My parents are of the affirmative action generation, branded in the 60s. Through sheer determination they entered worlds that were previously closed and climbed the ladder of success. As children of the middle class, my peers and I were expected to carry the torch passed from our parents. We had to demonstrate, with class and elegance, we could achieve (and consume conspicuosly) like white folks.
We had to be in gifted class, go to the right public schools and universities, enter the right professions.
Good in math? Engineering is right for you.
Like to argue? Law school --- and then a federal clerkship in preparation for the Supreme Court.
Like to read and think? Becoming a professor is acceptable, but only at a prestigious university.
Like helping people? Become a doctor or politician.
Our folks think we really are competing but the fact is that white folks don't give a shit.
While we are fretting over LSAT scores, a great number of them are planning their year off.
Backpacking through Europe.
Teaching English in Japan, Honduras, Uzbekistan, Samoa or wherever the fuck else.
Building houses and digging wells in the Sudan.
Translating the works of an up-and-coming African novelist while sipping coffee in a cafe in Prague.
Taking a common law wife and living it up in Rio.
Interning at a tech company in India.
You know, living and discovering who they are, what they want, where their passion lies, or maybe even relaxing and clearing their head. All the while, we are getting worked up over the number of blacks that were admitted to Harvard Law School last year and if serving as the President of eight different extra-curricular organizations and tutoring in the inner city is enough to get us admitted.
I see through the bullshit and see all efforts are futile. Therefore, I've made a decision that is going to change my life.
I'm going to become a habitual line stepper.
I am going to push boundaries, explore, question, discover. There has to be more to life, and I am going to find it.
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