Well, other than not having 'affirmative action' for being female or non-white, I've  'been there and done that'!

And, guess what?  

There were thousands and thousands of  your "non-white poor" people right there in basic training with me where I started out!

And there were lots more successes than failures in those thousands and thousands of us who didn't have 'affirmative action' or 'special' rights!

And Mommy and Daddy weren't there to hold our little hands and assure us that we were 'all above average'.  Or to make sure that our 'rights' were upheld.  Or that we were 'self-actualized'.  Or to make sure we didn't hear anything unpleasant which might offend our tender sensibilities. 

In other words, it wasn't modern-day Duck U.

We all still made our choices and received either the benefits or the consequences of our own actions.

I've been doing that ever since.