Forbes article if I was a poor black kid

Originally Posted by ThorrocksJs

I am not a poor black kid.  I am a middle aged white guy who comes from a middle class white background.  So life was easier for me.  But that doesn’t mean that the prospects are impossible for those kids from the inner city.  It doesn’t mean that there are no opportunities for them.   Or that the 1% control the world and the rest of us have to fight over the scraps left behind.  I don’t believe that.  I believe that everyone in this country has a chance to succeed.  Still.  In 2011.  Even a poor black kid in West Philadelphia.
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oh yea Silly Putty.............get off your high horse, some people pick up things easier than others, the hood aint stupid, far from it, this generation is just not about working hard....but you and this writer are so obsessed with grades.............People who get good grades in school are not on their way to "success". Sometimes things like LIFE get in the way.....................So sheltered, so ignorant, so lame..............
 
Originally Posted by gambit215

Originally Posted by ThorrocksJs

I am not a poor black kid.  I am a middle aged white guy who comes from a middle class white background.  So life was easier for me.  But that doesn’t mean that the prospects are impossible for those kids from the inner city.  It doesn’t mean that there are no opportunities for them.   Or that the 1% control the world and the rest of us have to fight over the scraps left behind.  I don’t believe that.  I believe that everyone in this country has a chance to succeed.  Still.  In 2011.  Even a poor black kid in West Philadelphia.
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/thread

oh yea Silly Putty.............get off your high horse, some people pick up things easier than others, the hood aint stupid, far from it, this generation is just not about working hard....but you and this writer are so obsessed with grades.............People who get good grades in school are not on their way to "success". Sometimes things like LIFE get in the way.....................So sheltered, so ignorant, so lame..............
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agreed.

This dude Silly Putty must be looking for an arguement.  He lacks the critical skill of reading comprehension and keeps putting words in my mouth.  

Nobody said the dude was wrong...its the context in how it was done.  And honestly it don't matter that hes white.  He could be black and said that, but guess what...no black person or person who understands the reality of inner cities would write something in the context he did for Forbes magazine.  Thats what we are saying.  I don't understand what you don't get. You keep saying blanket statements like "grades" matter.  We understand that homie.  Here' another analogy for you so you can make up more non-sense.  This problem is a huge shot gun wound to the stomach and this man gave us a band-aid.  Thanks alot Mr. Rich White for the band-aid.  So nobodys mad he's white, we are mad he's ignorant of the climate out here in the real world.  We think its pretty sad he thought it was "doing it" by handing us a band-aid for a shot gun wound.  Get serious with the 2 chainz youtube videos and other pics you got lined up.  It's not about that stuff. 

Thought I'd never say this but Where's Method Man....
  
 
Originally Posted by Scientific Method

You want Meth to ban people you disagree with?
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Who's talking about bans? I'm just looking for more opinions from people who can look deeper than "get better grades"  and also understand the bigger picture surrounding this article. 
 
In my opinion, he has a point - poor minorities can increase their chances of escaping poverty by focusing on academic success and by using technology to overcome infrastructural shortcomings. But the problem is he makes this seem much easier than it is in reality. There are an infinite number of social and environmental factors precluding poor black kids from excelling in school. These kids don't grow up in a vacuum; nor are they looking to people like him for advice.

There have been a lot of responses claiming the answer to poor minorities' plight is simply to work harder. But hard work is by no means a panacea. It doesn't empower one with the ability to dodge bullets, overcome a lack of parental guidance, or decipher difficult subject matter without a quality instructor. Plus, why should minorities be required to have an indomitable will to succeed, while white kids float along to success in blissful ignorance of the atrocities their black and brown-skinned peers face? Sure, one or two might beat the odds and make it to Wall Street. But that doesn't mean the system isn't grossly flawed.
 
MonStar1 wrote:
agreed.

This dude Silly Putty must be looking for an arguement. He lacks the critical skill of reading comprehension and keeps putting words in my mouth.

Nobodysaid the dudewas wrong...its the context in how it wasdone. And honestly it don't matter that hes white. He could be black and said that, but guess what...no black person orpersonwho understands thereality of inner cities would write something in the context he did for Forbes magazine. Thats whatwe are saying.Idon't understand what you don't get.Youkeepsaying blanketstatements like"grades" matter. We understand that homie.Here' another analogy for youso you can make up morenon-sense.This problem is a huge shot gun wound to the stomach and this mangave us a band-aid.Thanks alotMr. Rich White for the band-aid.So nobodys mad he's white, we are mad he's ignorant of the climate out here in the real world. Wethink its pretty sad he thought it was "doing it" by handing us a band-aid for a shot gun wound.Getserious with the 2 chainz youtube videos and other pics you got lined up. It's not about that stuff.

Thought I'd never say this but Where's Method Man....

You just don't get it.
Your shotgun wound analogy. He wasn't giving us a band aid, he was pointing us in the direction of the hospital down the street. We still have to get there, but until we can get our body parts moving as a collective, we'll just be like this



Him running is like poor kids born into a disadvantage(or how you guys see it).
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Originally Posted by TheGr8BlkHope

Having a discussion about this article on FB now...my response is italicized:
I just typed out a long response to this but it doesn't fit so I picked out the questions Id ask the author...What’s Google Scholars solution to “I didn’t eat tonight because we don’t have any food.â€
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Your shotgun wound analogy. He wasn't giving us a band aid, he was pointing us in the direction of the hospital down the street. We still have to get there, but until we can get our body parts moving as a collective, we'll just be like this

umm whats the point if you lying there bleeding?  Of course I need a hospital....of course I need good grades. Why would you walk by a guy with a shotgun wound on the ground and say "hey if I were you I'd go down main st. and 3rd. peace" and drive away in your Benz?

  
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Originally Posted by MonStar1

Your shotgun wound analogy. He wasn't giving us a band aid, he was pointing us in the direction of the hospital down the street. We still have to get there, but until we can get our body parts moving as a collective, we'll just be like this
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umm whats the point if you lying there bleeding?  Of course I need a hospital....of course I need good grades. Why would you walk by a guy with a shotgun wound on the ground and say "hey if I were you I'd go down main st. and 3rd. peace" and drive away in your Benz?

  
because we are still shocked from the gunshot (as a whole). Like a chicken with its head cut off, we don't know what to do yet.
 
This like a man writing a "how to succeed in a sexist world" guide for women, and the advice being "work harder," "learn science from TED videos," and "to avoid rape, never date, remain well lit public areas at all times, and, for goodness' sakes, don't dress trampy."   It absolutely disgusts me that the Internet has given it more legs than a broadway chorus line.  
because we are still shocked from the gunshot (as a whole). Like a chicken with its head cut off, we don't know what to do yet.
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You cannot possibly believe that an out of touch, middle-aged, middle-class White man was needed to come up with "study hard" and "use cliff's notes."  

I would be hard pressed to think of anything so impossibly condescending and so endlessly insulting.  

This guy makes Daniel Patrick Moynihan look like W.E.B. Du Bois. 

This dude Silly Putty must be looking for an arguement. 
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You haven't caught on to that yet?  That's been his MO under every account he's used thus far.  In that sense, I'm not surprised he agrees with the author of this article.  The two of them seem to share the same playbook.  
Spoiler [+]
Here's the secret:  under their rules, they win just for getting you to play.
Who knows?  Maybe they studied together on Skype. 

The article wasn’t written to address all the ills affecting poor Black people.
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It was written to make money - and to do so at the expense of "poor Black kids."
I was actually kind of hoping that this article wouldn't blow up on NikeTalk, because I hate the idea of being complicit in amplifying this trashy author's condescending dreck.  While the underlying issues are of the utmost concern and well worth discussing, this article is not.  

What The Bell Curve is to social science, this article, and countless others like it, are to journalism. These products are inflammatory by design and, although we'd like to think of them as a "teachable moment" and an opportunity to combat ignorance, we breathe life into these erstwhile straw men by engaging them. This is work that should be relegated to the dung heap as quickly and thoughtlessly as it was excreted. You get the sense that the authors don't particularly care whether the work is used for teaching or target practice. It pays the same per copy - or per click - either way. 

As one of Forbes' own "staff writers" pointed out earlier today, this same hack recently slapped together an op ed piece on what a jerk Steve Jobs was the day after he died and submitted an article on how most women will never become CEOs. I'd link to her article, which is insightful, but, frankly, I don't think Forbes deserves the traffic. If, to quote Dr. King, nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity, it pains me to think that, by even clicking on and sharing this nonsense, we're supporting the purveyors of both.
 
If we translate this "plant and soil" metaphor to people
and neighborhoods, there is a growing understanding that
“placeâ€
 
Originally Posted by Method Man

This like a man writing a "how to succeed in a sexist world" guide for women, and the advice being "work harder," "learn science from TED videos," and "to avoid rape, never date, remain well lit public areas at all times, and, for goodness' sakes, don't dress trampy."   It absolutely disgusts me that the Internet has given it more legs than a broadway chorus line.  
because we are still shocked from the gunshot (as a whole). Like a chicken with its head cut off, we don't know what to do yet.
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This dude Silly Putty must be looking for an arguement. 
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You haven't caught on to that yet?  That's been his MO under every account he's used thus far.  In that sense, I'm not surprised he agrees with the author of this article.  The two of them seem to share the same playbook.  
Spoiler [+]
Here's the secret:  under their rules, they win just for getting you to play.
Who knows?  Maybe they studied together on Skype. 

The article wasn’t written to address all the ills affecting poor Black people.
Click to expand...

It was written to make money - and to do so at the expense of "poor Black kids."
I was actually kind of hoping that this article wouldn't blow up on NikeTalk, because I hate the idea of being complicit in amplifying this trashy author's condescending dreck.  While the underlying issues are of the utmost concern and well worth discussing, this article is not.  

What The Bell Curve is to social science, this article, and countless others like it, are to journalism. These products are inflammatory by design and, although we'd like to think of them as a "teachable moment" and an opportunity to combat ignorance, we breathe life into these erstwhile straw men by engaging them. This is work that should be relegated to the dung heap as quickly and thoughtlessly as it was excreted. You get the sense that the authors don't particularly care whether the work is used for teaching or target practice. It pays the same per copy - or per click - either way. 

As one of Forbes' own "staff writers" pointed out earlier today, this same hack recently slapped together an op ed piece on what a jerk Steve Jobs was the day after he died and submitted an article on how most women will never become CEOs. I'd link to her article, which is insightful, but, frankly, I don't think Forbes deserves the traffic.  If, to quote Dr. King, nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity, it pains me to think that, by even clicking on and sharing this nonsense, we're supporting the purveyors of both.



  
roll.gif


on twitter i compared it to richard simmons giving a siminar on how to please women sexually and telling them "focus on penetration"

roll.gif


who woulda thought me and meth think the exact same thing...
 
Originally Posted by spacerace

Originally Posted by famenycity1

Originally Posted by RealRubirosa

People complain that successful white people don't do anything or enough to help poor minorities. So a successful white writer (at a major magazine that is about and caters to successful businesses) writes an article explaining a way for them to rise up from adverse conditions, but he's discredited because he's successful and white?


Would you take financial advise from a poor person? Probably no. Would you take advice on how to be successful from a successful person? Probably... Well... obviously, most of you don't want to, and it makes no sense.

Let's assume you're right. We should complain that he spelled out a way in a simple terms for poor minorities to get ahead in life. Attack his advice because of his "lack of credibility" so you can feel comfortable justifying why inner city poor kids stay poor and dangerous. People seem offended by the simplicity of the article. The article was like a paragraph-outline, not an in-depth how-to... accept it as such and appreciate the help it provides. Inner-city youths don't have guidance? Don't know their options or how to get to them? Well, maybe--just maybe--this article helps solve those issues.
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Agree
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completely ignoring the combination of institutional practices, racist attitudes, and private behaviors that have effectively produced a racial caste system that subjugates poor black americans to adverse conditions is why the article in no way helps to solve any issue. this article puts the burden of escaping low socioeconomic status on solely the individual rather than demand change from a the system that allows for these inequalities.

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Well said. For those who are unaware of any systemic issues in our justice system, take it from a Harvard professor of Law:

http://www.nybooks.com/ar...system-criminal-justice/
 
Originally Posted by Method Man

This like a man writing a "how to succeed in a sexist world" guide for women, and the advice being "work harder," "learn science from TED videos," and "to avoid rape, never date, remain well lit public areas at all times, and, for goodness' sakes, don't dress trampy."   It absolutely disgusts me that the Internet has given it more legs than a broadway chorus line.  
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Except thats not his intention. 
To imply that simply because a white guy who ADMITS his own bias and limited scope can't try to help a community he acknowledges deals with certain things that the rest of the world doesn't seems still unfair to me. 

His "get the best grades you can" line IS important. Because thats all that matters.

Beyond a certain point, we all know about the institutionalized racism and socioeconomic disparities that minorities encounter a much larger margin. We know about rampant violence and profiling that occurs in urban areas. 

We all get it.

But as of yet, everyone criticizing this guy just wants to ramble about how he doesn't even understand how hard it is. Its all an assumption. Of course a middle aged white guy in the suburbs WONT know...its the same reason Louis CK makes jokes about white privilege or why Tim Wise writes about it. They'll never completely know. They already know that though. All they want to do is HELP. I refuse to think that every white person will be disingenuous in 2 pages of writing space because they offer some tips on how to better yourself. 

How much longer are we going to keep beating the drum of books by Jonathan Kozol? WE GET IT. No one is overlooking these things that minorities face daily.

But what can be done about it?

How about instead of waiting on the rest of the world to change that these kids be equipped with some tips from the outside. What about that?

There is two parts to addressing this problem in black youth. Learning about the issues and addressing the issues. 

This guy addresses the issues because clearly he is aware that there is a problem in the first place.

I'm sorry he doesn't waste his time with 2 additional pages outlining the troubles we face walking to our mailboxes. 

He says look, society is going to give you a rough time...and I know that. So in the meantime, here are some things that you might be able to use.

These kids in the hood aren't dumb either. No one is saying they are. And whats to say that there isn't some kid out there who decides to use some of these websites? 

We've have to stop being so sensitive to EVERY THING. Its a white guy who never dealt with what myself and minorities have. Ok...and? These are tips. These are things that matter. 

Complaining about how little the world understands us doesn't do anything to push us forward. 

This guy isn't saying to submit to the world...hes saying basically look, I know your house is burning down, and the firetruck is on the way...but are you going to wait until the firemen get there or are you going to try and better yourself anyways?

Because there are black leaders saying the SAME THING. Pull your pants up. Do your homework. Learn as much as you can. Make yourself presentable. Seek knowledge everywhere. But no one takes offense to that. 

This guy didn't have to write ONE WORD about black people. He didn't have to admit his own bias of being a white middle aged suburbanite either. He didn't have to offer any tips or at least try to be genuine. 

ecause we are still shocked from the gunshot (as a whole). Like a chicken with its head cut off, we don't know what to do yet.
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You cannot possibly believe that an out of touch, middle-aged, middle-class White man was needed to come up with "study hard" and "use cliff's notes."  

I would be hard pressed to think of anything so impossibly condescending and so endlessly insulting.  

This guy makes Daniel Patrick Moynihan look like W.E.B. Du Bois. 



I know people who come from war-torn countries with NOTHING and all they had to do was make do with what they had. Their entire families are dead or missing and yet they've managed to survive and be successful.

Not everyone gets the same placement in the race. Not everyone gets the same resources or training. We all get it. No one is debating this.

All you're again saying is that he doesn't talk more about the issues facing black youth... when he does. 

Lets see, since the wild systematic changes we've been preaching about for over 30 years in this country hasn't happened yet, what can black kids who get screwed daily do in the mean time to TRY and help themselves? 

Nothing. Just sit around and pout at how unfair things are learn about how the system is meant to keep you down. Don't use any of these white man resources. We won't listen to him because he doesn't know how it feels to be hated or marginalized. 

How much understanding do we need? Like I said, there are two parts to to this problem. No one here has even suggested ways to help black kids RIGHT NOW. 

The most immediate thing a black kid can do right now is to better themselves in ANY WAY POSSIBLE. 

Are we going to always wait on the calvary of social justice or are we going to learn how to shoot and fight for ourselves? Theres nothing wrong with doing BOTH. 

This dude Silly Putty must be looking for an arguement. 
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You haven't caught on to that yet?  That's been his MO under every account he's used thus far.  In that sense, I'm not surprised he agrees with the author of this article.  The two of them seem to share the same playbook.  
Spoiler [+]
Here's the secret:  under their rules, they win just for getting you to play.
Who knows?  Maybe they studied together on Skype. 



There's no need for this.

When I reply its: You're baiting me; you're being unfair; you love to argue; you think you're always right.

When others reply its: stop arguing with me; i'm going to report you for disagreeing with me; where are the mods? ; i'm just expressing myself; 

Yet its clearly only me that "loves to argue"

If anyone posts an opinion I can respond to it without everyone waving the persecution flag all the time. They are also free to respond to me. 

I haven't broken any rules.

I've done nothing else in this thread that others have not in their own way. 

Whats up with the non-sequiturs? Some how not seeing this article as inflammatory AND being a black male makes me agree with this guy on every level? That doesn't even make sense. 

The article wasn’t written to address all the ills affecting poor Black people.
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It was written to make money - and to do so at the expense of "poor Black kids."
I was actually kind of hoping that this article wouldn't blow up on NikeTalk, because I hate the idea of being complicit in amplifying this trashy author's condescending dreck.  While the underlying issues are of the utmost concern and well worth discussing, this article is not.


When you go to the doctor with a sickness does he spend more time telling you how it happened or does he also try and fix it?

We all understand the causes and sources of these problems...we've all taken the classes, read the books, watched the documentaries. 

Where are the solutions? Where are even ATTEMPTS at fixing these things?  

Whats wrong with saying, look nothing else even matters if your grades arent right. If you're a black kid who has crappy grades you might as well end it right there. Society isn't going to take you in or give you a pass. 

All the author is saying is to not give people any more of a reason to already hold things against you...things he admits that are unfairly lodged against minorities. 

People love talking about how oppressed they are...but once they start getting some tips its: rah rah, you don't understand, society hates us, the system works against us etc. Ok...we get it...now what? We're doing our part on the outside trying to educate people about these systematic things, what are you doing on the INSIDE? How are you helping kids RIGHT NOW? How are you equipping the ground troops RIGHT NOW? 

This could have been in forbes, the economist, or the nytimes. I don't care. Its about what it says, not who says it. Every article you ever read on a news site, someone got paid to write OR stood to gain from it. These are ALL written at the expense of some population. 

If i wanted to exploit black kids i'd write about how lazy they are and how much government aid they try to steal and all that other stuff that makes Gingrich sound like Santa Claus. 

There is some GREAT info in here. I know friends who gamed the system to get into private schools or to gain admission to schools outside their district. They hustled their way in. Its things like this that prevent people from even knowing that there are other options...but we always want to have these sorts of reactionary emotions that prevent us from addressing anything. 

There are entire groups of people that don't know these little tips and tricks...but we're supposed to be offended because a white guy (who admits his own bias beforehand) says so? 

We have to stop looking for reasons of complaining about every little thing. 

We get it already...how are we going to actually CHANGE things from the outside and the INSIDE? 

What The Bell Curve is to social science, this article, and countless others like it, are to journalism. These products are inflammatory by design and, although we'd like to think of them as a "teachable moment" and an opportunity to combat ignorance, we breathe life into these erstwhile straw men by engaging them. This is work that should be relegated to the dung heap as quickly and thoughtlessly as it was excreted. You get the sense that the authors don't particularly care whether the work is used for teaching or target practice. It pays the same per copy - or per click - either way.
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 Lets say if he made this article about the disparities facing black youth.
He posts a bunch of statistics, of which most of them are wildly in extreme ranges and out of our favor. 

He posts about some authors which help to address the socioeconomic gap. He lists some great words from some political and religious leaders. Then he ends it up by saying that society needs to try and help black youth prosper.

Essentially he writes the article you want to see. Its to the point. It emotionally upsets you...but empowers you, as an outsider, to try and do something...

Now what?

Where are the tips? 

Where is anything in there that helps kids who have to wake up tomorrow and deal with this day in and day out? 

Where is there anything to equip these kids TOMORROW? 

Telling tyrone about online homework help means a lot more RIGHT NOW than telling random people on forbes about the problems black people face. They've heard it before. They listen to our music. They watch our movies. They (sometimes) read our books. They know whats against us. 

This article actually listed viable means of getting ahead. 

He didn't say it would be easy...and I think thats where most are going wrong...he didn't say "Get a computer and then its all easy street." He knows its hard. He knows its going to be a struggle. He knows its not going to be that easy...

But is that what you want? It to be easy or for people to at least TRY in the first place. Complaining about how easy it is or is not doesn't make it any more necessary. 

As one of Forbes' own "staff writers" pointed out earlier today, this same hack recently slapped together an op ed piece on what a jerk Steve Jobs was the day after he died and submitted an article on how most women will never become CEOs. I'd link to her article, which is insightful, but, frankly, I don't think Forbes deserves the traffic.  If, to quote Dr. King, nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity, it pains me to think that, by even clicking on and sharing this nonsense, we're supporting the purveyors of both.
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Again, more op-ed pieces. 

Steve jobs was a jerk to some people. So? There are tons of stories of him being divisive in the work place. He didn't speak to one of his own daughters. He lived a troubled personal life. Thats their opinion. There is a man behind the robes. Theres nothing wrong with him addressing your reverence for a man you thought was infallible. 

On the topic of the article on female CEOs. I didn't read it but I know a lot of articles and even a recent TED talk was focused on this thing. I don't know his stance but if you disagreed with it, then I guess thats on you. I'm not offering an opinion on this because thats a separate issue from he handles this new topic. 

We can't assert that every writer is going to all things to all people all the time. All we can do is judge them on their output of independent pieces of work. I judge articles based on the content contained within them. I can't judge them based on patterns they've set. I don't know what authors have learned in between pieces they've written or how their bias has subtlety changed over time. The most honest thing I can do is to judge them independently because each piece addresses a different topic in a new way. Its like me giving everything einstein has to say the stamp of approval because hes einstein. No. I give those things the stamp of approval because of what it actually says that substantiates it on its own. 

This guy admits his bias in background and experience and thats not good enough for you all?

Not one poster has said anything they actually disagreed with in the article...They know its all true.  

All they're mad at is that its a white dude from forbes talking about how black people can succeed. 
 
Originally Posted by Mo Matik

Originally Posted by spacerace

Originally Posted by famenycity1


Agree
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completely ignoring the combination of institutional practices, racist attitudes, and private behaviors that have effectively produced a racial caste system that subjugates poor black americans to adverse conditions is why the article in no way helps to solve any issue. this article puts the burden of escaping low socioeconomic status on solely the individual rather than demand change from a the system that allows for these inequalities.

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Well said. For those who are unaware of any systemic issues in our justice system, take it from a Harvard professor of Law:

http://www.nybooks.com/ar...system-criminal-justice/
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See this is what i'm talking about.
More rhetoric that most educated people already have.

We know all of this. The history is important but it only can do so much. 

Where in that article does it show youth TODAY and RIGHT NOW how to get ahead? 

Where are the tips that will help students RIGHT NOW? 

Where are the listing of tools that black students can use for themselves? 

Where are the steps we can take to change this? 

Where is the emphasis on hustling to get by? Pushing forward? Making something out of nothing?

There is no tenet of activism or attempt at educating people on personal development in this article. 

Again I use this example: 

If your house is on fire and you know the fire department sees your 9/11 call and is on the way, are you going to wait until they get there to get out the house or ar you going to stand up and make a way to fight for yourself to get out? 

There is NOTHING wrong with doing both. 

For all you religious people out there, isnt that your favorite line? 

God helps those who helps themselves, right? 

Its good to know about history, the sources of problems...but that doesn't FIX problems. It only shows us how things got this way. 
 
I hate when people make assumptions I would like to know what he is basing this off of...like he has merit but there are extreme cases where none of the things he mentioned can be remotely possible
 
Originally Posted by oidreez

how does it make it better that he "admits his bias"?
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Its like the doctor who is treating a guy who had his leg blown off.



He doesn't know what its like to lose a leg...but hes trying to help the situation. 




He understands he'll never experience what that "poor black kid" does...but he tries to help anyways. 




In admitting that, he accepts that others, like you, will try to discredit him because hes not "official" enough.




You don't have to be black, to want to help black people. 




On top of that, his realization that his kids weren't particularly special, shows the extent of his empathy for those other than himself. 


Originally Posted by bigtomgetsgwap

I hate when people make assumptions I would like to know what he is basing this off of...like he has merit but there are extreme cases where none of the things he mentioned can be remotely possible
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So now we're getting into what you're owed.




Do you want everything in life on a sliver platter now? How much help from society do you need? Honestly ask yourself this question. 




You know how rough life is in the streets... but then what? Do you roll over and die? Or do you rise to the occasion? 




Look, life is tough enough as it is. The poorest in our country live 100x better than they do everywhere else. 




Don't tell me whats remotely possible. There are those who came from nothing and made something...anything is possible for these kids.




We need to get out of this defeatist attitude. 




If you're saying its not possible then who is going to step up and try and change things? POINTING OUT THE INEQUALITY DOESN'T DIRECTLY CHANGE THINGS. IT ONLY MAKES US AWARE OF IT. 




It IS possible for these kids, even though their conditions suck and we all know it. 




How much is society responsible for your success? 




Do black people have it disproportionally worse? Yes...but that doesn't and shouldn't stop you from trying to make it, regardless. 




You won't have a shot if you don't try. Thats the point. 




You act like everyone that ever made it never struggled in their life to get where they are. 
 
but the guy who got his leg blown off went to the doctor (or got taken to the doctor) because it's the doctor's job to fix the problem. This guy is just sitting back writing an article on what he would do if he was in a poor black kid's situation
 
Originally Posted by oidreez

but the guy who got his leg blown off went to the doctor (or got taken to the doctor) because it's the doctor's job to fix the problem. This guy is just sitting back writing an article on what he would do if he was in a poor black kid's situation
Click to expand...
If you're a poor black kid right now there are two options.



A. Learn about how society hates you and wait on society to change to make things better




B. Learn to educate yourself and hustle your way out by working harder than your peers.




You tell me which one is more likely to happen. 
 
Some guy with a Dipset avatar is mad about what this guy is saying? As if what Dipset says isn't far worse, and has far more reach in the inner city. We learn everyday how much media influences people, but for some reason people think rap is excused from accountability. Yeah as if glamorizing the exact lifestyle, that people like the author of this article are trying to discourage, isn't doing harm. But for some reason you're picking a bone with the writer of this article and making a Dipset logo your avatar? You got to be kidding me.
 
Originally Posted by Heist25

Some guy with a Dipset avatar is mad about what this guy is saying? As if what Dipset says isn't far worse, and has far more reach in the inner city. We learn everyday how much media influences people, but for some reason people think rap is excused from accountability. Yeah as if glamorizing the exact lifestyle, that people like the author of this article are trying to discourage, isn't doing harm. But for some reason you're picking a bone with the writer of this article and making a Dipset logo your avatar? You got to be kidding me.
Click to expand...


The +#%$ does my avatar have to do with my argument? Please go sit down.

And to sillyputty, you're right. I believe education is key to bettering yourself and your life. No argument there. What I dont agree with is how the guy went about his argument.
 
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