Your dad was a white man
Growing up at the time he did meant he had it the easiest he could possibly have had it.

You are a white middle class girl so you've had it pretty much as easy as he did.

And I say this as a white middle class man who also had it very easy to get where I am today.

There is no comparison to my nice upbringing in a big house in the country to being raised in a poor area of a large city and I wouldn't pretend to have any idea how much harder it would have been if that was the case.
(Bazongaloid, Thu 3 Mar 2011, 15:58, 3 replies, latest was 15 years ago)

Yes but her dad
is northern, Al.

A real one too - not like you.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Thu 3 Mar 2011, 16:01, Reply)

it might have been easiER for me, this is probably true, but i can't undo or control that
however, i wouldn't say that getting 1 out of 25 scholarships when i was 9 (about 10,000 kids took that exam) or getting 1 place out of 150 to get into school (about 2000 kids took that exam) or slogging my guts out to get A*s and As at GCSE and A-level and a good degree or getting a training contract (about 2,000 applicants go for each training contract) was EASY!

however, it's also about what you do when you get to where you are. you and i both repay the system with taxes which helps people in poorer areas (although not in the most efficient way imho) we are both good citizens, what else can we do?
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 3 Mar 2011, 16:05, Reply)

Stop watching Sex and The City, please.

(BelladonnaAnodyne Melissa's gonna wet herself, I swear..., Thu 3 Mar 2011, 16:09, Reply)

ha
i have actually only ever seen about 2 episodes if that helps...
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 3 Mar 2011, 16:10, Reply)

Al I agree with your points above
things aren't right or fixed yet. But I have to point out that just because he was white didn't necessarily make her father's path easier. The disadvantage of class as versus colour is far more marked. It's about money and its distribution rather than skin colour.

You're also seemingly rather determined to paint the middle class with a massive brush as having had it easy. It's just not true. I'd be fucking happy right now if it was true.
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Thu 3 Mar 2011, 16:13, Reply)

I'm prett y sure that forty or fifty odd years ago
a black person from the north of England would have had a far harder time making a lot of money than a white person.
(Bazongaloid, Thu 3 Mar 2011, 16:17, Reply)

A black person from the north of England:
Christ how unlucky can one person be?
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Thu 3 Mar 2011, 16:20, Reply)

This is quite probably true
but that's quite a long time ago. You can't dismiss hardship but saying 'oh well some other people have had it harder'
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Thu 3 Mar 2011, 16:20, Reply)

I'm not trying to dismiss it
I don't really see where you're coming from here.

My initial argument was that Swipey has dismissed "minority groups" as requiring any sort of extra help because all they should do is work harder.

I'm just saying that the reality of the situation is that if you don't give people opportunities then, although some people will always work to better themselves, a lot of people either can't or won't and you will end up a big group of people with no education and no prospects and simply relying on benefits.

Oh hang on, it's pretty much what has happened.
(Bazongaloid, Thu 3 Mar 2011, 16:25, Reply)

nooooooo
i meant there SHOULD be no such thing. i didn't say it doesn't happen in practice!
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 3 Mar 2011, 16:34, Reply)

This is getting like your proclamation
that the middle east should just stop being nasty and just be nice instead.
(Bazongaloid, Thu 3 Mar 2011, 16:42, Reply)