Dear ones-who-only-see-from-their-perspective,
I recently saw a posting on Facebook where a girl was arguing that the minimum wage should not be raised to $15 an hour. She explained that people who “decide to make a minimum wage job a career choice don’t deserve $15 an hour.” Now, whether you believe $15 an hour should be minimum wage or not, there’s something important that this girl said that reflects the attitude of at least half of our country right now. I want to hone in on the line, “don’t deserve.” Who are we to tell people what they do and do not deserve? Since when did we become so unable to empathize with our fellow citizens that we can resort to saying what they do and do not deserve to have? That, to me, sounds a lot like a dictatorship. This got me so upset; I actually had to walk away from the computer, in fear that I may make a rude comment on this girl’s moronic post. Unfortunately, this isn’t where her ignorance ended.
She made another almost laughably ignorant point saying, “There's always an opportunity to move up on the work ladder.” Tell that to the black man or woman who is denied a promotion because of race. Or to the gay man or woman who is fired because of his or her sexual orientation. There are not always opportunities to move up in society because the discrimination that still exists keeps those effected by it in a chokehold. Yes, young, blonde, white girl, you did have the opportunity to work your way from hostess, to server. Good for you. I’m glad you were given those opportunities. However, for thousands, if not millions of Americans, they will never even see a glimpse of those opportunities, and for reasons they cannot even control. The ignorance this young girl expressed was disgusting. Oh, but wait, there’s more.
Another girl commented on her post with a rebuttal that had me doing a slow clap from my place behind the screen. She said, “That isn't realistic for most people. You also have no idea what it's like to live in a family that lives off of $10,000 a year and your only option is to work at McDonald's to help support them. I'm honestly sick of seeing middle class people make generalizations like "most people can get out of working at McDonald's." Because people who are already impoverished to begin with, can't. And those people still deserve to make a living wage just because they didn't grow up in an economic middle ground. The classism is astounding.” THANK YOU! Don’t worry though; you’re going to have another face-palm moment. The ignorant girl who posted the status replied to this comment with, “You can ALWAYS do things to improve your life. Always.” Thank you for that report from fairytale land. No, unfortunately, we do not live in a word where there are ALWAYS opportunities to improve your life. Guess what, sometimes there just aren’t. Why don’t you tell the people of Flint, whose government is literally letting them consume poisonous water, to start trying to improve their lives. “It’s your own fault you’re being poisoned, you should have tried harder to improve your conditions!” IT DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY. These poor people live in an area wracked with poverty. They are dependent on their government to make sure they have clean water that won’t kill them! They don’t have the means to move, or to drive however many hundreds of miles they may need to to get fresh water. They need help. But it is people like this girl, and many middle to upper class white Americans who have no concept of hardship or what it is like to actually struggle just to survive, that perpetuate this blatant ignorance.
I want to share with you the last piece of ignorance from this post that caused me to contemplate throwing my computer out a window. A young man commented on her status. I know him from high school, so I know he comes from a very affluent background, has had everything he has ever wanted in life, and quite frankly, is pretty entitled. This was his response; “I have an idea. Want to make $15 an hour? Work your tail off, get a promotion. Study your tail off, get a degree. Money will come with hard work. That's my message to these people.” Yeah, you read that right. “Study your tail off, get a degree.” I would love for him to tell that to the young Hispanic boy growing up in Harlem with 5 brothers and sisters and a single mom, who has to drop out of high school just to provide for his family. He should just go to college and get a degree, right? Easy enough. Because college is totally affordable for EVERYONE in our country, no matter that background. Right? Oh, wait, I think I’m confusing the U.S. with Finland. Yeah, that’s not how it works here. That young Hispanic man will probably never even finish high school, let alone step foot in a college. He will never even be given the opportunity to “work his tail off” for a degree. THAT is the society we live in. Don’t give me that “everyone has equal opportunities” crap. Because it isn’t true.
This young man’s sentiments toward what people “should be doing” are why these types of injustices still exist in our society. He expressed such a complete disconnect from the real world. He probably typed that from his cushy house in his upper middle class neighborhood, in between classes at his local college that his parents pay for. GET REAL, PEOPLE. I find it comical that the so called “almighty”, who have everything they could ask for and have never really had to work for anything, think it’s their right to tell people who have struggled their whole lives that they should “work harder.” *Eternal eye-roll*
When we lose our empathy, we lose our humanity. We have to band together to help each other. Not just those who are privileged enough to be born into circumstances that give them opportunities for bettering themselves. We must address the inequalities in our communities, our society, and our nation. When we refuse to address the struggles, hardships, and inequalities placed our fellow brothers and sisters, we create a false image of ourselves. None of us are better or worse than anyone else. It is my deepest hope that in my lifetime, my country can break down the walls that still divide us, and realize that we all deserve to be equal.
Sincerely,
Your empathetic American