Quoted from tomlogic:In my hypothetical, I'm saying that all else being equal (i.e., socioeconomic status), do you think your life would have been easier if born Black? A woman? Or, as cait001 points out, homosexual?
Way too complex to give a real answer, way too many variables. What does the household look like? Supportive parent figures, one parent, two parents? How many kids? What kind of support system do the children have? What kind of school system are the kids in? What does the neighborhood look like?
I get where you are coming from, I truly do, but none of this is as cut and dry as choosing a path and stating which one would be easier.
Here is a non hypothetical I have seen firsthand. My background up until a few years ago was working for nonprofits. I am very mission driven, and not money driven, it is how I am wired. The last nonprofit I worked for had a receptionist that was the most polite, most respected person in the building. Never a bad day. After 15 years on the job, she was removed from her position because the new president didn't believe that anyone greeting the public (our clients) should look differently than the majority of our clients. The new receptionist was a former stripper that knew a lot of our clients just from living in the neighborhood. She was also very bad at her job.
I know this is just one example counter of the discussion going on, but I have typically been the minority in every job I have ever had until the current one I am at.
This entire movement is a complex one. It does start with equal opportunities for all, but there are a ton of moving parts inside that need to happen to really see change happen.
I have seen many projects fail, and many successful, and a lot of times it comes down to one or two individuals/groups that can make or break a successful/impactful change on a larger scale.
I am glad more people are having the conversation, I just hope it isn't more of the same "talk the talk". To this point it has been cyclical with large scale flare-ups leading to some minor changes (and some major). Can you imagine how accelerated our society could become if Amazon gave one years worth of profit to a struggling community in the US? A real jumpstart to opportunity for a large group of people? I know, socioeconomic, but still, it is a very large factor driving a lot of our current and past issues.