I have been doing some reading on the topics of generational poverty and the "culture of poverty" (it's a thing) and I engaged a liberal friend about it the other night.

I argued that poor inner-city black people develop habits and lifestyles that contribute to them being poor, their children being poor, and their children's children being poor. These folks pass on a learned helplessness to their kids. They devalue educational achievement. They are ignorant of history, or even of a world outside their own neighborhood. Planning for the future is non-existent, which results in them immediately spending any money they get on frivolities like alcohol and cigarettes. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a liberal scion, concluded this in 1964.

My liberal friend (female) responded that my argument is racist, it blames the victim, and it "ignores structural obstacles to people who lack financial and social capital." If it sounds like she took that out of a book, she did. I found similar drivel on the internet by egghead scholars.

So y'all can relax. There is nothing cultural about it. It's white people's fault that black families have disintegrated and places like New Orleans are overrun with poverty and crime. Glad I got this solved.

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it blames the victim,

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The victims would be the children of the useless poor people.

And how can something be racist if it affects more than one race equally? White people can be poor as shite too.

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White people can be poor as shite too.

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Oh yeah. They just tend to congregate in more rural areas and not inner cities. Same type of culture though.

But they vote Red for the most part.

I tend to withhold blame until they have their first child out of wedlock. Being born in poverty does not make you have kids you can’t afford

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is racist

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What isn't? Serious question

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White people can be poor as shite too.

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No shite. She should go visit the Appalachian areas of Kentucky and WV.

How do you not get this? Anytime any white person says anything negative or unflattering about black people or black culture, it's racist.

I did t invent the rule but white people refuse to challenge it so it's pretty widely accepted by now.

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1. Complete high school 2. get a job, any kind of a job 3. get married before having children 4. be a law-abiding citizen.

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The retort is that high school is structured to take advantage of white privilege. Black people and their cultural values are underrepresented in education, so they are inherently at a disadvantage when engaging in the curriculum.

The problem with such a claim is that there’s no way to prove it wrong because no alternative is provided. I once heard someone criticize the use of apples when teaching two plus two because not everyone has fresh fruit at home. It’s a privilege to understand a math concept in such a way. Also, using apples might make a young student stressed out and/or sad because it conjures up feelings of self-doubt if they’re poor.

It’s absurd the extent some will go to to excuse poor choices and a lack of effort in fixing one’s situation.

They don't save money because if you save too much, you lose your benefits.

They don't buy cars, only lease them, because if you have too many assets, you lose your benefits.

They only rent, never own real estate because they can get cheap rent paid for by benefits.

The more kids they have, the more benefits they get.

It’s almost as if it’s not culture keeping them poor, but their own government.

Culture, values, and the attitudes and mentalities they create are everything. This shite isn't rocket science.