Lol, did you just call me "negro" as an insult? That was stupid, congrats. Anyway, if our culture was really so determined to get out of the hood, so many of us wouldn't be in it and hanging onto the culture that has been born and bred in it. Yes, the past does affect poverty levels for blacks but our culture holds us back now more than anything. Many black people wouldn't even consider raising their kids in better areas with better schools and opportunity if the city has too many white people in it! You and I both know that's true. And the culture many black people proudly carry these days sucks because it serves almost no benefit to us in society. It's stagnant. Black culture as it is now in America is going to keep black people exactly where we are in terms of education and poverty levels for years to come. People like you try to have so much pride that you're in denial and determined to sugarcoat everything to feel better about it. You're part of the problem. We can do much better and should be doing much better.