The pathology of poverty

A friend forwarded me this sad story, from Richmond, Virginia:

Clarence Maurice 'Boo-man' Coleman was one of 36 children, say those who knew him well. And Boo-man, as everyone called him in the Fairfield Court housing development, was following in his father's prolific footsteps. 'Papa was a rolling stone. Wherever he laid his hat, a baby was born,' said one of the women sharing memories in the 2300 block of Rosetta Street yesterday afternoon. That's where Boo-man, just 19, was shot in the head Sunday evening. He died later that night at VCU Medical Center. 'He was trying to catch up with his father,' said another of the women gathered by a utility pole covered with flowers and photographs of Boo-man and the things he cared about: a girlfriend, his baby boy, dollar bills. Despite still being a teen-ager, Boo-man had fathered two children and had five on the way by five different girls, one of them just 15. [Emphasis mine.]

Read the whole thing to discover the milieu in which Boo-man lived and the way in which his community viewed him.