Oppression debt: The extra cost of racism

People who come from an oppressed group generally live a lower quality of life than people who aren’t/people who do the oppressing. It’s not easy to explain when you’re speaking to one of these people as they assume you should be in the same place in life as them.

They can’t comprehend a world where people don’t cruise through life despite making that a reality for so many people.

Being black I’ve had more than my fair share of oppression by white people. It’s forced me almost out of the workforce entirely and into thousands of debt. I used to want to go far in my career, but nowadays I consider myself grateful for getting in the door despite having years of experience.

The same white people who force me out of jobs wonder why black people aren’t doing as well as white people. They think we’re stupid lazy criminals, but when we do take an honest crack at life we’re blocked from making progress.

With my level of education and the skills I’ve learned I should be earning quite a bit of money in finance or marketing, but instead, I’m working nightshift in a warehouse with people who have criminal backgrounds.

I’m almost back to square one as I can’t pay my rent on time and I’ve been saying the same thing for years. I have worked my ass off in my 20s and next month I will be 30. I’ve learned that hard work means very little in the UK if you’re not white.