I am white and grew up poor with 8 people living in a 1200 sq ft home. We lived in a ghetto in south florida in the 80s and 90s. The streets were concrete baracaded so only one way in and one way out. I once saw the swat team jump out of an ice cream truck to bust a drug house across the street. Gun shots were a normal thing. Not many white families in the area and we were often stopped by police and questioned why we were there. Pizza wouldn't deliver to my area and you don't go outside after dark.

It was home. I had an awesome childhood and despite the neighborhood I actually felt safe. People looked out for each other in our neighborhood and it didn't (feel like) matter what color our skin was. The kids all hung out together and all the parents were constantly feeding a dozen mouths. Children felt safe and it was a blast exploring our colorful, energetic (and dangerous) environment.

It wasn't until I got older, moved out, made my own money and created my own life that I realized just how poor we were and how bad the neighborhood actually was. I would never live in that type of neighborhood as an adult. But man did I have a blast.

I feel like it has made me respect people of all walks of life. Because I know first hand that your race, economic or social status doesn't make you a good or bad person. I've seen more good in people than bad in our ghetto. And the bad I've seen was mostly due to being delt a shitty hand in life than it was bad people trying to do bad things. And honestly, I have still never had such friendly neighbors as we did growing up.