People don’t start out equal… you are correct… that even applies to siblings in the same family… the eldest tends to outperform the youngest through “no fault” of the youngest… equity is impossible even at the family level, much less the societal level.
Also, the whole “my parents can’t afford to send me to college” argument doesn’t really cut it anymore for so many reasons… if children believe that, then they have been lied to by their school and their parents.
Notice in the link for the Ivy league that if your parents income is below $60K, they will not be expected to contribute anything towards your education.
Nearly all private and public colleges today have vehicles to secure funding does not prevent poor children from securing a college education. It is one reason while college loan forgiveness is largely a “middle class” issue.
And what about vocational options, a friend of mine who is welder says he earned $135K as a master welder before retiring and the demand for apprentice welders is through the roof along with many other blue collar skills where educational requirements are minimal and instead the traditional apprentice, journeymen, master career path obtained through on the job training and development exists.
We work in building services and some of our workers like painters, plumbers, and carpenters earn very good incomes. A truly skilled handyman earns $65/hour here in California.
Most high schools offer vocational certifications to students that want them… our local high school offers one in automotive mechanics and computers. They also partner with the local community college and several vocational schools so students can begin vocational training in high school. This partnering arrangement is quite common even in poor school systems.
If you want to argue that the public schools are failing to guide poor children into good careers regardless of race and because African Americans are disproportionately poor they get hurt more… I can believe that… In America today, there is no reason for someone to be poor, the jobs are there and the skills can be obtained at an affordable cost by anyone. But we are so focused on racism… we miss the problem of culture which is the real obstacle… The Chinese and Jews succeeded because their culture places a huge emphasis on education and hard work.
I don’t doubt that inner city African American culture is a big obstacle that many young African Americans fail to overcome, just as rural white culture can be. But recognizing we are deal with a cultural problem and not a racial issue is the first step to fixing the problem… Obama tried to do something about it when he told African American men to “man up” and take care of their children… but he was attacked and quickly backed away.
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/16/us/politics/15cnd-obama.html
Bottom line, I have three African American grandsons and two African American granddaughters who are growing up in a different culture and while I expect they will encounter racism in their lives, it won’t be the thing that causes them to succeed or fail.
My point is simple, if we recognize that “culture” and not “race” is the underlying issue. African American leaders should spend far more time on reshaping the destructive inner city culture into one that produces success rather than focusing on the idea that racism is holding African Americans back.
A few African American leaders are speaking out against the destructive nature of their culture (people like Larry Elder do) and how does the African American community react to them (hostility).
I want my grandchildren to be proud of their African heritage, but I do not want them embracing African American urban culture. If you think that culture is a by product of slavery, then all the more reason to reject it and change it. There are plenty of very intelligent African Americans that could if they collectively put their minds to it change the culture among those groups who are suffering because of it.
Final thought, I know a very successful African American, who was born into poverty in inner city LA. I asked the person why they don’t volunteer to mentor children (my daughter was doing that in Compton while attending college). The response was that the environment was to hostile towards a successful African American. It literally sounds like they are trying to lock anyone that wants to bring in a message of hope.
