A Tale of Two Families

This week was full of eye opening assignments. I was uncomfortable doing the Implicit Bias Test, but learned a lot about myself. I was horrified when watching the film about Rwanda. I could not believe how bad the situation was, how little we did to help. That left me angry for most of the week. Then I look at the Migration website, and the Racial inequality website, and just could not figure out where to put all the feelings I had at this point. I really wanted to believe that in this day and time there was not so many issues with bias or prejudice, but I see that I might be a bit naïve.

The website Where Race Lives: A Tale of Two Families, really brought home how far we have come, yet how far we have to go. Starting with the difference in where the Green’s and Holland’s were allowed to live, and what type of financing they were allowed to get, was sad. From the start Byron and Max have a different head start, and I knew from the start that their futures would be very different.

Job opportunities were so different for Mr. Green’s family, compared to Mr. Holland’s family, that the opportunities they could afford for Max and Byron would be very different. Just education alone, was largely different. It seems very unfair that the “poor” jobs were so affected, and were the cause of neighborhoods becoming more segregated, and poor. I would assume that crime rates in those neighborhoods rose, and it was the start of a discouraging life for Byron. Max on the other hand gets to live in a good neighborhood, and while Byron’s family life is going down, Max’s lifestyle is improving. He gets to go to good school, play in nice parks, and study at well stocked libraries. Max gets to go to a private college, along with his siblings.

Even with all the struggles, it is good that Byron earns a scholarship to an Ivy League school. While, Max had plenty of money to travel, and go to college, Byron had to worry about money.

I could not believe the difference in what the two families sold their houses for. The sale of house seems to be determined by the majority of the race that lives in that neighborhood. What surprised me even more was that these sales were in the 90’s, and the year 2000, within my lifetime. Byron now owns a condo, and makes monthly payments, Max gets to buy a house with the help of his parents. Now begins the cycle for the next generation.

My father is Hispanic, and my mother is White. I have noticed the same type of differences as Byron and Max, with my parents. My father grew up poor, and has many family members that still live in bad neighborhoods, that we are not allowed to visit because they are very unsafe areas. My father is the first college graduate from his family, and left home at 18 because he wanted a better life.

My mother on the other hand, came from an upper middle class family. She lived in a nice house; her father and mother both had doctorates. Her brother and her both have graduate degrees. They traveled to many countries, and the family she has left, live in upper class neighborhoods, where we can visit without worry of safety. My father says when he met my mother that he thought his life was good enough, because it was better than his parents. He was in the military, moving up in rank, and was a decent guy who never got in trouble. However, my mother knew that everyone should have a college degree; they had to save for the future, and provide a good start in life for their children. So he tells us he would not be where he is without my mother. He has a college degree, is almost at the top rank in the Marine Corps, and has saved for the future, affording all of his children a college degree, and they have done things for their children, that were never done for my dad. They are happy because they know their future grandchildren will have a better life than they did.

I feel really bad for people who have to live life struggling for each success. I wish our society were very different. I think those that work past the problems in society are our hero’s, and should be very proud of themselves.