If I were a well-off middle aged white man, I wouldn’t be writing columns about if I were a poor black kid.

Recently, Gene Marks, a contributor to Forbes magazine wrote an article called “If I Were A Poor Black Kid” explaining helpful tips to overcome the plague of poverty.  Marks writes with explicit detail about how he would use internet resources such as SparkNotes, CliffsNotes and Google to help him understand books providing his fantasized black kid’s parents could afford a computer and high speed internet. Marks “helpfully” includes other websites and other tools to help the poor black children understand what they are learning.

Excuse me?

The last time I checked, common sense doesn’t discriminate against races. Any teen or kid can use the resources Marks listed and I’m sure many of them do. It’s logical to ask for help when you need it – pride may get in the way during adolescent to adult years, but as a kid, one’s brain is like a sponge. It craves information and soaks it up. It’s not all about Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube. Some of us actually like to read.

Yes, private and magnet schools can be better than public schools because they offer more resources, but you don’t need them to succeed in life. It takes hard work, determination and an awareness of class and race. My nana once told me, “Nothing in life is free. You have to work for what you want; nothing in life is just handed to you.” While this is true, it’s harder for poor black kids in America, despite their hard work and effort.

Even if a poor black kid’s parents could afford this cheap technology of which Marks speaks so highly, what’s next? Is the computer supposed to save them from stray bullets? Is it supposed to feed them? I guess if they had this computer, they could use it to do their homework. And what if mommy/daddy/ grandparents/guardian can’t pay the electric bill that month? Then what? How are you supposed to do your homework then? I guess Marks expects these poor black kids to light some candles (providing they have money for them) or better yet, use the street lights.

Born and raised in a black, single parent household, I find this article highly offensive. I went to the private schools he praises in this column, from kindergarten to second grade. At my private, mainly white, Catholic school at the tender age of five, I realized that what grades I made didn’t matter and my personality didn’t matter. Even the fact that I was one of the smartest in my class didn’t matter. None of it did – I would never be as good as my fellow white students, simply because I was black. And those little precious four, five, and six year olds reminded me every chance they got.

My mom did my hair in twists every morning. When I got to school the white girls in my class would play with their hair and swing it right in front of my face. So I figured, why couldn’t I? I would take out the twists and re-twist them…I just wanted to fit in at this age. But it wasn’t the same, and those girls let me know it. And to top it off, the third day I did, I got a note sent home to my mother, asking her not to do my hair in those styles anymore because I played with it during class. I was teased from everything to what my hair looked like to what I carried my lunch in, and when I tried to ignore it, like my mom told me to, my teacher sent another note home saying I didn’t play well with others. I knew then that I was truly by myself; my teacher was NOT on my side. Needless to say, my mom withdrew me before the third grade.

To think that columnist Marks can just assume he knows, or imagines to know, what it feels like to be black, and to be a poor black kid at that is ridiculous. You can’t just place a poor black kid in a better school and expect him or her to succeed. Some kids will feel more out of place than ever, and with no one to confide in, may turn to the streets.

Oh wait, if they have a computer and internet access at home, they’ll be fine.