Dickey - Do not misrepresent my statement. Your interpretation is way off the mark. Here is my key phrase, "...the ability to network, socially, and the ability to access services."

Lets not forget that the Chinese culture has a long standing and deeply held stereotype of Blacks. That makes Afro-Americans the bottom of the totem pole in racist terms. Native Americans may be more disadvantaged today because of reservations, systemic sexual abuse and alcolholism which has also led to some pretty horrible stereotypes and discrimination. But for racists, the Blacker you are, the lower you are. Chinese, by the way, are whiter than most White people.

The separation and destruction of African families as a result of slavery resulted in a total break-down of language, social networks and cultural values. Anyone who can climb out of the years of segregation and discrimination that followed, is the exception, not the rule.

While some Chinese were subjected to less than adequate working conditions and pay, they were able to retain their language and traditions. In fact, the language and traditions are so important to the Chinese, that to this day they encourage their English speaking children to learn either Cantonese or Mandarin so that their values can be transmitted. Their social networks within North America are vast and I doubt if even you, Dickey, could live up to their family expectations.

And don't forget, Dickey, the majority of the Chinese in America today are not the immigrants that came to work on the railroad or the in the mines. Many of them arrived from Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, and are from the educated, business class. There are many different Asian cultures and its impossible to lump them all together and claim that they were all enslaved because they worked on the railroad.

That is a far cry from decades of slavery and segregation of African Americans, where many were denied even a basic education. Its very difficult to encourage your children to read if you can't read, yourself. Even if you can only read in your first language, you can still pass on to your children a love of books. Chinese have always valued education. How many Africans do you think could read when they were brought to America as slaves? How many understood the value of education? How many could communicate with each other in their own language?

Let me guess - Oprah's daddy valued education and Bill Cosby's folks could read. Obama is highly educated and my guess is that his family could read, too. All three of the above are more White than Black, Dickie, I can almost guarantee that. I don't think they would disagree. They try to relate, yes, but I doubt that they have the experience to be able to speak for the majority of African-Americans or anyone who has lived a life of poverty with no encouragement from anyone.

We, as a society, can change this but only if we have the will. Unfortunately, there will always be Dickies to make excuses for the greedy and turn away when they see hunger on their own doorsteps.