{I really do want a better emoji that means “agree,” and not “like,” but I put a like on that to note that it’s a really good comment}>

If we actually look back on how we structured our society, and our “help” for people in poverty, having a man in a poor household made it harder to receive public aid for that household. All sorts of manipulations were brought about — doing untold damage to families — because we did not demand fair and decent pay and decent schools and access to resources and a decent life for POC in the US for way too many generations.

Poor people of all colors had a hard time. But you put a decent suit on a poor white person in 1960, and they could find a leg up …

We kept Black and Brown people down. Period.

{In this discussion, I do NOT want to forget to note that, in many places in the south, Black communities DID support their own people and thrive — but Jim Crow tried to prevent or undo those successes, to every extent possible.}

We have — some of us — tried to change our society for the better. We still have work to do. Let’s not deny it.