This is an important point. A lot of people that demands equality wants it right now, while increasing you quality of life is something that takes generations to happen. My family is a mix of former slaves and italian immigrants. Both freaking poor to the point my mother refuses to talk about her childhood and my father says he had to sell stuff inside trains and polish other people shoes to survive. My father was thrown away from his house when my mother got pregnant as he was going to live with a black woman. My mother had to leave school when I got born. Also he used to sleep only 4 hours per day due to work and commuting. At some point one one of them could go to university so my mother was paying for my father university as he had more chance to make more money. Pretty miserable life in a miserable place. But due to hard work, making the right decisions, understanding their situation and how to get out of it they are able to become very successful in life and understanding they would have to let go of their youth years if they wanted to get somewhere. They had to make the decision of not studying what they wanted, but what would provide them a better life. My childhood was good but never got access to toys, travels, good clothes, nice food, nothing like that. My brother which is 8 years old had a much better life. I was able to keep the pace, making the right decisions and studying and achieving my own milestones despite being brown or mixed. I have a very good life today and my kids will have an even better one.

From a family of Italians fleeing the famine and former slaves, on the fourth generation we achieved a good life and only the fifth will start since the begginning in a good situation, already with some heritage money and some "status". And of course, it takes one generation of stupid decisions to burn through all that was conquered.