Status? or "state us"? Does status define who we are?

What gives someone status? What does the word status really mean? Maybe in a community or group, it means something. But in a family, should it even really matter? One would be surprised. In my family, (particularily my paternal side), status is ridiculously huge!! Who went to college and actually graduated, who's making that "American Dream" money, the size of this persons house compared to another. The cost of ones vehicle and where in the world they reside, to them, determines how successful they are and their acquired "status".
But who really cares? At the end of the day, if someone in your family is successful, and makes it to the top, we should be proud of them for just making something of themselves right? But what if that same person, lost it all, and went right back to, what they would call, the "bottom"? Do we love them less, or give them less attention, because they now have no "status"? A persons status should not define who they are, or how we treat them, or even how often we communicate with them. Unfortunately, my family doesnt realize that regardless of how high up or how low down on a scale someone is, they still remain the same person that they grew to love, and appreciate. But I sometimes wonder if that is the way my family in particular is, or if it is a notion that is carried down in the black community. Well know that blacks started off by not really having anything, and being subjected to slavery and oppression. So is this now the reason why we as black people strive for all the latest and greatest gear, to show that we now finally have status. The shinnier my car, the richer I am? The bigger my house, the more it will show how much money I have?
Personally, I aspire success as opposed to riches. I want to be a successful doctor, not because I want a certain status for others to see, but because this success is what I want for myself.