Rep. Lee: Ryan's Comments On Inner City Culture Are A 'Racial Attack'

[ProSense]

Rep. Lee: Ryan's Comments On Inner City Culture Are A 'Racial Attack'

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) on Wednesday slammed Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) claim that there is an inner city "culture problem" of men not working.

"My colleague Congressman Ryan's comments about 'inner city' poverty are a thinly veiled racial attack and cannot be tolerated. Let's be clear, when Mr. Ryan says 'inner city,' when he says, 'culture,' these are simply code words for what he really means: 'black,'" she said in a statement.

On Wednesday morning, Ryan said that the culture in inner cities contributes to poverty.

"We have got this tailspin of culture, in our inner cities in particular, of men not working and just generations of men not even thinking about working or learning the value and the culture of work, and so there is a real culture problem here that has to be dealt with," he said.

Lee said that he has nothing to back up his claim.

"As someone who sits on the Budget Committee with Mr. Ryan, I know that his assertions about the racial dynamics of poverty are not only statistically inaccurate, but deeply offensive," she said. "Instead of demonizing 'culture,' and blaming black men for their poverty, Mr. Ryan should step up and produce some legitimate proposals on how to tackle poverty and racial discrimination in America."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/lee-paul-ryan-comments-racially-charged

Think Progress:

<...>

A spokesman for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told ThinkProgress that Ryan’s comments are “shameful and wrong.” “And this is coming from a House Republican leader,” spokesman Drew Hammill said. “There are few words that can describe such a deeply ignorant comment, but shameful, disturbing, and wrong offer a good start.”

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2014/03/12/3398771/african-american-representative-slams-paul-ryan-for-racially-charged-comments/

[30cal]

1. I wouldn't call it a cultural problem

One is lack of jobs , high drop out rate , easy money from drug dealing, too many gangs.
The inner cites in some areas are more like combat zones.

[butterfly77]

2. K&R..

[landolfi]

3. If there is a cultural problem, it is

the non-truths and know-it-all attitude of Mr. Ryan and his conservative elitist Caucasian bigot ilk. The closest Ryan ever got to the inner city was an episode of "Starsky and Hutch".