My friend lent me her copy of "Hillbilly Elegy" and at first I wasn't that engaged, but then it dawned on my how relevant it was to some conversations we'd had in the past about our poor background and how difficult it was for us to negotiate going to college, since our parents hadn't had the opportunity and had no guidance to give us. Both of us, luckily, had two parents and stable households, but we saw our parents struggle with what being middle class might mean and how one could become so. I'd love to have gone to a small private college, a girl's school, but didn't dare ask. The state schools were a bargain and in fact the one I went to was excellent. But I had no sense of choice. My friend struggled with finances then raising a son alone, and she had little choice in where she got her B.A.
The poor white trash element was present in both our families, and the right wing politics, but we both carved out our lives away from that bent and forged our own paths. Luckily, we are not mired in a culture of laziness and hopelessness and blame. But we've seen it close up and personal.
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