Perspective: Children born poor have little margin for mistakes or bad decisions, regardless of race

By GARY FIELDS
Associated Press

ALEXANDRIA, Louisiana (AP) — Alfred King was lying in the parking lot of a small apartment building, mortally wounded when police in Alexandria, Louisiana got to the intersection of 12th and Magnolia streets shortly before 1:30 a.m., January 20. He came into the world on the bottom economic rung and, when he was 13, a critical decision was made that likely kept him there. We say people can be whatever they want to be, but moving through the socioeconomic levels of America’s economics-based caste system is more than a notion. According to a Harvard study by the groundbreaking Opportunity Insights project, only 2.5% of Black kids born to a parent or parents in the bottom quintile move to the top quintile of household income. For white kids, the figure is 10.6%.