Comments on: Dr. Ben Carson Compassionately Spoke the Truth About Black Poverty.

By: Danny Cardwell

Danny Cardwell — Mon, 29 May 2017 20:57:45 +0000

I will never understand the mindset of people who choose their political affiliation over their community. What Ben Carson said was indicative of this mindset. I’m not interested in personally attacking people of color, but it seems like bourgeois blacks are more interested in distancing themselves from their community.

Succumbing to poverty and being defeated are choices, but not having resources is a real problem. The good doctor is once again choosing platitudes over policy.

http://thyblackman.com/2017/05/26/i-support-black-on-black-violence/

By: Walt

Walt — Mon, 29 May 2017 12:49:12 +0000

Dr. Carson’s statement that “poverty is a state of mind” is a specious contention. No one would argue that positive thinking can have benefits or that negative thinking can produce a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure, but the implication that thinking oneself out of poverty is possible for the majority of those in that situation is simplistic nonsense. The underlying ‘blame the victim’ message is that those in poverty are there as a result of their own lack of strength in character. Being immersed in the culture of poverty means more than a life lacking economic opportunity it also means consistently sub-standard nutrition, educational opportunities, healthcare and much more. The problem is not that those in poverty couldn’t benefit from positive thinking and critical self-evaluation it’s that this is some sort of panacea for a complex cultural problem.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sun, 28 May 2017 23:42:09 +0000

I think these are great points but do not appreciate the same old “us against them’ retiric that may be describing the root of the problem. We are all in this together. Black, white, yellow, brown, Democrat, Republican. One love.