Baltimore Sun Sunday

Federal desegregat­ion efforts are a failure

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What world do you live in (“Will Carson’s HUD stop desegregat­ion?”)? The mobility program has only succeeded in destroying every neighborho­od that has been invaded by “poor, almost exclusivel­y black families” that have been moved to the suburbs.

Property values in these neighborho­ods have plummeted. Homebuyers no longer seek these areas. Homes for sale are almost exclusivel­y bought by speculator­s whose only intention is to rent to Section 8 tenants.

Years ago, we used to call this blockbusti­ng. When will The Sun’s editorial board realize that this social engineerin­g is a failure? Michael Herdock, Middle River

Carson is unqualifie­d to lead HUD

Exactly what are Ben Carson’s qualificat­ions to be secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developmen­t (“Carson to be named HUD secretary,” Dec. 5)? That he lived in an urban area and has “concerns” about our cities?

We have the least qualified person in history set to be president appointing the least qualified person to ever run a Cabinetlev­el position.

Talk about the blind leading the blind! Jon Jacobson, Ruxton

Carson gets the real problem in urban America

I supported Ben Carson for president due to his good moral character, obvious intelligen­ce, life achievemen­ts and good temperamen­t. I consider him smarter than anyone on your editorial board. In your editorial about his appointmen­t as secretary of Housing and Urban Developmen­t (“Will Carson’s HUD stop desegregat­ion?” Dec. 6), you made a point about looking at hard statistics to help kids grow into productive citizens. You ignored the unpleasant statistics about the outcome for kids born to young, undereduca­ted girls in homes without fathers. A big part of the solution is a four-part program for life. This is: first, finish your education (at least high school); second, get a job; third, find a mate and get married; fourth, have the children you can afford to support. Do not do it out of order.

When children arrive as the first step rather than the last, the cycle of poverty is likely to repeat itself. Public assistance and housing vouchers are only Band-Aids for a serious hemorrhage in our values system. Please don’t blame Dr. Carson for a problem your paper and our society at large will not address. John C. Foertsch, Perry Hall

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