"Tale of Two Families"

To be completely honest, these stereotypical stories make me angry. Sadly racism and inequality exist in our society, but life is not comfortable, easy, and swell for all white people like this story depicts. I have known plenty of white people who have lost their jobs, had financial struggles, struggle to pay for college, own a home, sell their home, etc. Not all of us receive abundant checks from our relatives either because I'm not sure too many people have money to spare nowadays. I also do not appreciate the assumption that just because a person is white they live a comfortable life full of opportunity and never face adversity.I suppose these stories center around the 1950's when discrimination was widely and painfully present though, so the stereotypical depictions are accurate for this time period, but our society is so mixed, melded, and diverse now that these commonly held stereotypes need and should dissipate.


The two stories conclude by saying, "Until the wealth gap is addressed, whites will continue to have an advantage over nonwhites, generation after generation."
But wasn't it an African American man in "Chicago: The Streets of Heaven" who said that remaining in poverty, selling drugs, and living that lifestyle is a CHOICE? What if this "wealth gap" is a choice? What really needs to be addressed then?

I think there will always be gaps in wealth amongst people because there are different kinds of people in the world. Without regard to race and ethnicity, there are simply different kinds of people in the world who make different choices, seek out different education and careers, live different lifestyles, and obtain different levels of wealth. It might be more challenging for certain groups, such as African Americans or women, to obtain the same success as a white man, but people can still take the initiative to try to shorten these "wealth gaps."  Plus, according to the man previously mentioned in "Chicago: The Streets of Heaven", one can make $6,000 a day selling drugs, so there's no need for a pity party.

While it might have been accurate during the 1950's to assume that Whites lived comfortable lifestyles while Blacks struggled, I do not think that is an accurate or fair assumption to make nowadays, and I don't think discrimination or reversed discrimination are fair, although both exist.