In “The Price of Black Ambition,” Roxane Gay interweaves a timeline of her struggles and

successes with a frank discussion on the sociopolitical racism inherent in the United States.

She speaks on the fact that children of color are often given an inflated sense of “ambition” at a

young age, as they must work twice as hard with half as much to achieve opportunities that are

more carelessly given to their white peers.

And, despite the exceptional amounts of work people of color put in to move forward in life,

their efforts are regularly regarded as less than—their presence in “white” circles is considered a

fluke or consequence of required diversity. She refers to her ambition as a hunger that can never

be satisfied in the current status quo of America.