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1/ For Black Americans, middle class stability has always been a lie.
In her latest Vox column, @annehelen explores how centuries of systemic racism have cut short Black people’s opportunities for wealth while keeping white wealth buoyed to the top: https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22245223/black-middle-class-racism-reparations
In her latest Vox column, @annehelen explores how centuries of systemic racism have cut short Black people’s opportunities for wealth while keeping white wealth buoyed to the top: https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22245223/black-middle-class-racism-reparations
2/ "A foundational myth of the American dream is the potential of the individual, wholly unbound by context," @annehelen writes. "The idea is that in America, land of opportunity, you excel on your own merits.
“This is a lie, of course."
“This is a lie, of course."
3/ Wealth begets wealth, says @annehelen.
And "because of intersecting racist policies and practices ... wealth has been far more difficult for Black Americans to accumulate." https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22245223/black-middle-class-racism-reparations
And "because of intersecting racist policies and practices ... wealth has been far more difficult for Black Americans to accumulate." https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22245223/black-middle-class-racism-reparations
4/ As Jasmyne, a Black employee at an LA nonprofit, explains:
"My husband and I earn middle-class salaries, but we also have significant student debt and often have to support family. We live in an expensive city. ... He is saving for retirement, but I haven’t even begun.”
"My husband and I earn middle-class salaries, but we also have significant student debt and often have to support family. We live in an expensive city. ... He is saving for retirement, but I haven’t even begun.”
5/ Dee, a 41-year-old working mother, shared this feeling of nonstop precarity:
“I live in America. There is no support for middle-class families, and there is no targeted support for those who have suffered from systemic racism.”
“I live in America. There is no support for middle-class families, and there is no targeted support for those who have suffered from systemic racism.”
6/ This story is the second installment of @annehelen’s monthly @thegoods column on America’s hollow middle class.
Read her first piece — on the secret struggle to stay afloat while maintaining middle class status — here: https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22166381/hollow-middle-class-american-dream
Read her first piece — on the secret struggle to stay afloat while maintaining middle class status — here: https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22166381/hollow-middle-class-american-dream
7/7 If you're interested in sharing your experience as part of the hollow middle class with @annehelen for her @thegoods column, you can share your story here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScc-Rm_NMsyRPfevs25lhxHFoq2k72fwxyhGpgEOpWbSxZjoQ/viewform?gxids=7628
