” income, even a right. To maintain their superior social status, divorced white women continue to support the patriarchy, by differentiating themselves from “lesser” women by demonizing welfare recipients.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard white women – 40 and older – talk about their alimony. The bitterness is tangible among divorced white women who gave up their alimony in order to marry a second time – only to see their first husband become wealthy, while their second husband barely made ends meet. While their resentment, bitterness and lust for vengeance makes me sick, their world-view is actually frightening.

With so many women in the workforce, alimony orders are in decline, and it is safe for DeSantis to use the issue to generate the white male vote – especially the old geezers that retire in Florida.

Sorry to go off on a tangent, but the insidious relationship between racism and alimony is too rarely mentioned.