As a mixed race woman (Black father, white mother) adopted into and raised in a Black home, I see both sides. There's truth in both positions.

I can only speak to my experience. My father had a grade 4 education. My adopted mother graduated high school but was never able to go futrher due to being Black and poor in the 40s.

Education was the be all and end all in my home. I read by the time I was 3. I was always encouraged to learn. I was raised to believe that education was the way we could make things better for the generation coming after us.

That was my immediate family. Extended family made fun of me, called me white or accused me of trying to be white. Oreo Cookie comes to mind, even thought I was white presenting.

You're right that you don't have to be rich to instill a love for language. But you also have to see the value in the value in it and maybe that's where the disconnect is. My parents were firm believers in the idea that education would move us forward. But if you have generational trauma and you just see generations of struggle regardless of merit or ability, the conversation kinda changes. It just does.