“I Just Can’t Be Poor Anymore”

“The American system has been built on winners and losers for generations. They need each other to survive. I decided at a young age I didn’t want to live my life at the bottom,” said S, a now senior at a university in the Northwest United States.

S’s bottom started during the Housing Crisis of 2007. His father, a financial trader at a well-known bank, lost his job. His mother, teacher – became the family’s only source of income – and it wasn’t enough.

As his family was hit with a massive financial disaster, his parents’ marriage struggled. His mother developed severe breast cancer. While she was undergoing treatment, his father resorted to drugs to cope. After she recovered – the family’s money was gone, and S’s father left with it.

“Since that day, I lived my life in poverty. We didn’t have anything besides each other,” said S.

S’s life has been full of struggles, but he persevered. He was born biracial, with a South Eastern mother and African American father, but has pale skin and appears white. S says he has struggled all is his life with accepting his cultural identity. Without his mother, S believes he wouldn’t have fought back against adversity.

“If my mom didn’t push me … I don’t know where I’d be today,” said S.

That work ethic, along with the advantages of being perceived as white, S believes, made his American Dream possible.

“My American Dream is about working hard to succeed. That success is different for everyone … but I don’t think it is possible for everyone. I learned how to make the most out of my situation, but not everyone is so lucky,” said S.

Now, he is about to graduate college (on a full scholarship). He says he already has a job lined up for the spring.

“My success does not mean everyone has the same opportunities as I do … the system needs to change.”

S is…

• 21 Years-Old
• Male, Cisgender
• Black
• Mixed (Black/South Eastern)
• American/Canadian
• Catholic
• Low Income
• Heterosexual