We all hear and read a lot about racism, the struggle of minorities, and lower class poverty. We're also inundated day-to-day by the whimsical tales of the extreme upper class in Hollywood and such, but has the public conscious forgotten the middle-class of America? And since when did it become such an ugly thing to be Caucasian?
I've been dwelling over this for a while now, but recently it's been boiling on my skin since I'm applying for financial aid for University. First of all, as a disclaimer, let me make this clear since I'm sure someone is going to flame me trying to twist my words: I am not a racist. I am not a white-supremest trying to crack down on other cultures. Nor am I trying to belittle the civil rights movements. I'm just trying to understand why middle class white people are suddenly the bane of society. And secondly, I'm -well- aware of the fact that since "forever", white people have been considered the rulers of civilization and the gatekeepers to the darker edges of history (slave trade, "big business", etc). And while the Civil Rights movements did come and go, fought and won, racism still exists everywhere. But what am I getting at, however, is that racism has now embedded itself in the minds of most people to mean hatred FROM white people AGAINST other races. I mean that honestly, I don't know how many lectures I've sat through during public schooling about early American History and just had guilt thrown in my face. I'm not saying it wasn't wrong or cruel, it most CERTAINLY was. Yet I fail to grasp how years later, I'm trying to fill out a FAFSA and apply for Scholarships, and it all seems to be completely biased. How many scholarships have you run across lately that specifically state that preference will be given to underrepresented races/financial status? It's clear that the intention is so that chances will be given to those that have harder times. That's all good. But what if a white, middle class person has hard times, but they get shunned because of their race and status? Is that not racism?
Maybe I'm all wrong. Maybe the Caucasian race must pay for it's debts for hundreds of more years to come until the scale flips completely. Because this seems to be the case. Once again, if you're flipping out reading this, go back and read the disclaimer. I am not some suburbanite with a gas-chugging SUV and a white picket fence. I basically live on farmland, but we do not operate a farm. I have a single mom who supports herself, me, my mentally ill grandmother and my mom's boyfriend who has Lupus. She's also an alcoholic. Instead of riding off to college like all my other friends who parents dished out the cash, I worked a 40hr/wk job to help pay the bills. Now I'm being told my mom makes too much money a year to receive anything but Federal Loans. I can't get a private loan because of credit issues. I feel roadblocked, and it's not all because of race, don't get me wrong; the thought just came up during this whole ordeal. I don't plan on giving up either, there might be a way to get my counselor to claim me as independent due to my circumstances. It's just frustrating to think that the world is passing you by and if it weren't for this or that, you'd be moving right along with it. Life is like that I suppose.
Semi off-topic, but as I'm speaking of race: Why is African American the only choice listed for black people? Not all "black" people are of African descent, but they don't list themselves as Hispanic or Middle Eastern. Or even mixed race, which is even harder to define. Technically we all descend from Africa, globally speaking.
Perhaps my point is that: Race is no longer the black and white, no pun intended, world it used to be. There is most definitely a gray area emerging, and while the same can't totally be said for economic standings, there are overlaps. Technically I am considered middle class, but after it's all said and done, the numbers would reflect poverty level. I think it's time for serious reconsideration in the way we calculate these kinds of things. Although, harder said than done, I suppose bureaucracy has it's way, no matter how many colors of the rainbow are in the mix, of making things black and white. For the time being, though, I continue to find my voice lost and unheard... what I define myself as, Underrepresented.
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