General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: They Dared Me to Post This... [View all]Prism
(5,815 posts)I am aware of that. Just a super short story real quick.
I grew up poor, then working class. My parents were on welfare. But they never lost their house. We always had a car. When health issues hit, they filed bankruptcy. Twice. They still kept their home. I've been poor and broke as an adult, barely hanging on. And yet, even during the most stressful times, I had a sense that everything would work out. There was always some avenue to explore. There was always some solution to reach for.
And that was because of my white privilege. There was always some open door somewhere, some path to being ok.
I have never personally felt the profound despair many PoCs in poverty feel, that there is no path out, that there is no opportunity for elevation from their circumstances. I have never been without hope like so many of them have been.
As you said, I can observe this. I can hear people talk about it. I can indirectly experience it at work (trying to help someone and seeing doors inexplicably shut in their face). I can feel rage and empathize. But my privilege has so far shielded me from experiencing it on that personal level.
Those experiences have taught that racial injustice is a major driver of economic injustice. My parents had access and means to hang on. Institutional racism shuts PoCs out from many of those things. We cannot have economic justice without racial justice. It just doesn't work.