Forbes contributor, Gene Marks, latest article, “If I Were a Poor Black Kid,” is causing quite a commotion in the blogosphere and is quickly making the rounds on the major news outlets as well as social media sites.
Marks, who writes mostly articles on technology, decided to put himself in the shoes of a “poor black kid from West Philadelphia” and described how he’d use various technical resources paired with a motivated work ethic and a little luck to lift himself from the depths of despair and become successful.
In one instance Marks said: “If I was a poor black kid I would get technical. I would learn software. I would learn how to write code. I would seek out courses in my high school that teaches these skills or figure out where to learn more online. I would study on my own. I would make sure my writing and communication skills stay polished.”
Critics have said that Marks’ attempt to give a blueprint to poor black kids was ill-advised, especially considering Marks, by his own admission, has no clue what it’s like to be poor.
Danielle Belton from TheBlackSnob writes:
I understand the impulse to believe that anything can be over-come if you just work hard enough. And the belief that this is a one-size-fits-all solution, no matter who you are, what your situation is and what you can physically handle. But the dirty open secret is that many don’t work hard at all to get what they want, and what we’re really talking about is fairness and creating a level playing field in a society where the breaks and rewards are afforded to a select few, and everyone else must navigate an elaborate system where class mobility is more American “dream” than American “reality.”
Read the entire Forbes article.
Is he on to something here? Ill-advised attempt to help black kids “get it”? Let us know what you think.
I agree with Danielle. It’s A LOT harder than people make it out to seem. You can work your butt off, and still not see results. The fact of the matter is, it’s just not enough resources for every single person to get a shot, regardless of what the news says.
I am just tired of the attacks on black people. What is it now – everyone has Blackitis? I mean first they say there’s no good black men, then encourage black women to date interracially because their are no good black men, then they tell other men to not get with a sista because she has an “attitude” and then on top of that we got the highest statistics of everything. I mean for God’s sake if they made up a new disease they would still say we had the highest cases of that disease. This “put down the black race” stuff is getting real old and tired.
I just wanted to add that because you are born poor does not mean that you can’t be successful. I was born “financially poor” and my mother grew up in the projects but it was her “mindset” that got us to where I am today. There is a such thing as a “poverty mindset” where you choose to stay in that place mentally. I am thankful that my mother had the mindset that we could do anything, she passed that on to me and my siblings and she made it clear from an early age that education and hard work important for success. Now because of her tenacity and determination for us to succeed despite how poor we were, she passed on that same mentality to her children. And the four of us “poor black children” including my mother are now successful in our own right. My mother, sisters and I all have a college education and my brother owns his own real estate company. Also one of my sister’s and I both have a master’s degree and I am currently working on my doctorate. So yes, being a “poor black child” didn’t stop me from excelling in life.
Sorry to my BMWK family for sounding off on this topic but the guy wrote this like he was giving a handout. After reading it, it sought of made me feel like he was the kind of person that goes down to the soup kitchen to feed those that are less fortunate, only his main objective was to fill a quota and make his “charitable contribution to society”.
Though ill advised in method the message rings with some validity. I was one of those poor black girls from Southwest Philadelphia. It wasn’t easy but I made something out of myself, I’m not rich but paying attention in class, studying, asking questions and asking for help paid off. Yes, some get breaks that others are not afforded but our young people must understand the key to success isn’t what lines without (help from others) but within (the desire to change circumstances).
It just rubbed me the wrong way that he’s insinuates without providing any actual data. How does he know that “poor black kids” aren’t already utilizing these tools?