To protect the identity of the interviewee, I have used an alias.  

I interviewed Anna, an African American woman who grew up in Harlem, Manhattan. She has been a part of a community mostly made up of African American individuals and some Hispanics, who primarily live in East Harlem, since 1992. Anna considers herself and her family to be working class, as well as many people in her community. This community and Anna’s family have struggled financially and has lost out on some opportunities due to this issue.  

During our interview, I asked Anna what kind of friends she had growing up (race, economic status), and I learned that both growing up, and currently, Anna primarily has African American and Hispanic friends, who are for the most part working-class individuals. I believe this is due to most people in the area being from the working class and of those two main ethnicities, so Anna has not had the opportunity to meet a lot of different people or experience many different cultures throughout her life. I also asked what the most pressing issue is for her, or her community, and her largest issue has been her financial situation. Anna has missed out on several opportunities due to this. She worries she may never be able to afford getting her own place and was not able to pay for her behind the wheel drivers test, so she could not get her license and access that freedom. I would imagine that Manhattan has many kinds of public transportation, but I don’t believe it to be the same easy access as getting in your own car and going somewhere. I think it would be incredibly hard to not believe you will gain the freedom of having your own place or driving on your own, and I think Anna is very strong for not letting these situations stop her from going to college and getting an education to hopefully one day have that access. I wondered if she had been discriminated by peers in her community, and she responded by saying she has been discriminated in school by her peers for not learning material as quickly as some of her peers. She was mistreated and made fun of for being “slow”, but like I mentioned Anna is here with us all at the City College striving to better herself and gain a valuable education.  

The lack of differing cultures and the lack of discrimination Anna has received for being African American was surprising to learn. Going into the interview I knew what neighborhood Anna grew up in and I did assume it would be mostly African American people, based on what I have heard and read about it, but I thought there might be a more diverse group of races and cultures. It was perhaps most surprising to learn that Anna has not been discriminated because of her race. There are very few African American individuals where I grew up, so I personally have seen a friend of mine be treated differently in many situations because she is Black. Learning that Anna has not faced this issue also surprised me because of the recent media; everywhere you see “black lives matter “and stories of maltreatment, especially by the police, so it is eye-opening to see that this is not the case in the life of every African American individual.  

I believe a lot of financial strife comes from having an undereducated population with people who get played by the system. When people are living paycheck to paycheck there isn’t any time for a college experience and a lot of people can’t cut back their hours to focus on school. College can be daunting when you look at the cost and the amount of time you must spend working to get the grades. This being said, I think more awareness about the kinds of aid you can get to go to school and the programs available to people with less could be beneficial to this community as well as many others who believe they are too poor for an education. Personally, I believe I could get in touch with the financial aid office and discuss ways to make it known that college doesn’t have to be a major financial burden. I used to have the stereotype that people struggling financially were not interested in going to college, I do still believe that people in this community often don’t think they will have the opportunity or means to get a higher education, but my perception has definitely been altered. 

  I grew up in a small town called South Lake Tahoe in Northern California. My high school was approximately 40% white, 30% Hispanic, 20% Asian, and 10% African American and my friend group consisted of five different ethnicities, so I have had the opportunity to learn about several different cultures and languages. Many people move here to retire, and cost of living is very high, so a large group of the population is upper middle class to upper class. My neighborhood consisted largely of rich white people, however, my family and I personally do struggle financially as well and I have spent the last several years working full time and saving up money to be able to go to college and better myself. I have experienced moments of doubt that I would ever get to have this opportunity, or like Anna that I’ll ever get my own place and get to live independently. Personally, I got my license when I was 16 and I drive for a living, so it is hard to imagine not being able to drive if you need to get somewhere. I would consider Anna to be a part of a marginalized community because she has not had the same opportunities as others who have been more financially stable. People with less often struggle in many aspects of their lives and must work twice as hard to get to the things that they want, while missing out on opportunities and services others may take for granted.