The Opportunity Index

7Vacuum

THERE IS A BELIEF AMONGST immigrant minority communities that the route to success, typically defined as social mobility, can be achieved through a profession. Many Caribbean, African, Southeast Asian, South Asian, and Hispanic parents place huge reverence on professions such as doctors, lawyers, and positions in accounting and finance. It's an interesting phenomenon and the reasons vary amongst communities. For some it's a source of pride, status if you will; for others it's cultural: your children will look after you when they're old so they should be able to earn good money and provide for older as well as younger generations. Upon arriving in foreign countries, many found themselves in difficult circumstances, sacrificing everything for their children. A good return on that investment, therefore, should be a respectable career.

I certainly bought into this idea. If I was going to apply myself to education, then the outcome would be working for a company and wearing a suit. I recall traveling on the train to a martial arts seminar in Manchester. I was about 19, still at university, and I was sitting in in a carriage that was next to the first-class coach. A Black guy strolled past me and entered the first-class carriage. He was probably in his 30s and was dressed in a dark blue suit with a purple tie. This was probably the first time I had seen someone like me dressed like this. I couldn't stop staring at him “That's what I want to be,” I said to myself.

The workplace, ...