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I don't agree with the race argument here, it's simply a case that elevating yourself from a poor background is much harder than from a rich background. On the
by jacknews 6y ago
I don't agree with the race argument here, it's simply a case that elevating yourself from a poor background is much harder than from a rich background.
On the other hand people measure success relative to those around them. In that sense, being poor gives you a 'success dividend'.
It's relatively easier to feel successful, satisfied, and enjoy other people's admiration when they are all poor, and you've achieved mediocre wealth.
Whereas with a rich start, you need to become a unicorn to feel the same adulation.
Perhaps this 'early satiation' also drives the statistics.
- paulryanrogers 6y agoOnce my SO started teaching in black neighborhoods I finally saw the systemic racism beyond the usual poverty issues common to all races. It's the subconscious racism in the culture that treats those with darker skin as different, often bucketed by negative stereotypes. Those kids faced it everyday and everywhere they lived, studied, worked. And their interconnected family-first culture was sometimes both a blessing and a curse, depending on ones birth lottery. This was different than the experience of the latinos and poor whites I have known. Human nature is tribal, and we can't know large numbers of people very well. That leads to mental shortcuts that don't work as well in our interconnected, multicultural societies. And many poor cultures are seen as havinh "pulled themselves up by their bootstraps" in the US. Never mind that their light skin meant they could blend in by just dropping an accent and changing clothes. Regardless, by working closely together and keeping an open mind we can overcome unintentional assumptions.
- caffeine 6y agoCan you give a specific example? I always hear about this systemic racism, but I don't really know what that means.
- leephillips 6y agohttps://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/66151/309090-Mortgage-Lending-Discrimination.PDF https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/66151/...