Kristof

"I hear from people who say something like: I grew up poor, but I worked hard and I made it. If other people tried, they could too."

This quote really resonated with me on a personal level. My dad was raised in a fairly poor house by divorced parents who both didn't have much. He worked hard his whole life growing up to make sure that both he and his family would have enough in life. I don't think he realizes that he's one of those few people who were able to pull themselves out of it. He says something like the above quote every once in a while. He is also white, and a man so he already had that going for him. 

I remember watching a video a while back where they rounded up a bunch of different people and told them they were going to run a race. They lined them up on the starting line but before they started they were given instructions. Take a step forward if you are a man. Take a step forward if you went to college. Take a step forward if you have both your parents. Take a step forward if you have a job. And so on. Before the race even started, people were ahead and behind. This, of course, upset the people who were left behind at the starting line. It would upset me too. These other people had a head start, advantages over them that would help them win the race. And mostly, through no fault of their own. 

Sometimes when you are born with advantages, you don't see them. When you are born with disadvantages, it is all you can see. The people who took ten steps forward couldn't see who was behind them. But for the people on the starting line, all they could see was how far they had to go.