1. Sarah says:

    While I don’t have anything to add, I do want to say that I’ve found this series of articles helpful. I sense you’ve done your very best to look at all sides of this topic, to understand it more fully. I thank you for passing on your thoughts by writing these articles. It has given me much food for thought.

  2. In the “Why Does Generational Poverty Afflict Some People of Color More?” Section, there’s a typo. “dealth with” instead of “dealt with”.

    In the conclusion, it says “more significant that supposed” instead of “more significant than supposed”, and “But wise laws should not make it easier…” instead of “But wise laws should make it easier…”

    I might come back with an actual comment later, but I thought I’d let you know about the typos in case you’re worried about them. 🙂

  3. Brennan McPherson says:

    Schooling is a huge issue too. Arguably one of the biggest.

  4. notleia says:

    I did have a feeling that you would believe more in classism than racism.

    Bonus Utube content:

    • notleia says:

      Bonus gratuitous pinko content:

      • Travis Tyree Perry says:

        This guy is a smart commentator. Much more nuanced than the comments you usually make–not meaning to be cruel in saying that…I just don’t see much nuance from you.

        However, I don’t agree with him on everything. One of the biggest causes of poverty is not knowing how to find better opportunities. Also, not all poor people work hard. But those who work hard and are willing to learn should have a clear path to a better life–but often don’t.

        Likewise, wealthy people who commit fraud and other “white collar” crime should face the possibility of losing all they have.

        So I’m saying the goal of government should be to reduce the ways in which our society pretends to be a meritocracy and do more to make it an actual meritocracy. I still find the ideal of meritocracy worthwhile.

        The USA needs more and better anti-poverty programs. But it simply isn’t possible to eliminate all poverty…depending on the exact definition of “poverty,” of course.

    • Travis Tyree Perry says:

      I talked about colorism early in this series, though I didn’t use the term. As this video also says, I had said darker skin is associated with laboring in the sun.

      However, the dynamic doesn’t always work. In parts of Africa (such as Tanzania) albinism is common–and albinos are treated as a cursed and are in danger of being murdered. Likewise a certain type of tan has been associated with beauty for well over 100 years.

      The creator of the video says some things that make sense…however, oversimplfies a bit and says a few things I see as false. It’s not necessarily true that people are driven to protect their privilege, for example.

      • notleia says:

        That’s assuming albinism is the same thing as “light skinnt”-ness, to borrow a phrase.

        And the cosmetic tan can be attributed to classism, too. Within the last 100 years and the rise of white-collar jobs and cube farms, it’s something of a status marker to have the leisure to go on vacation to sunny places and sunbathe or whatever. The cosmetic tan is still different from a farmer’s or laborer’s tan.

        • Travis Perry says:

          Albinism is literally being light-skinned but clearly has no connection to being elite and staying indoors. So it isn’t being white that’s the thing so much–it’s being elite within a particular culture.

          However, modern Africans are aware that white people in their country are probably wealthy compared to them. My experiences in Africa lead me to think that white privilege exists in Africa, at least in places I visited, in a way it doesn’t exist in the USA. But that’s because a white person is assumed to be in the upper class there. Black Americans I traveled with were treated the same as me when the Africans realized they were from the USA (another story, but true).

          Though I most likely was racially profiled as potential terrorist while in Kenya (a story perhaps I’ll tell sometime)…though nothing really bad happened to me there. I was just questioned by police for over an hour. (I think though my military ID and official US passport saved my bacon…).

          Oh and I believe that I got profiled in Mexico as an arms dealer, too. Not that anything bad happened–they just swiped down all my gear with a machine that looks for gunpowder residue…and to my own surprise, I came up clean…

What do you think?