Babies don't exactly choose poverty

Chronicle columnist Cal Thomas recently wrote that poor black people lived in poverty because of bad decisions ("Blacks' real woes ignored," Oct. 19). Are bad decisions to blame for the majority of poor black people who happen to be under age 18?

What choice did they make to be born into a poor black family instead of a middle class or wealthy one? I don't recall being given such a choice, but I feel fairly certain that if it were possible to give babies a choice more of them would choose to be born into wealth than into poverty.

Most poor people, both black and white, are poor because of one thing. They are born into poverty. This is true for children of the middle class as well - they are born into that circumstance.

If bad decisions are holding poor people back from reaching the middle class, then it must be assumed that the reason middle-income people aren't wealthy is because they make poor decisions.

What are the poor decisions on the part of middle class America? If poor people are to blame for their poverty then certainly middle class America is to blame for its mediocrity. I think it's high time middle class America got off its behind and do whatever is necessary to get rich. After all, the only thing keeping us from great wealth is our decision not to be wealthy.

Bobby J. Hunt

Evans