Why did the narrator's community doubt that

"prosperity ... was 'just around the corner?" Marigolds

Answer and Explanation:

In the short story "Marigolds", by Eugenia Collier, the narrator lives in a poor black community. The story takes place during the Great Depression that devastated the United States in the 1930's. Even though there were people who said "prosperity ... was 'just around the corner,'" the narrator and her community knew better than to believe those words. They had always been poor. Their hard work never paid off. Those words, according to the narrator, "were white folks' words." Maybe prosperity would return to white people soon, but the narrator's community had never seen or had it; the American Dream never came true for them. How can they believe those words if the people who say such words are the ones who exploit their work?