The Problem with ‘Poor Black Kids’ (According to ‘Forbes’)

The Problem with ‘Poor Black Kids’ (According to ‘Forbes’)


“If I Were a Poor Black Kid…”

The title of the column written by Forbes contributor Gene Marks, who happens to be white, is getting the side eye from many in the Black community today. In his column, posted yesterday, Marks says he was inspired by a speech President Obama gave in Kansas about inequality in America. It began to make the author, self-described as a “a middle aged white guy who comes from a middle class white background,” think about how much easier he and his children have it when compared to, say, kids in the inner city of West Philadelphia. But, Marks says, there are still ways that poor black kids can succeed in America. If he were a poor black kid, for example, he would “use Skype to study with other students who also want to do well in my school.”

So, in some ways, we guess he means, “If I were a poor black kid who had a computer at home so I could Skype my other classmates who could also afford a computer?”

Read more at Forbes.com

LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK: Is Marks on point with his commentary or totally out of line?

Then see our rebuttal: “If I Were a Rich, Privileged White Kid,” by Alfred Edmond, Jr.


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