My mother raised 3 of her six children alone after my father killed himself (the other three were teenagers - one in college already). My father did not prepare my mother for his decision -- the life insurance he had taken out upon new employment was not in effect when he huffed our '61 Ford Falcon's tailpipe.

My mother worked 40 or more hours a week as a part-time worker because to go full-time (and get the benefits that came with full-time) would have meant that she might not be availible enough to accomodate for the time she might have to take off to care for us kids.

You don't have to diminish the hard work and sacrifice of my mother to make your points. Your view that all who "have" cheated to get "it" is not just naive, it is insulting. And your view that I must "have" in order to hold the views I do is equally ignorant. I am a self-employed potter. I work hard and I don't cheat.   I am not one of the "haves" -- certainly not by your narrow view of the world wherein exactly half the world is cheated and the other half cheats, and you, in all your wisdom, stand above it all determining which is which.

And you presume to dismiss, not just anyone whose family history you deem disqualifies them from holding a valid opinion on a subject -- but you have also reserved the right to be the judge of whether a person is telling the truth about that family history.

And yet you, who I assume are not a black man, consistantly presume, not only to speak for blacks, but claim to actually feel what they feel.

Yer a trip.