The Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations
Why you shouldn’t let what you look like hold you back in life
10 min readFeb 13, 2020
I’m, by way of pure statistics, one of the top writers on Medium. I make a six-figure living as an author and blogger. Millions of people read my work each year.
Oh yeah, I also happen to be black.
Let me tell you some other facts about me — facts that most people would call disqualifiers to living a successful life:
- I was on felony probation for five years
- I’ve been arrested multiple times
- Even though I came from a middle-class upbringing, I ran my life into the ground and had to rebuild from the position of being a broke felon black male working a labor job at $10/hr
According to many people in society, that’s where my story should end. I mean, look at my demographic — the black male.
Does my category have a significantly high rate of failure and problems in life? Yes.
Are there systemic reasons why this happens? Duh.
Do forces outside of your control, particularly what you look like, shape a part of your life? Obviously.
But why does that mean we should aim lower by default?
