The "Self-Made Man" is a Lie. It's the White Inheritance in Disguise. Agree or Disagree?

Hello, r/thewhiteinheritance community! As the author, I want to kick off our discussion with what I believe is the most seductive, yet destructive, story in the American canon: the Myth of the Self-Made Man. This myth allows us to attribute success solely to our own merit, blinding us to the systemic head starts we received.

The Reality: Every successful person has benefited from collective, often racially exclusive, investments. Whether it was the Homestead Act of 1862 that gave land almost exclusively to white settlers or the FHA loans that built the white middle class, the system itself provided an unearned "head start". The playing field was never level, yet the story is often told to blame the players for losing the game.

My question for this community is: Why do we cling so fiercely to the idea of the "self-made" individual when the data shows that opportunity—a multi-generational transfer of opportunity—matters more? What "unearned head start" have you personally witnessed in your own life or career that the myth makes you reluctant to acknowledge?

(If you're looking for the deeper dive, this is Chapter 4 of the book, available on Amazon.)

— Frederick D. Griffin