It suddenly hit me
The last post was meant to explore stereotypes, not enrage or alienate anyone. But my progression of thought since then, particularly since the whole discussion of the class was geared around community and family, has made me think about where “haves” and “have nots” in society occur. In the discussion of the “digital divide” a real or mythical division between who has access to technology and who doesn’t, has been criticized because this kind of division is just a polarization of other economic disparities.
Another student in my class had pointed to Bill Cosby’s recent comments at a speech about Brown v. Board of Education that Blacks need to take responsibility and get educated, learn to speak proper English, and stop calling their kids ethnic names (i’ll get the link up here shortly). A little bit of victimizing the victim as it were and a healthy dose of this is a meritocracy, if I could make it, so can you.
What all this has led me to think about is the importance of community and family. The real have and have nots are between those who have supportive, positive families, role models and communities–where education and aspiration are exemplified and honored. There is no way to begin to make up the difference here. If someone does not have the support of their community and if their education, knowledge and interests are not in line with the education, knowledge, and interests of their community, it will be very difficult to evoke meaningful change in a person’s life that won’t rip them away from everything they hold dear. Let’s call it the community support divide.
