You did a great job with this essay. I worked in an anti-poverty program, (I was a legal services attorney)in a rural suburban part of Northern California. I got to see exactly the sort of circumstances you described in your growing up. I also saw how viciously class determines the life choices and life experiences of poor children, regardless of race.

What I saw were the distinctive differences between urban and suburban/rural poverty. I also realized that there was within the Black community and among many POC , a certain level of solidarity and community that does not exist among the White poor. It is, if you will pardon the elitism, the true source of their anomie.

Understanding intersectionality is what is necessary to move in a direction beyond the divides that the media and the political elites promotes.