I have an adopted brother who is 11 years my jr and african american. I am white. While I cant control for all the factors there, i can say that we have had some of the same problems in school, but I got a lot more chances there than he does. Smart, bored kid talks to much? I was chatty, he’s disruptive. Willful confident kid doesnt listen to directions and does what s/he pleases instead? I was a leader, helpful or at worst, bossy. He has a problem with authority.

When my math scores dipped in 4th grade, there was obviously a “problem” and “something wrong” that requries fixing, because my verbal scores were in the 99th percentile. My brother does that well in math, but its just accepted by teachers when his writing skills drop off before middle school, because his good math scores are the anomoly.

We have the same rich white parents, who are actually richer these days. So I dont think class and/or economic issues are the only important ones.

I don’t know what it’s like to be black. I don’t see why other whites here think they do. How can you say that poor whites and blacks are equally discriminated against? Do you really think racism does not exist?

Fortunately, many of these newly-rich “Mama’s” and their kids are a surprisingly sophisticated bunch, for all their lack of formal education. (At least those are the ones I see.) I’m imagining that living your whole life as these (mostly) women have doesn’t leave room for a lot of illusions.

I’m finding them a tough and sharp bunch, not knowledgeable, but wary. They ask a lot of questions, and they expect answers that make sense. Challenging clients. I’m glad I know what I’m talking about, because I’m thinking they’d figure out if I didn’t in roughly a heartbeat.

This, by the way, is one of the delights of practicing law: I get to meet and work for all sorts of interesting people. I’m liking this new bunch of clients very much.

__________

Scott, the rich will always get second chances. Somehow or other. I think our best bet is to provide that level of support more widely.

Well, I can’t really imagine it with white kids/parents either, but that’s just me (apparently).

On NPR, probably, in the mainstream media, not so much.

It’s good that you have these clients calling you, Susan. There are an awful lot of predators waiting to swoop up Mama’s apartment house because gee, it’s in the slum, so why don’t you take this pittance that looks like a lot of cash on hand and give me the title?

But it intersects with race when economics intersects with race, which is a lot of the time.

We’re seeing something interesting just beginning to happen here (SF Bay area). I’m seeing it in my law practice. Real estate in this area, especially residential real estate, is priced now in the stratosphere, so that if you own your home, any sort of home at all, a shack falling down, you’ve got some money. Quite a bit of money if you bought it a while ago.

This means that my phone is ringing and people of color are showing up to plan their estates and shuffile their assets around, just like the other rich. Mama owned three apartment houses in the slum? Baby, you’re a rich man now. I’m hugely enjoying working for these people, who have backgrounds very different from my own. (Someone or other is putting my name out in that community and I’m getting a ton of referrals, but I haven’t figured out yet who it is. When I ask where they got my name they always say, “A friend” but won’t elaborate.)

These folks, of course, whatever our linguistic and historical differences, have values which track the values of my rich white clients precisely.

Follow the money, honey.