Many people tend to think that the biggest problem in America is race. I think the deeper root … class. Rich vs poor. My thoughts:

Class differences

Let me ask you a question:

Who has more in common — a middle-class African American and a middle-class Caucasian American, or a rich African-American and a poor working-class Caucasian American?

Or:

When we think about ‘trailer trash’ “white” people … are they really ‘white’?

For example, Eminem probably has more in common with other African-Americans than he does with a nice middle-class Caucasian family.

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My thoughts

My thought is this:

For myself as a Korean-American who grew up poor, I have more in common with a working-class Mexican-American than I do with a rich South Korean from Korea.

Morphologically speaking, I LOOK more similar to a rich Chinese person, but culturally … I relate more with poor working class folks.

The sociology of class in America

Let us consider:

Those who made their wealth via slave labor in America passed down their wealth to their kids, and their grand-kids. These people have a leg-up in American society.

Then consider being born in the projects. You are born at a lower-level. It is almost like the difference between starting Diablo II as a Level 70 Paladin vs starting off as a Level 0 Amazon with no weapons — totally naked.

How racism works in America

Let us think about our media. How are African Americans portrayed? Killers. Thugs. ‘Thug Lyfe’. Rappers. People rolling around with guns and stuff. Isn’t it pretty obvious that almost everyone in American society would stereotype African American folks as bad?

Poor working-class Caucasian folks

https://youtu.be/UNazCcark5Y

My new friend Tom the painter. His family are Portuguese immigrants. And sad enough, his (ex) wife and his daughter got addicted to heroin, and now live under the Boston bridge … homeless. And this happens to a lot of poor working class Caucasian folks. So the question is:

Should we have compassion for Caucasian poor folks in America?

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Who joins gangs?

Who joins gangs? Poor people. Why? In the hood, you join a gang for protection, and as a means for making money. Poverty breeds gangs. Desperation breeds gangs.