Dear Neal
Dear Neal,
I met you a few years ago. You were polite and seemed like a nice man. You’re a friend of my aunts and I see you occasionally at her BBQs. Before I tell you how I feel about you I want to tell you what I know about you:
You’re white
You’re an only child
You’re very intelligent
Your parents paid for you to attend college
You didn’t work until you graduated college
You’re in your 60s
You don’t have any children
You’re divorced
You’re retired
Your mom pays when you go out to dinner
And now I want to tell you a little about me:
I’m from Oakland (my parents are Salvadorian )
I have 2 brothers
I’m also very intelligent
I was accepted to universities but my parents could not afford to pay
I’ve been working since I was 16
I’m in my mid-20s
I’m single
I work full time and take classes at a community college nights and weekends
I would never let my mom pay for a meal
I never feel the need to explain myself because I don’t care what people think. But when someone like you disrespects me, I need to give you a reality check.
You and I are not alike at all. And I know that by my age your life was different than how my life is. And that’s okay. Because unlike you, my family went through hardships. Real struggles. Something you’ve never experienced. It took a lot of hard work for me to get to this place and I’m proud of that.
You said I “lack ambition.” That inspired this letter to you. How could you white privileged man possibly know what my ambitions are? You assume that the way you measure success is the way I measure success, but that’s wrong. And it’s not fair to compare your walk of life with mine because you’ve lived a privileged, protected, get whatever you want life. While I’ve worked hard for everything I have and continue to do so.
While I saw that my parents struggled financially, I worked hard to one day not live paycheck to paycheck like they did. But you grew up with rich parents and continue to live off of them. So tell me which one of us lacks ambition?
Originally published on Medium.com
