The American Dream, I think it’s bullshit. What the fuck are you talking about? I think the US allows for social mobility but most definitely not for everyone. For people like my family it works well. It allows those at the top to be successful. But what does it mean for those at the bottom? Those who struggle to find a job because of their race or sexuality or religious beliefs or gender identity or economic status. Every job application I have ever filled out has that bullshit written in small text at the bottom of the application. Everything about “we cannot discriminate against a person based off of these minority identities. They put it for legal reasons. Because at the end of the day people are still racist. And sexist. And homophobic. My family exists in a world made for them to thrive.
My grandparents even moved up a social class, maybe even two. My mom grew up in a trailer park where my grandparents each worked multiple jobs. A lifestyle where eating meat was a luxury. And now they live in an upper class neighborhood. Surrounded by doctors and lawyers. I don’t know how the hell they ended up there. My grandpa is a car salesman. All this to say they worked their fucking asses off. For years and years and years to get where they are today. And nothing should invalidate their hard work. But to recognize your privilege is to recognize that this world is set up to ensure that other people will have to kill themselves, working ten times harder just to move as far up as they did.
From what I have observed, while living in a white, privileged family as a Black girl, I have seen that people in places of privilege often don’t want to address it because they feel that labeling them as privileged implies that they didn’t work hard for what they have. Privilege isn’t about invalidating the things you worked hard for, but about the privileges you didn’t do anything to earn.
