Published: December 7, 2007

The black underclass Cynthia Tucker speaks of cannot realistically join the ranks of the middle class so long as these men and women are expected to provide for a family on poverty-level wages ("As black middle class rises, underclass falls still further," Opinion • Commentary, Dec. 3).

Baltimore's commercial office cleaners, who are predominantly African-American, are paid as little as $7.50 per hour.

Until these jobs, which have to be filled by someone, pay a more livable wage, the gap between the super-rich and the poor will continue to grow.

If we want to get serious about helping workers get ahead, the focus should be on ensuring employers improve training and compensation.

We cannot expect workers to rise out of the underclass until we address the problem of the low-paying jobs that created and maintained this underclass in the first place.