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Comment by nhangen | Hacker News Reader

This is the argument that always baffles me. There are many reasons for that imbalance, just as there are many reasons for imbalance in other industries (sometimes in the opposite direction).

I coach youth sports, and many times the kids on my teams come from poor families. When I talk to them about their interests, not once have they mentioned or indicated that they would be prevented from pursuing that interest.

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Growing up in the United States, I was often told that there were certain things that I could not do because I would face a glass ceiling due to my skin color. Reading history books it was clear that this was true for the people who came before me. Looking at the people who were in the positions I wanted to attain, it was clear that something was preventing people who look like me from succeeding in those fields. And listening to the comments I received from my peers, it was clear that I was not perceived in the same way as others.

I can't speak for anyone other than myself. But, from my experience, it is helpful to know that people who look like you can succeed in this world.

Well you can speak for me because I was going to write basically this same post. I often felt this way growing up.

Who told you these things? Obviously, that's where the problem starts, and though I've never experienced that (nor has anyone I know), I can't deny that it exists.

Older members of my family. They simply related to me their experiences living in the United States. Unfortunately the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was not that long ago and the world didn't change overnight with its passage. And they received similar teachings from their parents who dealt with even greater injustices before that.

Depends on the age, I grew up with lots of poor kids that thought they'd be able to live their dreams, then had reality harshly shoved in their faces.

My family was temporarily poor, we had resources that few of my friends had. Both of my parents had advanced educations and my parents received inheritances that helped them start a small business.

My childhood friends had nothing to fall back on, of the ones that survived into adulthood, most of them ended up poorer than their parents.

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