Born on Third Base Part 3

“Privilege is like a wind at my back propelling me forward.” When Collins begins Part III he discusses the wide-reaching impact that being born on the third base has in providing advantages to young business people. He compares the wind pushing him forward to the assistance of family finances in helping fresh out of college students begin their lives. Whether it be the downpayment on a rented apartment or a portion of the money to start their own business, it is money unattached to debt, which not many people are lucky to start off with. Most people graduate from college with the heavy weight of college loans that they spend the first years of their careers working to pay back. On the other hand, those whose parents cover the cost of their higher education spend the first few years of their career earning a salary that goes toward their livelihood. The important point that Collins is trying to make is not only the immense privilege of having a large step ahead of everyone from family assistance but also the inability of most of these kids to realize that they had this help. Most of them make their wealth and are proud because they think that they did it alone when in fact their parents’ financial assistance largely contributed to their success.

To supplement the idea of financial assistance in propelling people forward, Collins discusses the impact of the GI Bill following World War II. He recounts a speech that he gave to a room filled with veterans. In his speech, he explains how the GI Bill was implemented as a way to repay and show gratitude to those who defended their country during the war—war time reparations. The Bill included scholarships for education and training; loan guarantees for homes, farms, or businesses; unemployment pay for a year; and job training assistance. Among these benefits were also government subsidized housing. While these were well-deserved reparations, Collins points out that the children and grandchildren of these veterans have and continue to benefit from them without even realizing. Another important thing to note is that most of those who still reap those benefits don’t attribute their achievements to the assistance that has trickled down through their family from the GI Bill.

Lastly, a very important conversation that Collins has is racial wealth inequality. While the GI Bill provided great help to veterans, most, if not all, of the recipients were white. In the same way that those benefits continue to assist the descendants of veterans, the disadvantages of not receiving those benefits among the minority racial groups continue to stagnate the financial mobility of their children and grandchildren. Collins wants people to realize this wealth disparity based on racial inequality so that we can work together to make success a universal achievable goal for people of all races. He states how most people don’t realize this issue because they experience “race fatigue.” Because segregation is no longer an issue most people think that all is well and equal, not realizing the long-lasting impact that racial discrimination continues to have today in inhibiting wealth growth for minority groups.

He wants to close the wealth gap and mitigate the racial divide in wealth. He supplements his desires with metaphors and stories comparing children of different backgrounds to bring the situation to a base level that helps people really understand what’s going on. The biggest issue is realizing the issue. Most people are focused on themselves and think that their success has come from their hard work and don’t acknowledge the fact that it’s a culmination of some type of assistance. No one achieves anything on their own. Collins believes that every type of achievement had some help along the way.