Nobody is saying that success is impossible, only that there are issues that make it harder. Looking at success stories to prove that everything is fine with the system is like a hospital saying that their mortality rate being double that of any other hospital in the state should be ignored because they have examples of people who didn't die.
If you think a higher percentage of black people are making decisions that keep them in poverty generation after generation, how is that any different than thinking black people tend to be lazy? That argument tries to zoom in the conversation to the individual level so that people can ignore patterns. It attempts to mask stereotypes with 'personal responsibility'.
To be clear, I don't think you are lying about what you believe or that you are intentionally ignoring statistics. Its a hard thing to acknowledge.
Just because things are worse somewhere else doesn't invalidate issues at home. We would very much like to see slavery across the world ended, but without conquest there is limited that can be done elsewhere.
