" If I Were a Poor Black Kid"

I think that the author of “If I Were a Poor Black Kid” wrote this essay with good intentions. I believe that he was attempting to reach out to less fortunate people and give them advice on how to succeed in a limiting life that they were born into. Unfortunately I do not find his ideas to be very helpful or realistic. Families in poverty need to work to make an income. Going to the library and school to study for multiple hours outside of school hours is an impossible task for a young individual with a job. He assumed that all of the children in poverty do nothing outside of school. I think it is naïve to assume that none of those students work to help their families.  Also he assumed that all parents would be okay with their children studying all of the time. Of course all parents want what is best for their children but there are many different circumstances that can prevent the parents from allowing their child to study.  For example the student may have many siblings and has to help out at home, or has a sick relative that needs to be taken care of. It could also be hazardous for the child to venture to the library and school alone. Parents could prefer their kids safe at home then off studding were they cannot reach them. Also there is potential for students to lie to their parents and say they are studying when they aren’t. This lack of trust could restrict one’s access to studying outside of school. I think that he overestimated the availability of resources and underestimated the amount of obstacles

A response to this essay said “If I were a middle class white guy writing on Forbes.com about being a poor black kid I’d be clueless. I’d be so clueless that I wouldn’t realize that I’m clueless” This response stuck out to me because that is how I would feel writing a paper explaining what I would do if I were a poor black kid. I am not a white middle class guy, I am a white upper middle class teenager. I have had tough times but for the most part my life has been easy and full of opportunities. I live in a nice community and always have. I have had little exposure to extremely impoverished areas. If I was told to write this essay I would be clueless. I would write my essay with no facts or examples. I would draw from stereotypes, stories, and maybe something that I saw on TV. I would do my best to consider all of the obstacles they face, but I would fail. I can assume things but I will never truly understand what it is like. I would be so clueless that I didn’t realize how clueless I was.