Systemic racism affects us all every day. Black and other communities of color are disadvantaged as a result of lost economic, social, and educational opportunities. There's no point in US history that's the "right" place to start discussing this, but red-lining systemically disadvantaged Black families. They were unable to build generational wealth and educational opportunities were undermined because schools are funded through property taxes. Not to mention privatization of Southern schools so that Black children went intentionally un-schooled. The criminalization of Black people put more Black men in prisons and took them out the education pipeline, the economy, and disenfranchized them with post-conviction laws about felon voting access. Other communities of color experience similar if not identical disadvantage. It's impossible to pick yourself up by your bootstraps if the bootstraps are taken away from you or it's made illegal to use them.
