Reply to "My Brother's Keeper" and at-risk kids... thoughts?

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Reply to ""My Brother's Keeper" and at-risk kids... thoughts?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]

To the people who think that they are somehow superior because they went to a good university, have a good job, and give their children the moon to ensure their success...

most of you have what you have because of your parents and their parents.

It's not your brilliance. It's not that you are more special.

Even if your parents were poor, they likely had self-respect. Even if your grandparents scraped for food, they likely weren't told everyday of their lives that they were worthless.

Stop flattering yourself... and stop looking down on others who came from different circumstances (whether race, class or whatever else).
[/quote]

So very true.[/quote]

My parents were dirt poor and I have what I have because I worked my ass off to get it.  I often worked 3 and 4 jobs at a time.  It took me 10 years to pay off my college bills.  It is wrong to assume I'm looking down on anyone because you don't know what I went through and what sacrifices I made - and it's an insult to suggest that somehow I was entitled or privileged and that everything just fell into my lap.  As for "told they are worthless" - who exactly is telling any youth in Anacostia that?  If they are being told they are worthless, it's their own community doing that.  I certainly am not going around telling them that - they are indeed worth every bit as much as I am - all they need are the skills, they need to stay in school, become literate, learn their math, learn to become reliable and productive and to value each other first.  They need to put in the hard work and make the same sacrifices I did.  [/quote]

I'm the PP you're responding to...

did your parents have self-respect OR perhaps they raised you in a crack house and taught you how to fend for yourself by giving you nothing to eat while calling you every terrible name they could think of? Did your parents make you stay outside the house until 7pm every night at age 5 so they could "work?"  Did your parents' lessons focus more on how to fight and survive on the streets than how to say your ABCs?  Did most of your family members end up in jail or dead?

These are the kids I work with. These are MANY... with very similar backgrounds.

Maybe your parents did verbally and physically abuse you (caused by generations of institutionalized racism) and maybe their efforts to toughen you up with survival skills they deemed necessary helped you "work your ass off" to get to where you are today. If that's the case, then I applaud you.

If you did go through these traumatic psychological experiences and  grew up without emotional support to deal with it, then I was not talking to you in my earlier post.

If you grew up with parents that cared enough about you to give you skills that you'd need later in life to be successful, then I can understand how you became successful. That was me too.

This is not primarily about money or race - the tools your parents (or your community) gave you is what you have to work with. The kids I see have little to no successful life tools from which to build on. They were not taught them.

I'm tired of people saying "they're just like me... I was poor too."  It's not about being poor. It's about the life experiences you have and lessons learned.[/quote]

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