Cinderella In Dnlee's 'If I Were A Poor Black Kid'

1002 Words3 Pages

The likely hood that a “poor black kid” will survive plight conditions is beyond the means of their hard work. That is why DNLee’s, “If I Were a Wealthy White Suburbanite”, response to “If I Were a Poor Black Kid” by Gene Marks is strongly accurate. DNLee uses Cinderella as an analogy to further bolster her point. Just as Cinderella’s heinous stepmother and stepsisters make it nearly impossible to attend the ball, disparity makes it nearly impossible for a poor black kid to achieve a prosperous life. “Working hard is important; but let’s not be naïve.”(DNLee 265) It does not matter how much of a hard worker a person is because there are more challenging factors that lead to obtaining a successful life. Racism is a clear reality in society …show more content…

The poverty that poor black Americans experience is often different from the poverty of poor whites. It is more isolating and esoteric. It fans out of family homes and inundates the entire neighborhood; the streets, the schools, the grocery stores, the community centers. A poor black family, in short, is much more likely than a poor white family to live in a neighborhood where many other families are poor. Creating what is called the "double standard" of poverty. “The sense of privilege that he [Marks], a multi-generation white class guy has to share his wisdom with all of those ‘poor black socially-orphaned children out there in the West Phillies of the world’ is astounding” (DNLee 256). Assuming that those children have no direction is a misconception that many white privileged Americans assume. And that assumption is why the life chances and opportunities of people of color in the United States are limited as compared to whites. Place continues to be a defining characteristics of the opportunity structure. Children growing up in more privileged neighborhoods often ponder what they will do when they grow up; as were poor children ponder on if they will even have the opportunity to grow up. The privileged are so blind that even they do not realize it, and they do not see that others are not privileged. As Cinderella’s privileges and opportunities were taken from her, her chance at the ‘good life’ was too. The element of the good life, however defined, is only accessible to those who are

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Black Picket Fences By Mary Pattillo

    601 Words  | 2 Pages

    Specifically, she found that members of the Black middle class still face income and wealth disadvantages, housing segregation, limited job opportunities, racial discrimination, family disruption, and crime victimization, among other social problems, at a higher rate than their White middle-class counterparts. As a result, Pattillo (2013) concluded that Black middle-class neighborhoods often “sit as a kind of buffer between core black poverty areas and whites” (p. 4). Otherwise put, the Black middle class are situated in a position between middle-class Whites and underclass Blacks, where they are not at parity with the former, and are only slightly better than the

    Read More

  • The Original Underclass Analysis

    293 Words  | 1 Pages

    One of the most critical observations about the state of our sociological health is observed by MacGillis of the Atlantic’s article entitled “The Original Underclass”. That is that the social breakdown of low-income whites began to reflect trends that African American’s were primary subjects of decades ago such as unemployment, and drug addiction.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of How The Other Half Lives

    1638 Words  | 4 Pages

    The tenement was the biggest hindrance to achieving the American myth of rags to riches. It becomes impossible for one to rise up in the social structure when it can be considered a miracle to live passed the age of five. Children under the age of five living in tenements had a death rate of 139.83 compared to the city’s overall death rate of 26.67. Even if one did live past the age of five it was highly probable he’d become a criminal, since virtually all of them originate from the tenements. They are forced to steal and murder, they’ll do anything to survive, Riis appropriately calls it the “survival of the unfittest”. (Pg.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Waking Up White By Jan Arminio

    1324 Words  | 3 Pages

    The poor whites are looked down on from the rich whites. “The black children learned to fear poor whites more than other whites simply because they were known to express their racism by brutal and brutal acts of violence. The white trash flaunted their poverty and weren’t ashamed. Most poor white folks didn’t want to live anywhere near black folks “Hooks pg.199). “The white poor in fact make up the vast majority of the poor in this society. Then, the mass migration of poor blacks from southern states to northern cities created a huge urban poor population, where the white poor continued to live in isolated rural and suburban areas.” (Hooks pg.

    Read More

  • Amazing Grace by Jonathan Kozol

    787 Words  | 2 Pages

    The small river that divides the Washington Heights and Harlem from the South Bronx area, makes up "one of the largest racially segregated concentrations of poor people in our nation" (Kozol 3). This segregation increases the inequality problems by overpopulating the inner-cities that do not offer as many employment opportunities. As a result of the inequalities in this district, the children are not allowed as many opportunities as other fortunate individuals may receive growing up in a separate society. Kozol seems to think that the odds of these South Bronx children obtaining wealth and moving out of the area are ...

    Read More

  • Book Analysis Of Malcolm Gladwell's David And Goliath

    1360 Words  | 3 Pages

    That is not always true. It is true that that living in poverty and trying to make ends meet, and raising children at the same time can be tough, especially when you are a single working parent (Gladwell). The truth is that having money does not always make people good parents. Furthermore, Gladwell says that parents success sort of overwhelm their children. In fact, in some cases, parents have worked hard during their whole life, and become successful because they “learned the long and hard way about the value of money and the meaning of work and the joy and fulfillment that come from making your way into the world.” Sadly, that is a lesson hard to teach when having

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Nickel And Dimed

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    However, she never really experienced the actual life of living in poverty as the majority of people living in poverty experience. Barbara, an educated white women had just that on other people living in poverty, because of the color of her skin and education level that is more often than not restricted from people living in poverty. She was able and more qualified for jobs than other people living amongst the status she was playing. She also was able to more readily seek better benefits than people living in poverty. When she first start her journey in Florida she had a car, a car that in most cases people living in poverty do not have. She was also able to use the internet to find local jobs and available housing in the area that many people living in poverty are restricted from. Another great benefit she had was the luxury of affording a drug detox cleansing her of drugs deemed bad. Many people living in poverty do not have much extra cash laying around much less fifty dollars to afford a detox for prescription drugs. She also had the luxury to afford her prescription drugs, another option that many people living in poverty do not have. Another element that made Barbara’s experience not that genuine was the fact that she was not providing for anybody other than herself. Twenty-two percent of kids under the age of 18 are living below the poverty line (http://npc.umich.edu/poverty/#5) , Barbara did not have to provide for pets or kids which would of changed her experience altogether of living in poverty. Not to belittle Barbara’s experience, but many factors of what life is like living in poverty were not taken into consideration during her

    Read More

  • Manchild In The Promised Land Analysis

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to the Federal Statistics of poor students in the public school system, the percentage continues to rise. Over half of the students attending public schools in the United States are eligible for free or reduced lunch; this means that most come from low-income families. Many times as a result, for something simple, as wanting food, it leads to crime. “I saw Bucky on the floor with his arm around his little sister’s throat. He was choking her. Meanwhile, his big sister was bopping him on the head with a broom handle and they were all screaming.” (Brown 24) The quote mentioned previously provides the evidence of siblings fighting over something that seems vital; it is simply just an egg. The need for survival becomes crucial in one’s life, and stealing is not viewed as a crime, it is survival of the fittest. Although poverty leads to crime, one can choose the path they want to take in life. “They became a new class, the young elite of Harlem community. A few of them had government jobs. (Brown 341) Although the environment one lives, contributes to the way they are molded, the power of the way you want to live your life, is in your hands. “All youngsters in Harlem are confused in their thinking. Their thinking is influenced by their environment, by external values-not their own, but the values of the community, the people around them.” (Brown 368) Brown went to several reform schools, committed crimes, and did cocaine; he decided that he wasn’t going to stay in Harlem, where it was toxic, with the heroin epidemic and become a drug addict. As a result, he moved, and created a better life for himself. Manchild in the Promised Land can best be used as a tool to educate American youth about modern American history through realism that Claude Brown goes through; people will be able to relate to a

    Read More

  • The American Dream In Ann Petry's The Street

    1185 Words  | 3 Pages

    After getting the apartment on 116th Street Lutie didn’t know what her next step would be. She didn’t know how long she would stay there. They had just enough money to pay rent, buy food and clothes. Being locked into poverty enables Lutie from seeing a future. “She couldn’t see anything but 116th Street and a job that paid barely enough for food and rent and a handful of clothes. “(147). This world she was living contrasts with places that were “filled with sunlight and good food and where children were safe was fenced off to African-Americans so people like Lutie could only look at it with no expectation of ever being able to have it.”(147). Lutie came to the realization as to why white people hate black people so much. It is because they are entitled to white privilege at birth. Take McIntosh’s “White Privilege-Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” into account. McIntosh describes white privilege as invisible things that we are taught not to see. For example Mrs. Chandler, who employs Lutie as her maid. Mrs. Chandler has an advantage over Lutie, which puts Lutie at a disadvantage. People of the dominant society like The Chandlers have a “pattern running through the matrix of white privilege” (McIntosh), a pattern of assumptions that were passed on to them as a white person. “[The Chandlers] are taught to think of their lives as morally neutral, normative, and also ideal.”(McIntosh). In proportion as The

    Read More

  • The Marrow of Tradition

    1474 Words  | 3 Pages

    As the United States developed and grew, upward mobility was central to the American dream. It was the unstated promise that no matter where you started, you had the chance to grow and proceed beyond your initial starting point. In the years following the Civil War, the promise began to fade. People of all races strived to gain the representation, acknowledgement and place in this society. To their great devastation, this hope quickly dwindled. Social rules were set out by the white folk, and nobody could rise above their social standing unless they were seen fit to be part of the white race. The social group to be impacted the most by this “social rule” was the African Americans. Black folk and those who were sympathetic to the idea of equal rights to blacks were targeted by the Ku Klux Klan. (Burton, 1998) The turning point in North Carolina politics was the Wilmington Race Riot of 1898. It was a very bold and outrageous statement from the white supremacists to the black folk. The Democratic white supremacists illegally seized power from the local government and destroyed the neighborhood by driving out the African Americans and turning it from a black-majority to a white-majority city. (Class Discussion 10/3/13) This event developed the idea that even though an African American could climb a ladder to becoming somebody in his or her city, he or she will never become completely autonomous in this nation. Charles W. Chesnutt discusses the issue of social mobility in his novel The Marrow of Tradition. Olivia Carteret, the wife of a white supremacist is also a half-sister to a Creole woman, Janet Miller. As the plot develops, we are able to see how the social standing of each woman impacts her everyday life, and how each woman is ...

    Read More

  • On Being Young-A Woman-And Colored By Marita Bonner Summary

    1137 Words  | 3 Pages

    On Being Young-A Woman-and Colored an essay by Marita Bonner addresses what it means to be black women in a world of white privilege. Bonner reflects about a time when she was younger, how simple her life was, but as she grows older she is forced to work hard to live a life better than those around her. Ultimately, she is a woman living with the roles that women of all colors have been constrained to. Critics, within the last 20 years, believe that Marita Bonners’ essay primarily focuses on the double consciousness ; while others believe that she is focusing on gender , class , “economic hardships, and discrimination” . I argue that Bonner is writing her essay about the historical context of oppression forcing women into intersectional oppression by explaining the naturality of racial discrimination between black and white, how time and money equate to the American Dream, and lastly how gender discrimination silences women, specifically black women.

    Read More

  • Poverty in the African American Community

    929 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Natural Support of African Americans in poverty is to lower food bills in families by cooking instead of buying fast foods. The culture of poverty “is perceived to be a worldview and ethos contributing to poor people staying in poverty.” (Rogers, 131) it is seen as people who are in poverty are the connection of their offspring who seem to also have a difficult time to move up higher in society. “Children learn from their parents that laziness is a way of life, as is receiving food stamps every month; children never gain the motivation to work their way...

    Read More

  • Poverty in Everyday Use, Sonny's Blues, and The Cathedral

    874 Words  | 2 Pages

    The notion of poverty has a very expanded meaning. Although all three stories use poverty as their theme, each interprets it differently. Consequently, it does not necessarily mean the state of extreme misery that has been described in ?Everyday Use?. As Carver points out, poverty may refer to poverty of one?s mind, which is caused primarily by the lack of education and stereotyped personality. Finally, poverty may reflect the hopelessness of one?s mind. Realizing that no bright future awaits them, Harlem kids find no sense in their lives. Unfortunately, the satisfaction of realizing their full potential does not derive from achieving standards that are unachievable by others. Instead, it arises uniquely from denigrating others, as the only way to be higher than someone is to put this person lower than you.

    Read More

  • Baldwin's My Dungeon Shook: A Letter to my Nephew

    1116 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to James Baldwin’s “My Dungeon Shook: A Letter to My Nephew” African Americans cannot obtain their piece of the American Dream. Baldwin wrote a letter to his nephew in hope of guiding him through life. Baldwin had many words of wisdom to share, mostly words provoked by pain and anger. Baldwin wanted to teach his nephew about the cruelty of society. His main point was to teach his nephew not to believe the white man and his words. He wanted to encourage his nephew to succeed in life but not to expect the unassailable. By believing the white man one can not succeed but by knowing where one comes from will lead to success was the foundation of Baldwin’s message (243-246).

    Read More

  • Oscar Lewis's Five Families: The Culture Of Poverty

    868 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is hard for the poor to gain social mobility because of their background It focuses on how been poor is more than just a matter of income.

    Read More

More about Cinderella In Dnlee's 'If I Were A Poor Black Kid'

Open Document