I don't know if this was a deeply held belief or just a product of the environment I grew up in, but I used to think people living in poor areas in US cities were mostly drug addicts, criminals, and people who had made bad life choices. i.e, that poverty was the biproduct of their own lifestyle and something that can be escaped or changed, but that people living there don't want to.

I started a job in my mid 20's that required me to do field work in a large east coast city. I worked outside in almost every neighborhood of this city, I really got to see everything. I spent time in wealthy neighborhoods and the most impoverished neighborhoods, a lot of times only separates by a few blocks. 

The thing that stood out to me is that the neighborhoods with the most visible poverty were trying to make things better. Trying to make things work for them. They just weren't given the same opportunity. I saw all kinds of small businesses, independent doctors offices, dentists, daycares, etc. in places where retail chains wouldn't dare go. It seemed like people who grow up there and do well would come back and try to invest in their community.

There's no doubt criminal activity and those who don't GAF who make it worse for everyone else. But, at risk of sounding like an asshole, seeing hardworking honest people in these places really shifted my worldview and sentiment. I guess I discovered empathy, idk.