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Notes -
(Copying and pasting the first part from another comment because I have the same question)
So are you saying it’s more that they don’t know people in their personal lives and community’s to look up to as role models? I can see the merit in that, but at the same time by virtue of the fact that rappers and athletes are often who fill that gap it doesn’t seem like the issue is a lack of local role models, as most black people don’t know, or even know anyone who knows, Lebron or Future.
I’m also wondering what you would say the analog for these role models is in white communities.
I would also counter that local role models that represent more accessible forms of success are more confined to upper middle class and above families. And while most people in that strata are white, most white people are not in that strata. So it would appear that most white people probably suffer from the same lack of accessible and realistic role models.
And I will be the first one to concede that that is a little-discussed privilege enjoyed by the upper middle class +, as I grew up lower middle class (and white) and am currently entering that upper strata. But relative to my peers who grew up in that strata I’ve really had to do a lot of guess work and just make professional decisions based on lessons learned from failure, as I didn’t really know anyone I could look to for advice or as a model to emulate. For instance, I didn’t know what an investment banker was until my mid 20s.
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