Growing up in an Ohio suburb outside of Cleveland, I always felt comfortable in my little suburban world. Everyone who lived around me, everyone who went to my small private school and everyone who shopped at the mall looked just like me. I never felt the striking differences in socioeconomic status among people in the United States and was basically oblivious to the poverty that was just twenty minutes from my house.

However, after coming to the University of Dayton, it suddenly became obvious to me just how close people of different socioeconomic statuses live to one another. If I walk across the street from my apartment at school, I step into Oakwood, which is the land of fancy cars, mansions and stores that I could never afford to shop at. But just five minutes away in the opposite direction are people standing on every street corner asking for food, money or anything that anyone can provide to help them.

Wealth inequality and the gap between the rich and everyone else is one of the largest issues that the United States faces today. People are alarmingly unaware of just how unfair the gap truly is. The actual distribution shows that the top 1% in the country have over 40% of the wealth. The idea that only 1% of the people in our country hold all this money is without a doubt completely inequitable.

How is it that people living in Oakwood are thriving, while some in Dayton are barely surviving?

It's systematic oppression. It's the way the United States has grown to oppress minorities with income and opportunity inequality by pushing them to city areas with a lack of resources, while allowing a mere 1% to rise above the rest.

I have no idea where to even begin to solve the issues of wealth inequality and systematic oppression, but becoming educated on the issue seems like a good start. People need to open their eyes and ears to truly accept the fact that while they may be sitting comfortably, their neighbors are suffering, and there is so much more that needs to be done.