Quote:
Originally posted by SummerChild
Ladies (and Gents),
I was reading The Black Elite thread and thinking of how we can close the wealth gap between the low and middle-class AA population. I have heard that it is wider now than it has ever been.
Any ideas?
SC
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Lovehaiku made some really excellent points off of which I would like to piggyback.
I think that the problem truly originates from "pipe dreams". Our youth don't know that there are other, more efficient ways of making money and building wealth. I truly believe they only see the entertainment industry (be it sports entertainment, video-ho entertainment, or music) as their method of money making.. and that's not true - especially when you compare the number of excellent ball players to the number of slots in the leagues they have available every year.
Now, I believe that it truly takes the wealthy Black community to come back and say through community service, "I drive the car you see in the music video, and I work at a law firm." or "I have a six bedroom home and I work at a bank." With opened eyes comes acknowledgement of options.
It's just especially hard as a mentor, to see a college freshman tell you honestly that they just thought "[insert major here]" sounded cool.. that they just wanted the refund checks.. or that they don't even know how or why they're there. You can't help but feel defeated before you even begin. Looking at that and at the attitudes of our high school level students, if we start THERE then we have made progress. *sigh*