Yeah, this is why A LOT of white people get pissed when they are told they are privileged. I'm white. I grew up living in a trailer. My father was a coal miner and we often had to choose what utilities we needed for the month. Meaning, that if it was winter we probably didn't have phone service because we needed the electric for heat. When I went to college I got into a top school because of my grades and ACT scores. However, I found out I was SO BEHIND because I didn't go to private school or have access to all the stuff the rich students did. Then, when I applied for medical school I was judged more harshly for the crime of being white. I had to get higher MCAT scores than students of other races because of my skin color. Some of my black classmates made a 17 on the MCAT (basically failing) while I had to make a 28-30 which is really high. Now, tell me how I'm "privileged." I just see having to struggle my ENTIRE life because of being poor and then having to struggle even more because I was unlucky enough to be born white.

@derekheim8172

6 ай бұрын

It's generational payback. It started around the time of school busing.

@whitney9844

6 ай бұрын

​@@derekheim8172There is no generational payback. The first person to own a slave in the states was black and the first woman to become a millionaire back in the day (when being a millionaire would be considered being a billionaire in today's terms) was a black woman. People just don't read and the schools make it so.

@aylbdrmadison1051

6 ай бұрын

Sadly many still vote for cult of personality and ignore policy. 1940-1980 Median wage growth rose 260%. 1981-2020 Median wage growth rose 5.4%. Because this is what happens when people ignore policy.

@derekheim8172

6 ай бұрын

@@whitney9844 Every generation black parents inform their children that the cops are out to get them and that everything horrible in their lives is the fault of white people. The black children then go on to become disciplinary problems that nobody is allowed to address while blaming it all on white people and taking it out on white children. This sort of organized coaching on racial hatred does not happen in white households. So white children are not prepared to be sucker punched only to have the aggressor pull out that same excuse I have heard since the 70s; "he called me a ni**er" which instantly transfers all of the grief onto the white kid. Every black generation does this. Same as voting democrat.

@derekheim8172

6 ай бұрын

@@Lilbroda Not at all, I figured out their weaknesses and rolled by them. It didn't take long because they were so loud about it and obvious. For me this started in 6th grade when I was bused to the Geo. Washington school to help the grade performance and make failing teachers look a little better. My black classmates were 2 to 4 years older, because we didn't have social promotion back then and dumb kids repeated grades until they were no longer dumb. Today dumb kids graduate because allowing them to repeat a grade has been whined out of existence by calling it racist. Which basically doomed multiple generations of black kids giving rise to horrible people like Beverly Hall who robbed a whole generation of Atlanta children out of their government-provided (and mandated) education. So yes, I've seen the government totally fk black Americans. But that's not "ALL" white people doing that to them is it? No. It's just a small group of them who also happen to be fk-ing white Americans at the same time. So going after average white people to claim payback is so wrong, but apparently feels so right. The target should be the wealthy ruling class who float among us care free as they watch us slide deeper into a ruined nation. ALL of this social nonsense is designed to keep average people of all colors at each other's throats while leaving the wealthy alone. And it works perfectly! Americans are fk-ed and have NO friends in Washington or city hall.

Not all poor people are black. And not all black people are poor. Economic inequality is not a black thing, it’s a human thing.

@nobody8717

6 ай бұрын

But poor kids are just as smart as white kids. I heard so from the President of the United States.

@larryd1344

6 ай бұрын

@@nobody8717 And that is true. We are losing so many bright minds because of poverty. Almost every civiliced country in the world have free education....

@scruffmcgruffthecrimedawg5661

6 ай бұрын

​@@larryd1344the brightest minds thought human history didn't come from wealth or great schooling

@derekheim8172

6 ай бұрын

Most of the poor people in America are white. And that's in real numbers, not "nuanced" percentages. Which should be proof that something is very wrong with our economy. But everyone else doesn't care because they are certain that white people deserve it. That kind of hate is reinforced every generation. We're watching it happen in real time. The words are shouted out now, loud and proud. Even the media feeds it.

@rachelmarie2228

6 ай бұрын

There are a lot more aide, scholarships, grants, handouts, etc if you are a minority though. Go to any college acceptance or financial aide website and try putting your information in as white and then as black, everything else the same. You will get way, way more money as a minority than you would as a white applicant with the same financial situation and grades.

I had a manager at McDonald's whose husband passed away. She went from dual income down to one. On this same income she had to pull her daughter out of school and put her in therapy because of a mental break down. Had to sell the house she bought with her husband because it was too expensive. And then start working multiple jobs to try and support her family. She got sick and someone else had to call an ambulance for her because she couldn't afford it. And yet every time she didn't bend over backwards for a black customer she was racist and privileged. What they're complaining about isn't white privilege it's economic privilege but no one wants to hear that side of the argument.

@whuffer5103

4 ай бұрын

Don't forget, pretty privilege exists also

@sarahsoutar252

4 ай бұрын

It's the ONLY argument.

@pollystyrene99

4 ай бұрын

No they need to hear it. Often.

@marissashantez6051

4 ай бұрын

What they are complaining about isnt any kind of privilege at all. I mean obviously it sucks to be poor. And especially now with Democrats causing prices to increase so much as in the last 3 years. But it's not a human right to have lots of money. It's not a human right to own your own home. Although in 1970 74% of Americans owned their own homes, now it's 34%. And the more immigration we have, the less for everyone. Resources stay the same, the number of people dividing them is bigger.

@debbiestevens6312

Күн бұрын

Don’t people have mortgage insurance in case of illness/ death or is it very expensive?

A part of White culture is not being vocal about your problems. We would rather crawl through glass than admit we aren’t doing well or ask for help. When you dig down, there’s a lot of White folks silently struggling and you would never know. For most generations that came before boomers, poverty and struggle among Whites was the norm.

@VVayVVard

4 ай бұрын

It depends on the person, of course. Some people just love to complain. You see these types of people in every ethnic group, both genders (and every non-binary) and even every economic class.

@theevermind

4 ай бұрын

Reality is that every single human, everywhere and at every time, suffers and struggles. Each person will struggler over different things, but suffering is the universal truth of human existence.

@TurboLoveTrain

4 ай бұрын

The reason you don't hear more about poor white communities is because they still have lower crime rates and it blows the liberal narrative out of the water that crime is directly connected to poverty. The other reason you don't hear about rural poor whites is because they don't get priority on pubic assistance--I live in one of the whitest towns in america and the low income housing is full of imported minorities shipped here from big cities and the whites are the ones living in tents in the woods--more things the liberal agenda would prefer to not have spoken about in public circles.

@marissashantez6051

3 ай бұрын

They are less quiet about it since liberals have come up with the white privilege idea, and our government and large companies have implemented it as DEI. As if being white somehow magically helps you pay bills. Wether youre black or white there will always be people who like or dislike you for it, that includes bosses, and HR people. Being white doesnt increase your opportunities. Most likely the opposite.

@Jennifer-pb9nd

2 ай бұрын

it's still the norm.

I used to be bullied by kids living in section 8 because I was a poor white girl from the trailer park, they assumed I didn’t have a shower and other basic things and now I’m told I’m privileged because I’m white .. I worked my ass off for a car and still live with my single mom who raised 7 kids because I can’t get government assistance. I’ve been given a watch from ANOTHER POOR PERSON , to look professional at interviews. Just to be told by strangers I didn’t have to do anything for what little I have . I can’t even afford new underwear when I need it . I still worry about paying my bills and eating every month. It’s an insulting way of living.

@lavenderhearts6402

6 ай бұрын

I feel you. I used to be made fun of because of my clothes being either hand me downs or walmart, & rarely got new clothes or anything. Every week, I'm crunching my money, trying to pay bills & put stuff in the house, but often times, its one or the other.

@2okaycola

6 ай бұрын

Underwear are a luxury

@princesspikachu3915

6 ай бұрын

I use mine until they are too worn and have to be thrown away. I have a daughter and her new clothes come first. I haven’t bought hardly anything new outside of shoes for myself in nearly 6 years back when my kid was still an infant. My kid is at the age where she doesn’t realize how tough we have it. The family Switch game console has been in pawn for over a year now and sometimes we are late paying the interest but the pawn shop owner is nice enough to let us make double payments. We have to pawn stuff a lot and sometimes I hate getting new electronics because I know I won’t enjoy them long before they have to be pawned. Currently living without a TV. The phone is the only entertainment left and the only way to check the news. It stinks being poor and having to do without. 😭

@Cafeallday222

5 ай бұрын

I'm sorry you are going through that. Most people do not think in racial boxes like it always shows online. There are some, but most of people will see that you are suffering and don't think you magically have money from having fair skin.

@scythianking7315

5 ай бұрын

Common denominator here. "Single Mothers:

It never ceases to amaze me how sheltered from reality a lot of college students are!

@TheSamjane4

5 ай бұрын

That’s because they only meet people like themselves…the poor don’t go to college or they hang in different social circles because the poor can’t afford to socialise with the rich kids who travel and eat out all the time

@marissashantez6051

4 ай бұрын

@@TheSamjane4 Poor people do go to college, but they are not going to talk about it.

@terryfrit3749

4 ай бұрын

Poverty and hard times doesn't care what color you are .

@jeannewallace8967

3 ай бұрын

people , if they can . will shelter their children... and we tend to send children to college...maybe that needs to change....maybe kids should have to work in the real world for a while before they can attend college...it would make them more serious about education , and less likely to party their lives down the drain

As a white person who grew up in the depths of poverty, in and out of foster care, it kills me when people say I have "white privilege". I had ZERO privilege! I went to bed hungry almost every night growing up, I was abused physically/mentally/emotionally/sexually starting at the age of 4, I used to have to go find food out of dumpsters when my mom would go on drug benders and abandon me and my infant brother for days in an apartment alone. I barely made it through school because I was expected to raise my 6 younger siblings, I never owned clothes or shoes that fit, and as soon as I turned 11 I had to start babysitting to help support my family financially, I never got to go to college because I had to help raise my mother and her kids. I was kicked out at 17 with the clothes on my back to go live in a tent on a campground while I worked a job to save money so I could move into a motel, then get an apartment and become a nanny. I didn't even know how to drive a car, found out my mother took out credit in my name when I was 10 years old, drained my bank account, and left me to figure out how to be an adult when I was still a child who just wanted to be loved. I worked so damn hard to become a CNA, get my GED, did 15 years of therapy, and finally figured out how to put all of that behind me by working my ass off, only to have people tell me that the world handed me everything on a silver platter because I'm white! That is the biggest load of crap I have ever heard! It not only disrespects our journey, our suffering, our struggles, our differences, our pain, and our difficulties but it is one of the most demeaning and racist things I have ever heard! Not all white people come from the same country or background. I'm a third-generation-born American. My ancestors were Vikings, I'm Norwegian and Scottish. I am not even allowed to be proud of that fact without someone acting like I'm some kind of Nazi but every black person can be "Black and Proud!" They can have black-only dating websites, black-only events, black-only dorms, black-only anything! But all white people are treated like we all come from the same culture, same country, same background, and the same lifestyle. We aren't allowed to be proud of our history, our ancestors, our culture, our traditions, and ESPECIALLY NOT OUR SKIN COLOR! We are supposed to hate ourselves for something that we didn't do and most of our ancestors didn't do! Something that black people did as well! Slavery wasn't invented by white Americans! Or even white people in general! White people didn't go to the inner parts of Africa and steal people! Other Africans sold Africans to white people! White people were actually sold as slaves in Africa too! Look it up! Slavery has been around since the dawn of civilization! And even here in the States blacks owned other blacks! The first case on the law books was a black man taking another to court claiming him as property! We love to rewrite history to reflect our feelings, not the actual facts. White people died freeing the slaves in the Civil War, white Abolitionists helped free slaves through the Underground Railroad, white people marched for blacks to have equal rights, and white people were even murdered for doing so! But sure this country is so damn racist that every white person is just born evil and should hate themselves because for some reason certain people can't get over slavery. Even though the Holocaust was a lot more recent, killed a lot more people, was far more brutal, far more demeaning, and you don't hear or see millions of Jewish people claiming every white person is evil and they want their apology and reparations right now or else. So if they are capable of not blaming us for what people from the past did, demanding a public apology, demanding reparations for all of their murdered loved ones, their years spent tortured and in slave labor, their stolen assets and property, then why the hell can't the black community stop shooting up their own neighborhoods, robbing their own people, stop having babies out of wedlock, stop having fatherless homes, start finishing high-school and stop blaming white people for their poor decision making or claiming that anytime a white person does well it's due to some "invisible privilege" but rather the fact that they obviously made better choices. Last I checked even with all the bad things that happened to me once I got my GED I never had a baby outside of marriage, I got my credit fixed, I made smart financial choices, and that's how I ended up where I am today. No privilege involved, no luck, just a lot of hard work and making GOOD CHOICES!!!! So if I can get from the very bottom to the middle class anyone can but it's about choices and accountability. Blaming other people for your poor choices gets you nowhere. Most people fail because when things go well it's all they're doing but if they fail it is someone else's fault. They refuse to look inward take accountability for their choices and make better ones in the future. Without accountability, you get nowhere. In our country the only privilege is wealth! If you don't have wealth then we are all on the same level regardless of skin color. The only ones trying to bring back segregation are black people. The only ones going on TikTok asking to breed the white people out of existence are black people, the only ones calling for all white people to die are black people, the only ones saying no white person should speak are black people, and the only ones calling for a complete genocide of the white race are black people, all while saying "you can't be racist if you're black". We have reached a point in our society of complete black privilege while also allowing them to claim victim status. What an utter sad state of affairs. Especially since most of them vote Democrat and don't realize that the Democratic party is the one that voted FOR segregation and slavery. That Lincoln was Republican, and it was Republicans that were agaonst segregation and after Lincoln was assassinated it was his DEMOCRAT Vice President That took back the gift of 40 acres and a mule! The Democrats are the ones Especially Biden who fought to make crack a higher prison sentence than coke, who didn't want to give blacks the right to vote and the Democrats that decided the best way to destroy the black community was to destroy the black family by tearing families apart using the welfare system and drugs. It's all there in your local library or Google to find. The Democrats hate the black community and have destroyed it. In fact it was a Democrat President who showed a KKK movie in the White House! But I guess when you're too busy being brainwashed by the media to do your research it is easy to hate white people just like they want you to, so you won't wake up and realize that the real enemy is them and they are really just using racism to distract you from what they are truly up to. Because the enemy isn't you or me, it's them. They want us fighting each other so we are too busy to realize they are using us as pawns. They don't care about us, they only care about power, and if we don't all wake up soon it will be too late!

@FayAlexGG

4 ай бұрын

❤

@Melaeyn

4 ай бұрын

Its gross because 'white' people make up the majority of poverty (in the US). But this ideology around white dominance makes and encourages people into thinking every white person (the hyper successful) live with gold spoons in their mouths.

@mikeottersole

4 ай бұрын

You are an exceptional person and have learned life lessons that others cannot understand. Sharing your experiences is an important part of helping others understand that life is what you make it, and blaming others and carrying resentment in your heart hurts you more than anyone you resent. You are a gem

@cassandraburns3792

4 ай бұрын

@MikeEbersole-oq6hu Thank you! I have prided myself on not being a victim because being a victim allows the people that hurt you to OWN you. I write my own story and NO ONE owns me. I love history and unfortunately in our modern world we don't teach it enough for people to realize our government uses ignorance as a tool to keep us from the truth of their actions. Victims make great sheep.

@sibergirl

4 ай бұрын

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 God bless you! What an amazing story of triumph!

I am actually concerned for the blonde girl (girl that grew up in grandma's basement and mother died recently). She obviously had survived a lot. She had the 1000yd stare going on and it was obvious she was somewhere else at times. I wish her the best and hope she uses the pain to her benefit to better her life. I also hope she remembers where she started and doesn't let college screw her up. She has more life experience already than most of those kids and can be someone if she plays her hand right, on the other hand she could self implode.

@2okaycola

6 ай бұрын

Most kids are really selfish so they may not understand her. Happens to me all the time

@contagioushate

5 ай бұрын

She'll likely be told she's privileged because she has a car now and an 'inheritance', and that she doesnt deserve it because it was given to her, and someone else deserves it more. Thats exactly what happened to me. People will still be jealous and see her as better off somehow. My best friend said to me when she found out my dad died "I wish my dad would die too so I could have his money".

@bethpace6936

5 ай бұрын

@@contagioushate Wow! What a horrible thing to say! I would not be friends with that person anymore...

@njfilly8705

5 ай бұрын

I actually hope she finds a way other than college to make a life for herself. College may corrupt her and she may be abused by other students and professors.

@edie-bleubird6812

5 ай бұрын

Yep, and the next girl talked over her at first opportunity

I had a discussion about this at my work place. We was talking about lunch for school and I mentioned I had a bag lunch everyday. I was immediately told by a black coworker I was privileged. I have been working since I was 8 years old. My cousins and I did odd jobs and lawn work with my grandfather. I littlerly worked on cars, slaughtered cows and roofed houses before I was 14. We ate onces a month at Burger King or McDonald's because it was too expensive for us. Our summer air conditioner was 2 box fans hooked to an old car batter and having the windows open to get air flow; I live in hot and humid south carolina. That bag lunch was litterly ham sandwich normally from a pig I helped slaughtered that we cook on Saturday or Sunday, corn that we grew becouse buying it at the store was too expensive and jello made from the gelatin from cooking the bones of the a pig or cow we had and flavored the blackberries we found on the side of the road. I still have the wooden butter churn I used to make butter from cream we would get for helping local farmers birth calves although it hasn't been used since I graduated high-school. The cost of my brown bag lunch cost me about $1 a week and several hours to days of work becouse we couldn't afford the stuff from the store. The bad part is my wife had a simular child hood and it's not uncommon for around here. Yet per racist leftist I am privilege becouse the color of my skin.

@dsmkrotj4990

6 ай бұрын

I would think being able to buy lunch from outside is a privilege not a bagged lunch that person is crazy.

@WhatTheWHAT524

6 ай бұрын

​@@dsmkrotj4990Right! It truly blows my mind how ignorant and hypocritical this gross narrative has become. I am so tired of people allowing the powers that be to continue to control and divide. It keeps us under their thumb all that much more. Everyone has their own struggles. PERIOD. Now that's not to say that there are not different struggles for different people but to say something like just because I'm white automatically means I have and will NEVER experience hardships is quite disgusting and rude. We are ALL one race, the HUMAN RACE. We all experience life differently yet similarly. We should focus more on making the world a better place for EVERYONE. I have really had enough of this nonsense. Best of wishes to you and yours! God Bless! 💖🙏💖

@islandwills2778

6 ай бұрын

When I was in school it was the wealthy kids who could afford the lunch program. If you were poor you could have the government pay for it but you had to wait till after the kids who paid for it were served first.

@sodopianos1412

6 ай бұрын

That’s what I thought too. Bag lunch was cheaper than school lunch. I guess the definition is different depending what you were told is all.

@ValorWarrior5258

6 ай бұрын

I agree about the privilege thing. Looking back, I didnt even know there was anything different as a child other than working hard! This is how we grew up too, in rural Georgia. We worked hard as a family just to store up and have heat for winter, my mom had a little sewing machine and made our dresses , we never thought anything about it. Sitting and listening to this panel of young adults, I got the sense each one was trying to sound worse off than the other one, and only ONE of the four mentioned working at 14. My parents were working in cotton fields and log woods by the ages of 6, we were working potato, flower and watermelon fields by the time we were 10-12. Not to mention the farm work ( well, we had cows, chickens and corn fields on 3 acres, if that is considered a farm nowadays! ). We cut wood for our woodburning stove. We were blessed, because we had parents who taught us to work together, and we made it. Sometimes were tougher than others, but we all made it!

Neither does having privilege. I'd wager that 9 out of 10 of the blacks and arabs in that class come from households most would consider wealthy.

@Sneakyeggs

6 ай бұрын

No doubt he had a black girl and her parents on not to long ago. It was insane how privileged this girl was....also how stuck up she was. It was her parents fault for sure.

@jackiechilds8047

6 ай бұрын

100% of blacks and non whites chose a University on top of a mountain in Pennsylvania that is predominantly white.

@itechnwrite

6 ай бұрын

It’s a habit - childish self-indulgence of always assuming we know more than we do. And being so clueless as to just how far off from reality our assumptions truly are…we waste so much of life boxing with shadows that we create. Embarrassing.

@Echoingencouragement

6 ай бұрын

We need to realize that it's the ELITE vs. everyone else. This is not black vs. white, left vs. right, or really even rich vs. poor. Please know and/or study your inalienable rights.

@andromedamessier3176

6 ай бұрын

@@Echoingencouragement you know my dad said that Americans of all ethnicities used to come together to protest the wall street. However, later on the media started to divide people based on race. Letting people believe that it is not the elite faults but racial system etc.

While growing up, me and my White friends were always significantly worse off financially than all of the non-White friends we had. I grew up in CA where there is a lot of discrimination against White people in school and for employment. It is worse there now.

@Quantrills.Raiders

5 ай бұрын

i went to a nice school in denver and the faculty and middle class black girls absolutely hated me for no reason

@chrystallee1563

4 ай бұрын

She sounds racist.

@moriyamakyon1067

22 күн бұрын

tbh income inequality is such a thing, like, im not even from US and they still tell me that im privileged, like...at school times i sometimes didn't had a much to eat (that's why at 8 years i stopped my birthdays, they were too expensive) and at the same time my friend had 2 story mansion with car park and etc. and other friend got his own house gifted for his 14th birthday

At 25 I got the majority of my spine fused together. I had to leave college, give up all my dreams and live with my parents to recover... and I wasn't recovering. Then someone very close to me tried to lecture me on my "privilege" and how much better I had it than any person of color. And I said, "The bottom fell out from my entire life. Don't you think if there was a 'privilege' button I could push, I would have pushed it by now? And if it can't heal you or pay your bills, what good is 'privilege'?"

My family was homeless until I was 10! We lived in tents in state parks and then my dad bought an old school bus and sort of converted it into a camper type vehicle. After that we lived in vacant lots and fields around Arizona. I finally got to live in an actual house, when I was 16. I'm white, pretty much every white person I've ever known grew up in abject poverty.

@jodihouts6032

6 ай бұрын

I am curious because my daughter could also say she was "homeless" as far as living conditions in her youth. But we were not forced homeless. We chose to move (to a trendy place) and live in a travel trailer, and we had many friends that lived in tents, boats and even sheds in order to break out of the conventional factory work and lifetime grind of our original birth place. In the 70's, 80's and possibly part of the 90's it was never called or considered "homeless". It was called transient, and those participating in it felt a freedom about their ability to change their future. I wonder how many so called homeless are making the same decisions now, but are treated as less fortunate.

@Sneakyhorse12

6 ай бұрын

Yeah , me too, and we were in Australia, lived out in the country , so we were a little protected from drugs and crazies that were not actual family members, a lot of white people all over the world come from generations of crushing poverty and find it difficult to stomach these ill informed children who obviously are unable to understand that life for most of the people in the world was pretty difficult and we all have similar stories , except white people work shitty low paid jobs, pay taxes so that black people can sit around whinging about how they can’t get jobs paying 80,000 a year, jeez.

@marktwain2053

6 ай бұрын

​@@jodihouts6032 An entirely different situation. I knew some hippies back in the mid to late 60s who lived in tents and teepees up in the Tahoe National Forest a few miles from where I lived. I guess you could say they were "Homeless", but further investigation (when you could catch them when they weren't stoned) showed that most, if not all, were from VERY affluent families. They CHOSE to live that way, and when they were through with their "Adventure", they returned to their Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Pacific Heights, Nob Hill, etc., mansions. A bit different story.

@TheSamjane4

5 ай бұрын

@@jodihouts6032you chose to live that way and if you chose otherwise you could just go live in a house. Those living in tents because they have to have no way out…no way to get a house…it’s a whole,e different set of circumstances. You can’t just live on a boat unless you have the money to buy one…same as a caravan. If you want to make that your lifestyle to post on instagram then have fun. But the real poor are suffering in their hot tents with nowhere to store food and no way to enrol their kid in school as they have no fixed address. No access to healthcare or showers even

I am a middle aged white woman. I was raised very poor. My mother was on welfare and food stamps my whole life, my dad was remarried with a wife that couldn't work and they had 4 other kids. My dad provided for his household of 6 and child support for my sister and I on only $8.00 an hour. I never went to college after highschool because I was always reminded that if I wanted to go, I had to pay for it myself. No one told me, not even school guidance counselors, that there was financial aid to help. All I knew was that there were special grants for minorities and scholarships for extremely smart kids. So, I never went. Later as a single mom I looked for government assistance and was told "housing assistance was a long wait list because they prioritized minority applicants first." So, I worked two jobs to raise my girls because I had to. I guess my white privilege card got lost in the mail.

@RoseHanson4056

5 ай бұрын

I'm a 47 year old white female. Grew up poor, in a bad neighborhood. My drug addicted father left me and my disabled mother. I got my front tooth broken while being called a "white b----" at 17 years old. Now I have to apologize for being privileged? Yes, many black people DO have valid complaints, but they're not realizing that many of us have similar struggles. We have more in common with other working class people, than we do with rich politicians. "White privelege" might exist for a middle class, suburban family. But try walking in a bad neighborhood as a young white female.

@vonnie0_0

5 ай бұрын

@RomyHansen4056 I’m sorry that happened to you, I really hope things are better for you now.

@aimenhoodle666

5 ай бұрын

I am a middle aged white woman who grew up poor, neglected and abused. I asked questions. I learned about college on my own and put myself through school working multiple jobs. I’ve been knocked down over and over and I keep getting up. I now have a 28 year career as an RN… and I have privilege because of the color of my skin. If you don’t believe that, you need to check yourself. I would bet money you have never had a real, honest friendship with anyone with brown skin. Not really.

@elouise5593

5 ай бұрын

​@@aimenhoodle666 I have many friends who happen to be brown skinned. Most of them are doing a lot better than me, so don't give that white privilege bullshit!

5 ай бұрын

Women count as a minority and thus... the aid exists for them too.

My ex-husband left me with 2 kids and pregnant. I was forced on welfare, food stamps, and moved into the projects. I worked hard and finished LPN school, and right after that, had my 4th child after making a huge mistake. I found out quickly that I couldn't afford day care, rent, food, gas, uniforms and tried to go back to school to get my RN and was refused. SO we ended up on welfare until my youngest turned 5 and started school. I went back to work and struggled, barely making ends meet, working night shift because of the higher pay with shift differential. It took us years of eating mac and cheese and bologna sandwiches, but I now own my own home, my boys are all grown now with families of their own. So don't tell me I was "privileged" because I'm white. I worked my butt off, sacrificed eating so my boys could eat, counting on handouts from churches and schools for clothing for my kids.

Raised 2 children single mother, denied assistance making $5.00 hr was told can't help you you have a job

I grew up very poor in a mixed race neighborhood. We never talked about being poor, because everyone I knew was poor. It was normal. I thought everyone lived like we did. Me and my sister were raised by a single Dad who worked two jobs. I haven't seen my mother since I was 4 years old and she offered no support at all. My Dad tried to get help from the state at one point in the 70's when he got out of the Navy, but was told assistance was for women with children, not men. That's how they treated Vietnam vets back in the day. Not sure if anything has changed since. I never received gifts unless it was Christmas or my birthday. All my clothes were bought in second hand stores. If I had to sum up my childhood with one word, I'd say "hungry". I was always hungry. I starting working when I was 17 doing physical skilled labor and 32 years later I'm still doing the same thing, except my body started to break down a few years ago, so I know my time is limited. About 15 years ago I looked into getting a grant to get into college or a trade school, but there was nothing available for White males. It's frustrating to hear people talk about White privilege because it feels like it's used as a racial slur, but it's also amusing because most of the people who throw that term around have no clue people like me exist.

@aaronlayes4485

6 ай бұрын

Nothing has changed I make 32k a year for a house hold of 4 working 70 hours a week and I was denied all assistance from the state. I am an Army veteran and I have never been able to really claim a state of wealth. nothing has changed it has only gotten worse.

@dianaklien1560

6 ай бұрын

When my husband and I first started out as teenage parents, my husband went to see about food stamps. All the other people there were hispanic and got their stamps for free. We (white-looking) had to pay. For example: we paid $75 for $100 worth of food stamps. Why they didn’t just give us $25 worth is beyond me, but that is how they did it. Anyway, we ended up getting off of them pretty fast, so it was a good thing.

@craignelson3965

6 ай бұрын

Yep the hand me downs i got had been through three older bros. Never had new shoes period.

@craignelson3965

6 ай бұрын

Every holiday it was one present and you were expected to share it and to be happy about it.

@craignelson3965

6 ай бұрын

Why so dad can fall asleep in the bar parking lot before he finally comes home to start his military like commands on whoever enters his sight.

You nailed it!!!!! Wealth/poverty is the real issue, but the powers-that-be try to hide that behind race. Wealth is the source of societal privilege not whiteness.

@rhondaflesher8313

6 ай бұрын

As my brother once put it - the big push behind racism is the big shot wealthy people (particularly some politicians). They use it as a way of deflecting negative views of themselves greedily hoarding all of the wealth. When the poor start to complain about unfair wages or similar subjects the wealthy would either tell them it is all the fault of some other race or pull out the line "At least your better/ more superior than the people of THAT RACE."

@TheSpecialJ11

5 ай бұрын

There are some interesting graphs of the explosion in talk about race, racism, etc. in news media. It all blew up right after Occupy Wall Street.

@jeanettemclaughlin4296

5 ай бұрын

I am not minimizing any person's struggles. I do believe that there are people in government who push the racial issue and income gap. I believe this is because if we all reach common ground, we'll have more time to keep an eye on the shady things they do.

@jarblewarble

5 ай бұрын

Yes, economic inequality is just as important as racial inequality.

@CaduceusErin

5 ай бұрын

​@@jarblewarbleEconomic inequality will never be fixed, and thus it is far more important than racial inequality which doesn't exist to the extent it matters much in the US. People are self-segregating now and calling it "progress".

It's so nice to see someone ur age actually using their OWN brain!! Well done! Keep it up!!

I grew up in a 2 bedroom house no electricity no running water 8 people lived there and often we had other people with no where to live come sleep on the floor. We were so privileged………..

I'm white, my mother was a waitress and my father was a bus driver. I started babysitting at 12, working part-time at 14 and working full-time in a factory on afternoons at 17 while still in high-school. I will argue a poor black child in the projects has it better than a poor white child in appallachia with no running water. Skin colour doesn't matter, the only colour that matters is GREEN.

@slaydesantis294

6 ай бұрын

I hear ya on that! I grew up on a dairy farm. We were DIRT poor. We grew our food, and when we ran out of meat, my bro went hunting for it. We lived 10 miles from the main town. We did without a lot of things. We didn't even have a Christmas one year, because there was no money for presents. I do remember having the tree and a really good meal, though. I was lucky that my Mom could cook from scratch and had a green thumb. We would've starved. We did get food stamps, too.

@mademsoisellerhapsody

6 ай бұрын

Amen

@amythompson7700

5 ай бұрын

@@slaydesantis294 What galls me somewhat is that Christmas has become very commercialized and parents feel pressured to buy their children all kinds of toys. Less than 100 years ago this wasn't the case, even for the middle class here in the states. My dad was born in 1923 and they made presents for each other in his household and they were not poor. The big treat was an orange in their stockings.

@aubreymorgan9763

5 ай бұрын

i'll add something to that. a poor black kid in the projects is able to apply to and receiving funding for so many things because of their skin color. there are many many hundreds of grants for black owned businesses, black scholarships, black charities and originations (same for latino and native american). show me 1 college scholarship that specifies you need to be white.

@skal9510

5 ай бұрын

I grew up poor in suburbs of L.A. my father worked nights and my mom days, so one would always be home for my twin sisters and me. Second hand or home made clothes, food from the church. We all started working at 14. The oranges in our stockings were our favorite. My husband and I are middle income. Our girls(4) were taught to work very young in our business. All of them were working their own jobs by 14​. All will be successful if they want it. They have the skills. We put oranges in theirstockings every year as a reminder. My husband grew up middleclass and never wanted for anything but his parents were immigrants and he was working by 14, as well. A very good work ethic goes a long way. @amythompson7700

At the end one of the girls said “I could be poorer.” That’s a great attitude to have because no matter your problems there are always people that have it worse. So we have to be thankful for what we have.

@southernladyish

6 ай бұрын

Absolutely! It’s more about appreciating what God has blessed you with rather than focusing on what you don’t have. This type of mentality has gotten me out of some of my darkest days.. days that some people luckily may never experience. Every day I would wake up and say “Thank you Father for the shoes on my feet, the food that I eat, the roof over my head, and the bed I sleep in.” A lot of younger people now days don’t have that type of mentality. You can always tell the people who really have been through the struggle apart from the ones who choose to identify with it.

@CynthiaAllenStrawberry

6 ай бұрын

@@southernladyish God bless you. ❤️🙏

Good message man! I'm so happy people are talking about this. My family was loaded when I was a small child until my father became an addict and lost his job. We moved in with my grandparents by age 11 and auctioned off our house to pay off debt. I now am 41 with 3 jobs to get by. I'm white. Known poverty in the extreme. Was homeless for 5yrs just trying to save enough to get into a space. It's def not been easy. But I've never been the victim. I'm responsible for my own reality.

I commend the professor. And the students for standing in front of the class and speaking freely about their situations.

It's not a new thing, it's been going on forever: the MOST discriminated against people in the WORLD are the poor. Poverty doesn't give a toss about your skin color, gender, pronoun preferences or religion. Nobody talks about the poor in a real way because the poor represent everyone's biggest fear- that they could end up the same way.

The blond girl who lost her mom is making me cry. If I were in that room, I more than likely would have just walked down there and hug her as hard as I could. I grew up lower income, but not dirt poor. My mom did grow up dirt poor. Lived on a farm, no running water in the house. Our family is from Appalachia, where dirt poor sometimes means dirt floors.

@2okaycola

6 ай бұрын

My grandpa was dirt poor. He lived outside as a kid. That was in AZ

@PiscesPower1994

5 ай бұрын

My grandpa had dirt floors too! Rural Oklahoma 1940s.

@t.dig.2040

5 ай бұрын

Yeap, I have family in the back, backwoods of Appalachia. It's only gotten more tragic with the addiction issues out there.

@kelsowins

5 ай бұрын

My dad grew up in Georgia, born 1927. Textile mill villages for the workers, where his parents worked. Dirt floors. He later joined the Navy during WW2, came up through the enlisted ranks (12 yrs.), and made officer. I never knew that kind of want, but he sure did. He and my mom made sure my sisters and I didn't have to be without.

@user-xw4up3sz2l

5 ай бұрын

Female privileges.... if a man tried that, it would end with being assaulted by white knights in the room and facing a prison sentence...

I grew up sometimes homeless. I worked since I was 14. My husband and I have created a life now for our kids that they don’t have to worry about where their next meal is coming from. They get new sports gear when they need it. They play competitive sports. - our oldest who is 17 has worked for our businesses since he was 15. Our 13 yr old just started working at our business. Working young creates good work ethic. It’s character building. It’s not just for “poor kids”.

@amy-avnas

5 ай бұрын

I do agree with that, but good work ethic also comes from good parenting🙂.

@Melaeyn

4 ай бұрын

​@@amy-avnas And luck.

Not only do you have common sense, but your humility also speaks volumes about your character. IMMEDIATELY relaying it to your experiences and showing the level of empathy you are is already a huge bound and leap forward in any of these discussions compared to all the other people talking about it.

When I went to highschool I had ONE pair of jeans, two shirts and one sweater. Dad was too busy cheating on my mom with his mistress and second family so my mom was the only one providing for us. She had an office job and had to support herself, three kids, granma, and two elder aunts. Still she managed to buy me a new pair of shoes and I was so thrilled that I kept looking down at my shoes in class. The teacher scolded me and said I was acting like I´d never been bought shoes before. Well... sigh. And yeah, we are white as milk.

@mademsoisellerhapsody

6 ай бұрын

Same. Mine were red clogs

@georgiarabaey678

5 ай бұрын

I remember returning a new pair of Walmart tennies because we found an old hand-me-down pair that fit me. I got a new pair after I wore the soles off of the hand-me-downs.

I'm so sick of the 'divide and conquer' tactic being used against all of us. We are ALL brothers and sisters. PERIOD!!!!! Skin colour, religion, culture, race, financial standing, sexual preference, etc, etc, etc...none of that matters. We all bleed red, what else do we need? Enough is enough. We need to come together as the brothers and sisters we truly are on this planet. Sending love out to ALL my brothers and sisters on this planet. Xoxoxo

@Featherfinder

5 ай бұрын

It’s interesting, though, that (I’m pretty sure) the concept of our being “brothers and sisters” was introduced by the Christian religion, wasn’t it? Before Jesus came I don’t think anyone talked about us all being brothers and sisters as children of God.

@deanne1671

5 ай бұрын

@@Featherfinder oh well. If you're going to reject the concept strictly on the basis of it being articulated by the Christian's first, fine. That is your choice, as we all have free will. I am not a Christian, I believe in God, believe Jesus was a man, and that we are all the sons and daughters of existence itself, call it God, Creator, Fate, whatever, makes no difference to me. Heard it articulated perfectly once, by whom originally, I unfortunately can't remember, but....'we are the Universe becoming concious of itself' aka....the physical manifestation of the universe itself. Study chemistry, physics, biology, geology....then pull back and look at the really BIG picture....you can actually SEE how it is all connected. How things are all interrelated and connected, as well as even reflective of each other. From every spectrum. May it be reflected in the rays of the spectrum of light, or felt via the frequency of sound, the very resonance of existence.....it becomes very obvious. It is all connected. It is all apart of a greater 'one'. I choose to express that in the terms of 'brother' and 'sister' as it seems quite fitting. Thank you for your comment, I appreciate your thoughts very much. I always enjoy reading others perspectives, and ideas. Excellent! Thank you, all the best to you!

@leonie7754

5 ай бұрын

@@deanne1671 sounds like you're a pantheist ;) look it up. It always made the most sense to me :D

@user-xw4up3sz2l

5 ай бұрын

Then start protesting the very existence of social and politically protected class status for anyone.

@deanne1671

5 ай бұрын

@@user-xw4up3sz2l why should I protest? Why get myself so upset? I find a more affective method to be, to live as I wish the World to be. Treat others the way I wish to be treated. 'To BE the change I want to see' as the saying goes. When I was younger, and full of 'fire' , I'd already be out there, protesting. I would jump right in, get all riled up, yelling and screaming. Making signs and getting in peoples faces. I would rather slow down a bit, try and see things from multiple angles. I try to think positively, send that vibe out there to the World everyday, by just trying my best to be a good person. I'm not always going to get it right. I am not perfect, nor have any expectations of anyone else to be either. I'm on this life journey, with everyone else on this planet. At the end of the day, I don't want to fight. Not anymore. I would rather sit down to a cup of tea or coffee with my so-called 'opponent' and just talk. Ask about their opposing view and ideas. See if we can find some middle ground somewhere. Something we both can appreciate and agree on. Then take it from there. See what could happen. I truly do believe that anything is possible. And I truly do believe in the power of compassion, mutual respect, forgiveness, the potential for change, and a way forward. For ALL of us. Regardless of backgrounds, beliefs, politics, religion, social standing, etc, etc, etc.... Thank you for having read my comment(s). I appreciate your thoughts, and your time, VERY much. I wish you, and all of yours, the VERY best! Thank you!

I think this is great. I'm starting to see more and more people get this, and when we all get it, we can all come together as a country and lift each other up.

I still remember sitting in the cafeteria in high school when a freind was getting frustrated that she couldn't get the Pell grant becuase the standards were rediculous and no one made that little money. I was too embarrassed to tell her I had a full Pell grant.

In the freezing cold West of Scotland, as a kid in the 70’s, i had an outside toilet. As a teenager in the 80’s I went to a friends party…he had ripped up newspaper pages as toilet paper in his bathroom. I could go on. These kids man. 😢

@animosity8774

6 ай бұрын

Instead of reading while sitting there we would pass the time by rubbing the paper together so it wasn't as scratchy.

@Fee_V

6 ай бұрын

@@animosity8774 Well now. I wish i’d known that back then. 😬😂

@kanefindlay2549

6 ай бұрын

That in govan aye?😂

I'm feeling quite tearful after watching this. I want to give the blonde girl a hug. Living in her grandmother's basement with her mother, working since she was 14 years old, and then her mother, who she was close to dying, and yet she says things could be worse (I could be poorer)... I guess they could be. You are there at college and trying to make a better life for yourself, you aren't up there moaning about what a victim you are, you are a brave survivor and I wish the every best for you. For all of the girls on the panel.

I'm really glad this is being brought up, cos it's important. I gotta say, I'm a 40 year old guy and back in the 90s and early 2000s, we all KNEW that social class/income/money had an impact bigger than race or ethnicity (those are still important) but we KNEW it, and then it feels like around the end of the 2000s we watched a decade of crazy unfold. Young people growing up now- damn. The establishment is "rediscovering" what everyone already knows- money impacts your life choices, more than your race or ethnicity. Why are US colleges charging people crippling prices to get stupider?

It’s wonderful that you are showing this to everyone. I have lived all over the world and you never know what someone is going through by looking at them. Be kind to everyone and help out when you can.

Everyone has their own struggle. When you bust your ass for what you have and where you go, there is a higher appreciation for it.

The benefits of growing up in poverty is truly APPRECIATING what you have. I was poor 95% of my life, and I'm second generation American. I'm 37 now, and with combined income, my husband and I are just barely at upper middle class (and I make twice what he makes). Through the struggles I went though, it helped me appreciate what I have and made me want to work hard to crawl out of poverty > poor > low income > middle class > upper middle class. And I'm not done growing. I'm not done succeeding. I'm not done working hard. It was only once I stopped listening to "the world" that I started to see success. "if you're born poor, you will stay poor" "girls dont get those tech jobs" "girls make less money than men" these are all lies, designed to keep you down, to keep you poor, so you can be controlled and manipulated. YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR STARS.

@Eve0127

6 ай бұрын

Seriously. I was 14 and had one single pair of underwear 2 socks and would eat food at other peoples homes to try to keep the burden off my family (my parents dont know that). I now make decent money. I can order stuff I want online. If I see a cool shirt I can buy it. I can afford dawn dish soap and name brand food. Its nice and I appreciate it so much.

@mippyflippy6706

6 ай бұрын

This was exactly what I was waiting for one of them to say. You learn to appreciate everything, especially the small things.

@CesarHILL

6 ай бұрын

Not really convinced that one can truly appreciate having nothing... except if somehow we managed to distance ourselves from belonging concept... and even then, I would argue knowing things are worthless and can be lost in a blink of an eye, is not truly a quality.

@funsterkeyven

6 ай бұрын

​​@@CesarHILLhaving nothing sucks but it can literally be worse in countless ways. You could get into a serious accident or suffer a terrible disease. You could have abusive family or friends or no one at all. You could have been born impoverished in a country where opportunities and gov assistance are almost zero (like North Korea or Lebanon) and you can't even afford to have internet. And countless other scenarios. Guaranteed if you found out you have leukaemia or lost an arm tomorrow you'd find great appreciation for your previous state where you had nothing but your health.

@suzum.9713

6 ай бұрын

WONDERFUL comment. Thankyou!

I so appreciate your balanced viewpoint and providing an open space for honest conversation. Also your willingness to seek new information and acknowledge things you don’t know yet is a great example.

Poverty is the common denominator - and politicians on both sides want to make sure people are blind to that fact.

the most financially depressed area in the USA is the Native American reservations. #2 is Appalachia and that is where I am from. My father died in a car accident when I was 7 (Had to take donations at the funeral to pay the funeral home) and my mother had 3 kids and a 8th grade education. We were awuatters which means my mom got a small trailer and had it put on the side of the mountain and we never owned that land. For the first year we had no running water, trash service, mail, but we did get electricity after 1 month. When I graduated I qualified for full financial aid because we were so poor. We were those hillbillies who had to hunt and fish just to eat. I am white.

@buysncharge

6 ай бұрын

The apartment I grew up in. Today's market value. Is less than the value of a used Mazda sedan. And apparently the poorest region of the nation. .

my mother was telling me about her childhood once, they lived in a two room house with no insulation, just boards for walls...seven kids and two adults. Her dad had a heart attack and lost his job, he took the older kids to his family to live for a while and he and my grandmother stayed. She had just given birth to a little girl. My mom refused to go to her relatives because she was afraid if SHE left, that her mom would starve to death. She thought she at 7 could prevent her mother from starving...when she developed dementia and lived with me, she would beg me to let her mom come to stay with us. She would promise "She can have ALL my food, I won't eat ANYTHING, I PROMISE, please PLEASE let her come stay with us"...her mother had passed decades before. It was heartbreaking to know she was reliving such a horrible time.. but. they had the white privilege so I guess it wasnt all that bad..

@nolamama3558

6 ай бұрын

Living in a house with no insulation is horrible. Our house (rental) had no insulation, it was a raised floor construction, and the windows weren't done well, so we had to stuff towels into them to keep the wind out. I spent months living wholly in the living room, because we could drape off the doorways with blankets and keep the heat in the one room. I drug my mattress into the floor and my mama slept on the couch. We did the same thing in the summer. We didn't turn on the window ac unit until it hit 95, but when we did, we covered the doorways and slept in the living room to keep the air in.

I grew up in a middle-class blue collar family. It was a great life. When my dad left, I found out what poverty was. No food in the fridge. No money for clothes. Had to work through high school and didn't have the money to finish college. You learn to 'pass' as middle class so nobody will look down on you. It's not easy for anyone, no matter who they are. When you're poor, survival is the priority: paying those bills, having enough food to get through the week, hoping the old car doesn't break down again and you can get to work. Everyday I see it getting harder for everyone. Even families living in those nice houses are dealing with sky-high mortgages and many are paying the bills with credit cards and have no food in the fridge. We're all either living and working in poverty, or near it and fearing it.

I grew up in a 1 bedroom house with my mom. My room was the closet. There was enough room in there for one of those $10 fold out chairs/beds for kids and a hamper for my clothes. That's all I had. I didn't have toys. I did get free packs of pokemon cards for helping the shop keeper clean up after school. I kept them in a baggy and put them behind my pillow. I didn't have a blanket. I used the sheet from my moms blanket set. A good dinner for me was beenie weenies with cold bread. If we felt rich we'd get butter for the bread. I started detasselling when I was 12 to help pay bills. I've been told I grew up privileged. I was never told that until after I graduated HS.

I'm 50 and worked myself out of poverty by working extremely hard. I can honestly say struggling financially with my mom, stepfather and younger brother was the best times of my life. I can also say that about the time raising my own Family. I worked hard to have a nuclear family and my wife never worked while my three girls were growing up! I worked four job's and always hustling!! My best memories are having no money but just enough to rent a movie and a domino's pizza. The closest most intimate time with your loved one's is when you have nothing and struggling!!

@johnh3476

6 ай бұрын

True. I grew up in similar situation.

@questioneverything8876

6 ай бұрын

Things were alot different when you were young luv

@ALPHAMAGASLAP

6 ай бұрын

@@questioneverything8876 Things have changed but many people have stayed the same!!

It just proves that we need to stop listening to people telling us who we are. I grew up with very little and my family was rather large. We were nearly homeless at one point. But being poor actually taught us kids to be self-reliant as well as more considerate of others.

I'll be honest, I'm not American, so when they were referring to social housing as 'the projects', 'the hood', the ghetto', it really shocked me. But after reading through the comment section I thought I could add a perspective that is not American. As a young child, my family lived in Eastern Europe and when I was 8 we moved to England. In Latvia (my og country) my family of 4 plus two of my relatives used to live in an apartment that had only a kitchen, a bathroom, and 1 room that was used as everybody's bedroom and living room, except my uncle who slept on a pull-out chair in the kitchen. My whole childhood everyone I knew slept on pull-out couches and it always seemed like the norm. Summers were always spent on my grandmother's farm with all 9 of my cousins, even though her house only had 4 beds, 3 of which were pull-out couches and 1 was my grandparents. This often meant sharing a bed with a minimum of 3 other people during the summer, and if any of our parents were around someone would be sleeping outside in a tent or the hay barn. We had usually two meals a day, one of which was usually some bread and butter, and the other was all homegrown stuff like potatoes. During these 3 months, everyone had to pitch in with the work around the farm, usually meaning that as soon as you could walk you were put to some type of work. This was how I grew up. When we moved to England, the town we moved to and the one we still live in is 90% social housing/projects. It is also 98% white. Only in recent years have there been some families of colour moved there. when we moved there 13 years ago it consisted mostly of brits, most of whom were unskilled workers working in factories, fields, or shops. Or in the worst case scenario living on benefits (government funding). To this day it is still mostly the same however now 1/3rd of the town's population are immigrants from eastern Europe. And if you know anything about eastern Europe you'll know we are very caucasian. Blonde hair and blue eyes are our default. When my family moved there we rented one bedroom in a small 4 bedroom home, and when we moved we shared a house with 4 family friends, so it was 8 people in a 4 bedroom home. And I assure you it is much smaller than you expect. British homes are very small compared to American homes. My lunches were always just a cheese toastie until I started earning money. I've been babysitting since 10 and got my first part-time job at 14 and have been working since then. Everything I have bought since then has been through my own money. Now I'm at university and work while studying, and in the summers I work either on farms or in factories back home. Despite this, I don't think I've ever felt poor. I know my family lived below the poverty line when we lived in Latvia, with my mum bringing back leftover food from her job in the kindergarten to feed the family, and my dad earning maybe £10 a week as there was no work available (he worked as a construction worker). However, despite this I never felt poor. No one did because that was what everyone's life was like. Only after I started University did I realise how poor my family was growing up compared to others. I now have friends who grew up with maids and housekeepers as the norm. Friends who had gaming systems and Minecraft when they were kids, while for me it all seemed like a distant fantasy, something I could never imagine having. Most of my birthdays were celebrated with just a small cake and some cheap candles, and I was over the moon if I even got 50 cents as a gift. Christmas was celebrated with just a bigger meal, and gifts seemed like just something that happened in movies. At the end of the day what I'm trying to say is that poverty exists everywhere. In most places in the world, it has very little to do with race. Now being almost 21 and living in England or whenever I go on social media or even watch the news I constantly hear 'white privilege this, white privilege that' and I honestly get a big angry, because every single friend of colour that I know grew up in much better conditions. They can speak of things like Nintendo Switch and collecting pockemon cards or playing Minecraft, or even eating breakfast everyday like it was the norm to grow up with. They talk about going on holiday with their family or having people in the family who went to University before them like it's the norm. And it is for them. Where as for me the norm was helping my parents gather enough money for food by collecting pennies from the ground before I was even old enough for school. For me, it was the norm to work from the moment I could and never indulge in things that are unnecessary. Even now when I go into a shop I will look at certain things like crisps(chips for Americans), kinder chocolates, or even a Snickers bar and think to myself that I can't afford it even though now I can. Poverty is not a matter of race, and you can't look at someone and judge by the colour of their skin the kind of life they have lived or still live. At the end of the day that is racism. There are rich white people, there are rich Black people, there are Rich Brown people, there are rich Asians. Just as there are poor brown, asian, black, and white people. There is much more to people than their race, and we discredit their life experiences and them as individuals when we make a judgement on them and put them in a box based on the colour of their skin.

I’m white and grew up low income, although I didn’t realize it. We lived in a tiny home in the country, wore second-hand and hand-me-down clothing, ate from our garden. We used to glean fields and orchards with my mom, and she canned a lot. I got grants for college and worked to pay off my bill-no loans! Bought my own car. Once I graduated with my nursing license I paid my mom rent. I would say the greatest thing about growing up that way was the responsibility, maturity, gratitude, resourcefulness, and compassion I learned. I married into a brown/black family who are pretty privileged, and we’ve had some odd interactions about privilege.

You aren't the only one at a loss. I'm low-income and can definitely relate to the situations that some of the girls in this video brought up. I think that a lot of people are ready to say things like, "If you don't get paid enough, just get another job." However, they don't actually understand how hard it can be to get a decent-paying job, and it frustrates me. It saddens me to see that other people are struggling like me. I wish I could help them, but I'm not in a place to do that right now. I'm struggling just to help me.

@aaronlayes4485

6 ай бұрын

I fully relate, I have gone from one crisis to another and being white only made it harder. I got passed up for Jobs because of my race, I got passed up for housing over it. not saying my black friends didn't deal with hardship just that we do as well, its just different hardships. I am struggling to care for my family my wife had liver failure due to an autoimmune condition and that has left my home on one income. I often work 70 hrs a week and never pull in enough to make it. I don't think a lot of students in colleges like this one care. most of the people in that room are wealthy and always have had wealth based privilege.

@kokocaptainqc

6 ай бұрын

canada's welfare is denying me on account of being a single male with no kids...im literally searching garbage containers and stealing some to survive....

@CelticSpiritsCoven

6 ай бұрын

I am right there with you. Grew up in a redneck family on welfare since birth. Family didn't value education and didn't instill any sense of wanting to go to college. Couldn't even do homework at home. Getting laid off just two months ago from a company that downsized, I have put out 100's of applications and haven't even received a single call for an interview. I always worked since I was 14. No gap in employment until now. I don't even know how I am going to pay my rent in 2 months from now if I can't get a job. People have no idea how education begins in the home and parents should teach their children about life. And the crazy thing..... I went to the military at 24 y/o and then went to college. My white privilege is shining so bright.... Never in my life have I ever got a job that paid more than $15.00 an hour, even as ex-military and college grad. Us white guys sure have so much opportunity to just get jobs so easily?

@Whoknowsme007

6 ай бұрын

You say that other people don't appreciate how hard it is, but I guarantee that you don't appreciate how hard it is for people who have it worse than you. That's kind of human nature I went through my struggles before I became disabled, and I will tell you that as hard as I thought it was at the time, I would give anything to be back in that situation because at least I had my physical strength and my ability to work my way out of most troubles

@aaronlayes4485

6 ай бұрын

@Whoknowsme007 I have never known such luxuries in truth. I'm grateful for the fact that I have food and family that loves me. Don't get me wrong I know what I have. The issues isn't about me though it's about the behavior those acting badly. Things tend to work out or you end up unalived.

As a white woman, growing up with my father and two older brothers, I never felt poor. We didn’t have money, but we had lots of love.

@gemsxjourneyx196

5 ай бұрын

Still poor financially

@valsewell5418

5 ай бұрын

@@gemsxjourneyx196 I was not aware of it, as a child though. I think this is also true for many other people. It was only as I got older, I realised we didn’t have money; but that wasn’t important to me. My father made sure he, as an adult, took on the burden of worrying about the money, so my brothers and I didn’t have to.

@brandonj7586

5 ай бұрын

@@gemsxjourneyx196 I think she knows that.

@francinesanchez5402

5 ай бұрын

But rich in love. Truly is the most valuable!

I really appreciate your content @LFR Jojo and your standpoint. You're doing an excellent work.

I grew up 1/2 mile outside of Boston in the poorest of conditions in the 70's/80's, with a large family, and my Mother was the rock. My Father was a disgrace. She would never take handouts, but for 1 year she applied for welfare just so our 7 kid family would get by. This was after losing our house a few years back (late 60's), and she brought us through it all. We then lived in an apartment in a poor neighborhood, but it is how you grow up and makes you stronger. When trying to apply for college in 82 I did get a Pell grant, used it, but had to quit after a year to help the family. Regardless, you always fight and get it done on your own, and I did. I honestly wish I picked a trade instead of taking night courses for Software Engineering. I'm White and very successful. You work through your struggles and unfortunately these days we have people / politicians that would rather everyone suffer based on divide. DEMS

Yup, the only way I managed to go to college was grants and loans - I may be white but my family has mostly been poor and I was the first one to go to college. Unfortunately, the shame you feel over something like that can make you unwilling to step up and take all the help you could have received. When I grew up, I worked for everything but the necessities. If I wanted a game, a tv in my room, or anything else, I had to work and save up for it. I got a lot of use out of "layaway" as a teen but it taught me how to manage my money and adjust my living behavior to my income.

@aaronlayes4485

6 ай бұрын

I may be going to college next year I'd be the first son to do it and I'm 42

@kokocaptainqc

6 ай бұрын

well each time i stepped up i got looked down on like ''how dare you ask something peasant'' and they refused me 100% of the time so now i steal what i need to survive

@CelticSpiritsCoven

6 ай бұрын

I remember back in the day after having graduated high school. Working as a CNA in a nursing home 45 minutes away, having my own apartment. The best way I could find to survive was to overestimate all bills except for food, then get 14 envelopes and split the money 14 ways and put it into the envelops and told myself that one envelope a day was all I could afford. Since I was paid bi-weekly, that's why 14 envelopes. I barely made it. 7 dollars in each envelope. My white privilege sure shined brightly. The only reason I was able to get a CNA license is because I was working fast food and saved enough money to pay for CNA class. I wanted a better life than fast food. I did live in my car from time to time (which was a cheap worn down piece of crap). Finding a place to park to go to sleep in your car and not get caught was impossible. I was either woken up by the police or by strangers or farmers knocking on my windows. There was literally nowhere to park and sleep. Forget basic hygiene like brushing your teeth or taking a shower. This was the 90's in a very rural area. Anyone who claims that "white privilege" is real has never been as poor as me. I had to work myself all the way up to being able to even afford an apartment. Never sold drugs, didn't steal, didn't do any other illegal things.

@melissawitt3773

6 ай бұрын

@@CelticSpiritsCoventhank you for being a CNA. My mother had Alzheimer’s and CNA’s were so good to her when we were in rehab (broken hip). When I brought her home for hospice a CNA helped me so I could sleep at night. You have no idea how valued you are by those you have helped.

Some benefits I believe I got out of growing up in poverty include: a respect for what I have - I take care of things, and I fix things that break instead of throwing them away and replacing them. I also know the value of money and I manage it very carefully. I know the difference between my wants and my needs and can easily prioritize between them. I'm not an impulse shopper, I'm resistant to predatory marketing ploys and sales tactics, and I can be content with the bare minimum.

@libertybell8852

6 ай бұрын

Yes! I don't have to have a bunch of shoes, never did. Nor a bunch of clothes. I can MAKE a lot of stuff and I'm happy with minimal items. My kids know that world too, and it makes me sad, but they think about stuff more than their friends do.

@chelfyn

6 ай бұрын

Exactly this. My wife and I both came from working class backgrounds, but our parents sacrificed a lot to put us into independent (fee paying) schools. With our educational advantage we're now reasonably successful, but we often buy second hand, we fix everything until it can't be fixed no more, and get more joy from fixing an old thing than buying a new one. We are both immune to advertising.

I wish I was these kids level of poor. Compared to my upbringing they’re still rich.

I got the Pell Grant too....family was even homeless from end of my HS sophmore year to near my Senior and yep lived in a privately owed apt in the projects...privilege my a$$. Working hard, every dang day to get out of that! And now blessed to be at a point where not living like that anymore.

The one girl said her mom 'lost' her job and then said 'she quit'. Those are two very different things. Losing your job is out of your control sometimes, depending on what the company needs - quitting is 100% in your control.

@mrs.jaywojo5426

6 ай бұрын

Not if the government or your employer is compelling you to take genetically modifying agents... of which, side effects are unknown. There may be other significant reasons she quit.

@Talhn

5 ай бұрын

@@mrs.jaywojo5426 I suppose it depends on the system/company or state you live in, but generally they offer exemptions to people. My state and company had exemptions available if you were willing to put in the work. But I do understand what you are saying and I realize this was not available across the board for every state and company.

@mrs.jaywojo5426

5 ай бұрын

@@Talhn Yes, by the grace of God, my religious exemption was honored and I am in a blue state. I am so grateful.

@KelliCoggins

5 ай бұрын

Many nurses quit post covid. They lived through and saw things that most of us never will.

@vaderladyl

5 ай бұрын

A lot of PTSD among nurses.@@KelliCoggins

I am 40 years old so I'm old enough to remember when race wasn't an issue in America. All the racial issues that we are seeing now are manufactured. It's being done to our society. It's refreshing to hear this young man say we are all the same.

@theOlLineRebel

6 ай бұрын

Indeed though it seems strange to say we were less racial-obsessed right after the civil rights and the riots. There is much to say for NOT going on and o about grievances and just living.

@midnitelite7210

6 ай бұрын

@@theOlLineRebel We are all just Americans. We all have just as much right to earn our piece of this pie as everybody else. If we would stop letting them divide us, we could actually stand up for ourselves against those who want to take our money and control us.

@shmataboro8634

6 ай бұрын

​@@midnitelite7210I think they are trying to get us to stop thinking of ourselves as Americans. They want us to buy into their global government BS. They want everyone to hate their own country, their own people, their own history, so they can control us easier.

@kashq502

6 ай бұрын

This.

@kashq502

5 ай бұрын

@@onthursday1599 also being 40, the late 80s to late 90s or even early 2000s were some of the best times ever as far as racism is concerned. I live in a big city, and when I was in middle and highschool, while of course their were ppl that were racist or people that were too sensitive, for the most part race was not a prevailing issue. People could joke about things and nobody was trying to ruin anyone's life bc their feelings were hurt, and if you were intentionally being racist, most people looked at you like you had 2 heads. It was not ok or accepted. You were expected to prove your value through merit and hard work and effort, not by being the right color, gender, or ideology etc. it was a short period of time before it got ruined by all these indeed manufactured racial etc issues. The whole point of gen x was not to care about any of these stupid reasons for division that are being celebrated nowadays. It's not that issues didn't exist or that racism or sexism or whatever else didn't exist. It's that we made a real effort to get rid of it by celebrating the things we all have in common and by celebrating the ideals of this nation. Now we play group identity politics and divide people on purpose. We try to use racism against whatever racists even if they aren't racist just bc they look like some other racist blah blah blah it's just ridiculous. There was a short time the nation made real progress again against division and towards a more unified nation, and of course the powers that be couldn't have that 🙄 so here we are. In my humble opinion, anyways.

I’m so grateful for this video that I don’t even know what to say. I’m subscribed and I will continue to follow this guy. Excellent.

first time watching your channel and i have to say its so cool seeing someone around my age speaking so nicely and clearly about such a hard topic to discuss good on you man

I've told my story on here before how i made it so my kids could make it out of poverty. My ex wife took off on us after i broke my back and became disabled when my daughters were 4,8 &12. Luckily, i before it at work so i got workers comp and took the money left(after the lawyer took his cut) and bought a trailer in a trailer park cuz our small town didn't even have projects. So, they give you a little cash and food stamps. 6 years later the 12 year old turned 18 the income went down a third while everything had gone up including trailer park rent. So, we ate less because i couldn't go to the food pantry because my kids classmates and their parents volunteered there. We did just fine because i can take s little food and make a lot of of it but we didn't want them people to pity the poor little white girls and more than they already did. After the second daughter turned 18 and went to college four years later the invite went down a third again while i still had to scrape up money to buy her college text books and put a tiny bit of money on a debit card for her to buy personal care items at college. So daughter #3 got the shirt end of the stick because now our income was half what it was 8 years earlier... But we scraped by and got her into college then the income went down again but she still needed books and personal care items.... But over the years even though i had low income i built good credit so i took out a couple of credit cards to get her through those four years. I sold possessions and stuff but paid them all off after 5 years..... But those two girls made it and wont ever be poor again because they got degrees in engineering and medicine and not no damned fine arts, English, or God damned foolish Gender Studies.... And now they can help pops out but luckily i still live happy and simple below the poverty level.... But my track record ain't perfect. No matter how hard i tried, daughter #1 got caught up in the rap subculture and the thug life and i lost her to the cycle of prison and the war on drugs..... But hey, I'm pretty good at what i did but i ain't no magician..... And like Meatloaf said,"Well, two out of three ain't bad." So, anyone tries telling ME about MY White Privilege....i tell them they can go Frank themselves.

I'm white. I grew up getting clothes from 2nd hand store, or sometimes the local landfills. Sometimes my dad would get groceries from behind the dumpster at the only grocery store in town. I was the first in my family to go to college. My family is doing much better now. But there was no white privilege for me

Thank you for sharing this information. Many people might be shocked about how many white kids grow up in poverty. People may not know there are "projects" even in small towns. I lived in the projects in the early-mid 60s. Even though as an adult, I've had a decent (above average) paying job, the poverty sticks with you. My fear is that I will pass on my "poor" mentality to my son.

What they all have but failed to recognise I strength, maturity and independence. All are so incredibly powerful at the situations they are in, they made it work no matter the circumstances and keep on pushing through. I would not wish it on anyone, but I see it as a strength that no one can take away from you.

I'm sorry you lost your Mom if you see this. You're strong asf, thank you for sharing that and you got this

@SaltyShaman

6 ай бұрын

The girl on the end who's mother is having 'seizure disorders'. From the stab, you think?

@bethpace6936

5 ай бұрын

@@SaltyShaman Pretty sure they're two different girls. One's mom has seizures; the other girl's mom died.

My family (I'm Vietnamese) was very poor in the late 80's and throughout the 90's living in California. I hated sleeping on the floor and sharing clothes with my brother. It taught me to appreciate what I have now.

I started working on a farm when I was 8. By the time I was 15 I worked anywhere from 1-3 jobs at a time while I was finishing high school. My son is 11 and loves to go to work when he can. Not complaining here at all. I think working young builds character and appreciation. America would be better off if we taught our children value instead of spoiling, ignoring or leaving them to play on devices all the time. ❤️

@SigFigNewton

5 ай бұрын

The girl who talked about “playing the poor card” and her friends often paying for her was probably a bit off from a bullseye. Her friends weren’t happy to pay for her just because she is poor. It’s because she is working hard while poor. She probably has friends whose parents are helping pay for college and friends who focus entirely on school and don’t have jobs. So her friends see her working 20 hours a week to keep her student loans from piling too high while being a student, and those friends learn gratitude for their own position and respect for her determination. Like “I’m not paying for my tuition, least I can do is get the check when our friend group eats out together on occasion.”

I have so much respect for you doing this video . Thank you .

My parents kicked me out of the house at 14, and I was forced to support myself at that point. The only job I could get was construction. Because of this, it took a toll on my body. I now (at 48) have a broken back that can't be fixed, and sadly prevents me from doing even the most basic of tasks which prevents me from holding a normal job. I'm trying desperately to raise a young child through all this, but her father just sees me as a lazy good for nothing loser because I am unable to work any longer. Sadly...so does the rest of society too. It sucks when you literally break your back working for a living then get looked at like you are the scum of the earth.

@jab3593

2 ай бұрын

There is sadly a negative viewpoint of those with physical disabilities or poor health.

@randomreactions16

2 ай бұрын

@@jab3593 yeah, apparently we are all supposed to be perfectly immortal according to society. We can't get sick, we aren't allowed to become disabled (as if it is some kind of personal choice or something. HAHA!) It's not like I woke up one morning and went, "I think I'm going to become disabled today." but sadly people seem to think that is how it works. Or at least they treat you like it does anyway. I became disabled during an instance of domestic abuse where my ex literally ran me over with his truck. It broke my back, and I haven't been able to work since. But of course society loves to blame the victim. *sigh.

I had the pell grant as well. WIC, food stamps, Brown Santa, free lunch program at school .... we were poor poor. SAHM (domestic engineer) and a dad that worked full time plus side jobs. When he would get laid off it was the worst. That all being said, somehow we didn't feel poor. It was never a conversation ... my childhood was fun, my parents made it fun. It wasn't till I was older that I realized the level of poor we were.

@aynDRAWS

5 ай бұрын

This sounds exactly like my life. WIC and free lunch programs were the only way we ever got to eat

@Featherfinder

5 ай бұрын

Your parents sound awesome!

@grapestheoriginal

5 ай бұрын

What do you mean by Brown Santa?

@stardustadventures

4 ай бұрын

Those programs are truly the cats meow for low income families. Saved our bacon so many times.@@aynDRAWS

@stardustadventures

4 ай бұрын

@@Featherfinder Thank you! I got really lucky in that draw for real.

People assume all the time that I had it so good as a kid and my parents paid for my college but that’s not true. My parents filed for bankruptcy, we lost our house and cars, I had a Pell grant, and now I’m 26 with $130,000 in student loan debt. I still get told that it was a privilege for me to get to go to graduate school. If it was a privilege I wouldn’t owe a house payment to the government every month.

Excellent video. I commend you for doing this. Much needed.

I’m part of Gen X. I can barely remember a time when I didn’t work, whether it was a paper route, babysitting, etc…we were basically 30 when we were 10.

That was a great thing to react to. I grew up poor and I knew I had to work for anything I wanted. I knew my parents couldn’t do it for me. I think it gave me the strength to be independent. I started working at 16 and never stopped. Now I own my own business because of the education I got and the effort I put in working for others. I learned from each of them. I’m thankful I didn’t have everything given to me. Thank your dad. He worked hard so you could have dinner on the table every night. He did an awesome job! You’re humble enough to truly have empathy for others struggles. And you’re thankful for what you have. Never be a victim! Never let anyone tell you that you should be. They’re not a positive force in your life. (But it sounds like you already know that).

You’re a good one friend.this needs to be talked about more.

I like the way your mind works. You look at things from all points of view with an open mind and aren't desperate to be right. An open mind is hard to find and difficult to maintain. Keep up the good work and put these traits to good use. They will benefit you in the years to come. ❤

The positive thing they're getting is that I think they are more appreciative, and take less for granted. They also know how resilient they can be during rough times. These kids have been forced to mature early, and take responsibility. I think this builds character traits that improve their chances in the workplace. If they can make it through college, they could do well.

@kayceetaylor2151

6 ай бұрын

They are almost certain to avoid permanent poverty if they always have a job and don't have kids outside of wedlock. (And "engaged" is not the same as married! Ladies!...Having your fiancée die is not the same as being a widow or widower. If you're not wealthy or you're pregnant, have an inexpensive courthouse or church ceremony, save money & get your girlish figure back, and THEN have the big party with the beautiful wardrobes, bridal party, nice dinner, etc., etc., as an vow renewal ceremony/anniversary bash. It's not the fun way of living one's life, but it is doing it in the proper order.)

I grew up poor. My single mom is Blind and lived off child support and SSI. I was always small, skinny, and the butt of everyone’s jokes. I was constantly attacked by black kids up until I began to fight them off in middle school. I’ve been judged my whole life by people, and I realized real quick that none of that shit matters. We are all humans trying to make it through this experience. We work hard, educate our two sons and are now quite wealthy. Wealthy in love, family, and now money. Yes I still do all my own maintenance on our house, cars, bicycles, washers, dryer, everything. Not because I’m cheap but because we grew up poor and had no other choice. Now I’m accustomed to figuring things out. We find solutions to problems instead of looking for people to blame. If something isn’t fixed it is because I didn’t fix it. That’s it. Nothing more or less.

I think the most heinous idea is that poverty is a direct result of laziness. Next on the list is the idea that low income is equal to a low quality person. I have had a job of one type or another since age 14. I stopped asking for lunch money, toiletries and extras for school the day I got my first check. There were five kids. I once told an in law that she has no idea what real life is, that if hard work is the path to wealth, someone made a mistake. Most of my friends should be millionaires. Some people just have no clue. They do have judgmental opinions. They are usually very vocal about it.

Thank you for being so open minded 🥰

Here's a thing nobody mentioned: a lot of people living below the poverty line are trying to climb up. My parents did just that, but they struggled for YEARS at a point just above the line. The reason is because you suddenly have LESS money. All the help dries up right at the line, but a family of 4 living at 26k is struggling just as much as they were at 24k, sometimes more. ((I don't know what they earned specifically -- they didn't tell us about a lot of the financial struggles so we could have a stress free childhood)) Ironically both of my parents are and were college educated, but underemployed. They started a business 20 years ago and then my mom went back to school to get a mote in-demand degree and now she earns a good amount. My dad just went back too and now he's happy with what he does. Second thing nobody mentions: watching your parents do soul-crushing jobs suuuucks.

@amyg4961

5 ай бұрын

You are so right. When I was a single mom, I was thrilled when I got a raise at my dental job. My first paycheck after the raise went into effect was soul crushing tho, because it threw me just into the next tax bracket up and I would up with less money as a result. But still made too much for any assistance.

@davidlinehat4657

4 ай бұрын

Absolutely! I've often thought that in some ways, you're better off being totally poor in this country than working poor. A friend of mine's husband ran off and left her with two kids. She works at a grocery store and earns barely enough to pay rent but somehow she earns too much for foodstamps.

@terihollis8603

3 ай бұрын

The welfare system is set up to keep people down. It's not what it first started as. It was supposed to be a hand up not a handout.. They make it impossible to get out. If you reach that level of just past maximum income all help stops. It never allows one to become self sufficient. There should levels..let the person have the ability to grow financially.

Im a high school graduate. Im not stupid and always was valued by my employer. Im Caucasian and raised my daughter alone after my divorce. I NEVER made $20,000 a year. Thats working full time mind you. All the kids in my family qualified for the Pell Grant. My mom even had her own business. We never had spending money. No casual ice cream cones bought for us. Never had a family vacation. But we NEVER took a dime of gov assistance. I was raised poor. My daughter was raised poor but she has two degrees and works in her field. So yes there are plenty of poor white people.

You are very thoughtful. Thank you.

“Going to a friends house who didn’t grow up in poverty” I feel that I stayed at my friends so much. I love my parents and they have done everything for me and did their best. But even though they worked their entire life my dads on disability and my mom just got off odsp. I’m 19 and this is the most we’ve grocery shopped in my entire life. I will say a positive thing I’ve learned is to respect money. Respect the food that’s on the table and the hours spent making it. Respect the clothing and items I have and to remember even though it wasn’t perfect I am deeply loved.

Born as a white child super poor still lower income class considered top of the low income bracket. I experienced homelessness twice as a child and 3 times as an adult. I could not afford school so I joined the Army rather than a trade. Crushed my ankle in a training accident and never fully recovered. I grew up in government housing and experienced many horrible life events. only once in my life did I succeed at making middle income, and due to election results the policies that came after killed my business. I was left back at square one, and now working below 36k a year. being poor is all I've ever known except for a brief period where I was making something happen. reality is being poor and white no one cares, we are and always have been a forgotten class, its not just whites who do this its other races as well. when the rich white kids and rich black kids came to our school they did it to virtue signal and the black kids in my school felt as I did they were all a h*les. we grew to despise those who had wealth they didn't build themselves.

That was my entire school-aged situation. It was fun having a friend that wasn't poor, getting to spend time with them at their place. My mom never let me have friends spend the night, or even come into our home, which I never understood why. Neither did my friends.

I am so so proud of you, (for what it's worth 😊) your parents did an amazing job raising you. Everyone (i don't care what ethnicity) needs to be like you. 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏💖💖💖💖💖

Love your message! This divide is so dumb we are all brothers and sisters. United we will prosper, divided we will fall.

Thank you for doing this video. Americas working poor are virtually invisible. The amount of effort people go to in order to get their lives to work out and to take care of their families is a real eye-opener for anyone who hasn't been there. Work is another word for Love.

@SigFigNewton

5 ай бұрын

“A real eye opener for people who haven’t been there” Mostly they keep their eyes closed and complain about the fact that some people suggest universal health care might be a good idea

@1mamab532

5 ай бұрын

'work is another word for love' ❤

I think music definitely helped you see some things differently. However, by the mere fact you were willing to listen to different genres of music, meant you're open to different perspectives and personalities. And, rather than noticing the differences, you choose to highlight the things we have in common. Plus, you were raised right. (I first encountered your music react, which lead to your Dad's music reactions and I I was more than pleased to see him venture into other arenas as well. Y'all give me hope.)

Seee? We all in this poor boat together. There aren’t any differences.

Every time I listen to you speak, I wonder how for a young man how you've gotten so wise!

It's sad when you can have two adults working full time and it still might be a struggle.

@aaronlayes4485

6 ай бұрын

only one income now no state assistance 70 hours a week and barely making it, I cover a house hold of 5

@nobody8717

6 ай бұрын

and before 1974, you could have done that on 30 hours a week, @@aaronlayes4485

@libertybell8852

6 ай бұрын

​@@aaronlayes4485and if you're like me, you're PRAYING nothing breaks so that you CAN make it.

I was working PT when I was 12 after school and weekends, grew up on a farm so I had those duties too!! While trying to keep my grades up and look after my younger siblings. I was buying my own school supplies and clothes by the time I was in grade 7! We used to garden for our veggies and dad would go hunting for meat, 1 time he got a moose riddled with worms!! We cooked it well done so we could eat it!! By the time I was 15/16 I was helping pay the bills on top of everything else!! I’m Canadian (AB) & white, you want to talk about poor!! Give me a shout!!

I wonder why her mother quit an 80k job. She first said she lost her job, then she said she quit.

Thank you so much ❤

I went to college right after high school like most kids do. I was the recipient of financial aid, specifically the Pell Grant. I was very smart, but I was ignorant as to what that meant. Later I found out it was based on income. For most of my childhood, I lived comfortably but not knowing the enormous sacrifice my parents were making to keep that illusion alive for our sake. When I started high school, that facade started to fade out slowly, and by my senior year it was obvious we were poor. I left after my first semester in college for the military. I literally left a full-ride education thanks to the Pell Grant to serve this country. When I came back, married and with children, I was financially worse than before I left for the military. For various reasons, most of my GI Bill expired, and for the majority of my college, I received ZERO Financial Aid and had to get on serious debt to get a degree. To this day, I don't understand how that was possible.

@2okaycola

6 ай бұрын

There are so many rules

@JohnCrichton7

5 ай бұрын

Relatable. I received the Pell Grant and didn't know it was based on income until my Mom told me. I was fortunate enough to attend a private school. When I tell people that they automatically assume we were rich. Nope. We were poor because most of the money my parnets made went to pay for the schooling and then the bills. My Mom had to start working to help pay. I began to notice our family finances in high school weren't the best. Blessed to have parents who made the sacrifices they did.

@amyg4961

5 ай бұрын

I had the Pell Grant and I am just now finding out in this convo that it was income based. I had no idea. But I had to claim abandonment by my parents because I hadn’t lived with either of them for years and neither could offer any financial support. So I think they were just looking at an 18 year old working 2 jobs trying to get some money together to be able to enroll.

I was also very poor growing up. I don't think you should feel guilty for your situation growing up, that is something certain people say you should feel guilty about. This video to me was just showing that being poor is more common than some people think. I think your reactions are getting more thoughtful and I really admire watching you as you develop.

@southernladyish

6 ай бұрын

Very true! I don’t think anyone should ever feel guilty for something that had no control over.. not to mention, why should someone ever feel guilty for the blessings that God gave them?? We all have different struggles. It’s how you make it through those struggles that matters.

You’re one of the lucky ones. Many of us and majority of us didn’t have a chance to be children we watched struggle growing up and picked up the slack where our parents couldn’t.

This is why conservatives say “self accountability, work hard etc..” and liberals just waste away as the victim owed everything. Good vids keep them up! We need people to see we we all struggle, we all laugh cry die the same.

@savian_is_spooked

5 ай бұрын

I don't see this as a left vs right thing. My mother is liberal and my father is old school conservative (how they managed to get along long enough to have two kids, I'll never know), both were poor and I was raised poor. Both my parents worked their asses off, my father did farm hand work and my mother was an engineer. My father actually ended up working less and doing less financially but stuck to helping friends with hard labor for money. My mother busted her ass doing surveyor work in the field until she was able to climb the work ladder to become a civil engineer. Just because you have a political view does not make you the stereotype. Both my parents taught me to work hard, my mother taught me to never give up on my education and to never let anyone tell me I couldn't do something. My father taught me how to survive when I had no money, gardening/hunting/etc. and that I always had a say in how I chose to live. If people stopped pushing political stereotypes and just took a second to learn from each other, we would be way better off. Instead everyone seems insistent in insulting the other side.