American oppression

Some friends of mine live in the "ghetto". Each time I make the short two mile drive between their house and my yuppie neighborhood, it strikes me that I am a visitor in a foreign land.

I often debate with myself about whether I want to work locally or internationally. I obviously do not have to go far to find need. I could serve here, in what to me is a foreign culture of poverty.

Sometimes I think I would be more comfortable abroad. Abroad, my privilege is assumed. I'm an American after all. We have lots of money, are well educated, and fly all over the world whenever we want.

Here, my privilege is not so easily labeled. Face to face with someone who is experiencing poverty, the differences are not a matter of stereotypes about country of origin, but are so much more complex. We're all Americans. We're all supposed to have the same opportunity. And that's what makes me uncomfortable. In the "land of opportunity" there are so many systemic flaws that allow these multiple income/wealth-bases cultures to exist, and breaking down the walls that divide them is quite a challenge.

It does seem easier to go feed hungry babies in Africa than to try to restructure systems of American oppression...