Kudos again to shesus for her personal commitment. Our country would be a better place with more people like her and less like your friend, to whom I would say "shame on you' for comments like:
“I know what my people are like, especially in the ghetto. I’m not being prejudiced, it’s the truth.”
.IMO...its an absolutely prejudicial observation because it is a gross generalization.
I was raised to give back to the community, but what I do is between me and those with whom I share my time. I dont feel a need to give specifics in order to justify my opinion that we also need to consider the larger issue of the policies and practices that contribute to the perpetuation of poverty, particularly among blacks in the inner-cities.