Forgotten Children in Amazing Grace Jonathan Kozol's Amazing Grace is a book about the trials and tribulations of everyday life for a group of children who live in the poorest congressional district of the United States, the South Bronx. Their lives may seem extraordinary to us, but to them, they are just as normal as everyone else. What is normal? For the children of the South Bronx, living with the pollution, the sickness, the drugs, and the violence is the only way of life many of them have ever known. In this book, the children speak openly and honestly about feeling 'abandoned', 'hidden' or 'forgotten' by our nation, one that is blind to their problems. Studying the people themselves would only get us so far in understanding what their community is really like and why they feel this way. Jonathan Kozol really got to know the people individually. We can take his knowledge and stories to try for a better understanding of the environment in which they live. By doing this, we can explore the many reasons why the people have problems, what some levels of intervention could be, and possibly find some solutions to making the South Bronx a healthier and safer place for these children and others to live. Problem Identification The environment in which we study these people can only be defined by first taking a look at possible reasons why the people have problems. Some of the problems discussed in Amazing Grace have festered throughout the United States for some time now. The high numbers of drug users in the community, the high amounts of gang-related violence, and the numerous cases of people who have contracted the AIDS virus are just some of the problems that have arisen in this ghetto. There are many differences between this community and others in the United States, one of which is that the government has grouped these people all together and made a ghetto of the lowest income families. This has ostracized them from the rest of the nation. It has given them many abandonment issues to deal with, while also telling them they are not worthy of living among the wealthier population. Environmental factors are involved in the problems arising in the South Bronx. Pollution, for example, could be the biggest source of the high number of children in the community who have asthma. Asthma is a condition in which one has trouble breathing. Without clean air, breathing for an asthmatic is almost impossible. A waste burner in the middle of the South Bronx causes a lot of pollution and makes the air the people breath, below safe levels of cleanliness. Another environmental factor that affects the resident's healths has to do with how most of the buildings in these neighborhoods are run down and infested with rats. Many of the buildings have no working elevators. This causes people to have to walk several flights of stairs each time they want to leave their apartments. This is very time consuming and tiresome. Then, when they find that there is so much violence and drugs in the street, that it is not safe to be out there anyway, they usually end up staying in their apartments for most of their free time. The cultural differences between these people and others of higher income communities is also a reason why they may have problems. Racism is very obvious to the people of the South Bronx, especially when they go outside of their district. If a woman from this area goes to a hospital outside of her district, a hospital that is more than likely wealthier and cleaner, she is usually turned away and told to go to a hospital in her own district. Others, who are admitted into these hospitals, are put on a special floor, mainly for the lower income or Medicaid patients. (Amazing Grace, p. 176) Another way the government discriminates against them is how they are housed. Most of the residents are living in government housing where the government pays their rent. When the government helped the people to get off the streets and out of homeless shelters and then put them into low cost housing, they put all of the residents in the same area. This created their ghetto and kept them segregated from the rest of the world. If we look at these people through an exosystem, or "a setting in which a person does not participate but in which significant decisions are made affecting the person or others who interact directly with the person," we would ask the questions "are decisions made with the interests of the person and the family in mind?" (Social Work and Social Welfare, p.79) Did the government really think of the people of the South Bronx when they grouped all of the sick, troublesome, and low income families together in the same community? What kind of opportunity structure can people have when the government puts them into never ending situations such as giving them only enough money to get by, but not enough to get out of poverty? Some people say that it is not the government's responsibility to get people out of poverty, but then whose fault is it that they got there in the first place? No one asks to be poor, no one asks to be homeless. Cultural differences are an excuse some use for treating people of different backgrounds differently. But can the government also participate in this obvious form of racism? Our nation has tried for many many years now to stop racism and prejudices, but the problem is still prevalent in communities all over the world. We could also look at the people and their problems using a macrosystem, or the "'blueprints' for defining and organizing the institutional life of the society," (Social Work and Social Welfare, p.79) to decide if some groups are valued at the expense of others and do these groups experience oppression? As we have seen, the people of the South Bronx feel abandoned, this is a type of oppression. They are pushed away from the rest of society, where the only place they can turn is to this community that is filled with crime, violence, disease, and poverty. The residents have shared assumptions about what the government wants and expects from them. The government's attitude towards these people is such that the residents feel devalued and not worthy of being seen or heard. Without much hope of financial stability, many have turned to selling and/or using drugs. Selling drugs is seen as an easy way of making some money, and using drugs keeps a person on a high so they do not have to face reality. This just continues the cycle of problems they face since selling drugs to others keeps those others high, and staying on a drug induced high only prolongs the problems. Discussion and Recommendations Because of all the trials and tribulations they go through, you would think that everyone in this community would lose hope. This is not true for many of the children that Jonathan Kozol talked to and became friends with on his many journeys into their neighborhood. The children speak of their problems with great maturity. Many of these children are far older than their years on Earth, for they have felt true abandonment by our nation. Many of the issues they have had to deal with are not ones which we think of as children's issues. AIDS, for example, is not something that many think of as an issue that children talk about or even think about. For the children of the South Bronx though, it is a major issue. With "one-fourth of the child-bearing women in the neighborhoods where these children live testing positive for HIV," (Amazing Grace, inside cover) pediatric AIDS takes a high toll. The numbers of children who have had one or both parents die of AIDS in the South Bronx and surrounding areas is the highest among the nation. If the government keeps sending the low income and troublesome families into these neighborhoods, "it is likely that entire blocks will soon be home to mourning orphans, many of whom will follow their own parents to an early grave." (Amazing Grace, p. 194) The government's placement of a waste burner in the South Bronx is another prime example and a reason why the children feel like they are being "thrown away." Many residents believe that the waste burner is to blame for their health problems. Many children in the community are only able to breathe with the use of a breathing machine because their asthma has gotten so bad.(Amazing Grace, p. 170) Why then would the city decide to put one there? Did the city have the residents in mind when they built the waste burner in this community? The residents do not have much of a say in city, state or governmental issues. Positions in government are held by wealthier and more powerful people who more then likely have no first hand knowledge of life in a low income ghetto. How can we change this? To change a whole community involves much more then direct practice with individuals. Counseling people on an individual basis gives individual responses. The problems of the South Bronx are not with the individuals themselves, but rather community organizational problems. Changing the social policy of the community is of utter importance in making it a better place to live. The norms for the people in these neighborhoods have gotten to be that of violence and drugs. These are not healthy norms. To change them, the communities could use more education on social issues in the schools and communities to help the people learn to live healthier lifestyles, to get the word out that violence and disruptance are not all right, and to help the people obtain some community unity. Getting some of the well known community members involved in politics is another way they could get their voices heard and let the government know their needs and desires. Support groups held for people with AIDS, for people who have lost loved ones, and also for people who just need a place to talk about their emotions and get their frustrations out, would help the community as a whole and get more people involved in the healing process of that community. If the people in the South Bronx would act as a community bound together to help themselves and each other, there would be less tolerance for deviant behavior among it's members. Then the ones who act defiantly could be out-numbered, and the good citizens of the South Bronx could reclaim their homes and their lives.
In his book, Ordinary Resurrections: Children in the Years of Hope, Jonathan Kozol pulls back the veil and provides readers with a glimpse of the harsh conditions and unrelenting hope that exists in a community located in the South Bronx called Mott Haven. Mr. Kozol provides his own socially conscious and very informative view of the issues facing the children and educators in this poverty ravaged neighborhood. Just his commentary would paint a very bleak picture of the future. It is the words of the children that give this book optimism and meaning. The courage and care exhibited by the volunteers of St. Ann's after school program and the creativity of the teachers at P.S. 30 are utterly inspiring. They work long hours and go beyond the call of duty to protect the innocence and cultivate the hope that resides in the hearts of Mott Haven's youngest residents.
Jonathan Kozol's book, Amazing Grace, analyzes the lives of the people living in the dilapidated district of South Bronx, New York. Kozol spends time touring the streets with children, talking to parents, and discussing the appalling living conditions and safety concerns that plague the residents in the inner cities of New York. In great detail, he describes the harsh lifestyles that the poverty stricken families are forced into; day in and day out. Disease, hunger, crime, and drugs are of the few everyday problems that the people in Kozol's book face; however, many of these people continue to maintain a very religious and positive outlook on life. Jonathan Kozol's investigation on the lifestyle of these people, shows the side to poverty that most of the privileged class in America does not get to see. Kozol wishes to persuade the readers to sympathize with his book and consider the condition in which these people live. The inequality issues mentioned are major factors in affecting the main concerns of Kozol: educational problems, healthcare obstacles, and the everyday struggles of a South Bronx child.
The West side of Chicago, Harlem, Watts, Roxbury, and Detroit. What do all of these areas have in common? These areas, along with many others have become mine fields for the explosive issues of race, values, and community responsibility, led by the plight of the urban underclass. Issues such as violent crime, social separation, welfare dependence, drug wars, and unemployment all play a major role in the plight of American inner-city life. Alex Kotlowitz's book: There Are No Children Here, confronts America's devastated urban life; a most painful issue in America. Kotlowitz traces the lives of two black boys; 10 year old LaFayette, and 7 year old Pharoah, as they struggle to beat the odds growing up in one of Chicago's worst housing projects. Their family includes a welfare dependent mother, an alcholic-drug using father, an older sister, an older brother, and younger triplets. Kotlowoitz describes the horrors of an ill-maintained housing project completely taken over by gangs, where murders and shootings are an everyday thing. Kotlowitz does a fine job at portraying ghetto life; those who are outside the American dream. He succeeds at putting a face on th people trapped inside the housing projects with virtually no hope of escape. One can truly feel a sense of great loss for the family, and a great deal of hope for the two young boys. You can truly feel yourself hoping that things will work out for them, and you can really feel like you know these young men on a personal basis. Kotlowotz spent a great deal of time with the boys so he could portray the world from the eyes of a child growing up in the ghetto, and he does an amazing job.
Alex Kotlowitz entitled his book, There Are No Children Here. It is a story of two brothers growing up in a housing project of Chicago. By the author following the boys throughout their day to day lives, we, the readers, are also enveloped in the boys' surroundings. We learn about their everyday lives, from how they pick out their clothes, to how they wash them. We go to school with them and we play with them. Throughout the book, we are much like flies on the wall. We see and feel everything the boys' go through at Henry Horner Homes, the project where they live.
Christopher Columbus was a cruel, delusional, and self-centered man who does not deserve high praises for the discovery of America.
For more than five centuries Americans have lifted Christopher Columbus to heights of greatness and god-like. We celebrate his life as though he was a man that had done us a great favor. In resent years Christopher Columbus has come under scrutiny, his life and works being questioned more than celebrated. There have be many great men and women that contributed to the building of our great nation but they do not receive anywhere as much recognition as Columbus. When a person begins to study the actual accounts of the "finding of the New World" they begin to wonder if Columbus should adored or hated for his actions. As a child I was taught that Columbus was a great man that had accomplished great things for the sake of humanity, but in reality his agenda was not to better humanity but to better himself. He found the Americas by mere chance and he did not even know of what he found. We give him credit for "finding" the Americas but history tells of the people, that he called Indians, already inhabiting the foreign land. So you decide whether or not Christopher Columbus should be revered a hero.
Christopher Columbus unintentionally discovered America, when he landed in the Caribbean Islands. He had left Spain in search of Asia and India. When he and his crew arrived at what now is Haiti for his second voyage, they demanded food, gold, and anything else they wanted from the Indians, even sex with their women. Columbus punished those who committed offenses against him. Rape and enslavement had been brought upon the natives. When the natives of the land, known as the Arawaks, tried to fight back, it led to a massacre of their people in which by Columbus? order, meant crossbows, small cannons, lances, and swords to destroy them. Even wild hunting dogs were released to rip up the Arawaks, whom by the end of the day were dead or ready to ship to Spain as slaves. None of this was ever taught to students.
Instead of loving and caring for her baby, and forgetting about Danny, she became worse than him. Rodriguez presents many aspects of the minority class that live in the United States, specifically the South Bronx. Even though the cases presented in Rodriguez’s short stories are difficult to mellow with, they are a reality that is constant in many lives. Everyday someone goes through life suffering, due to lack of responsibility, lack of knowledge, submission to another entity or just lack of wanting to have a better life. People that go through these situations are people who have not finished studying, so they have fewer opportunities in life.
Christopher Columbus is one of the top most well-known names in history. Columbus was an Italian explorer who in part went on several voyages across seas to discover some of the most prominent land not yet known to exist. Columbus went on four separate voyage each involving new found land. On Columbus’s last voyage he set out to discover a direct water route from Europe to Asia and after many attempts Columbus on his last voyage lead the permeant European discovery of the New World or better known as America.
There are many opinions that circulate around Christopher Columbus. Some are good, but based with a lack of knowledge, while some may be directed as a general hate towards Europeans of that era. To truly understand what we should think about columbus, we must analyze all sides of the many arguments that are all directed at him. Was Columbus really a famed explorer who sailed in 1492, or was he a man with a heart of stone, who cared for nothing more than his own personal gain? Who may have been driven by pressure to accomplish his goal, no matter what the cost. Opinions aside,he left a legacy that leaves a trail of impressions on modern day America.
The first voyage of Christopher Columbus’ kicked off his legacy of being an explorer. The hardest part of starting Columbus’ voyage trying to find funds. “Columbus had a different idea: Why not sail west across the Atlantic instead of around the massive African continent? The young navigator’s logic was sound, but his math was faulty. He argued (incorrectly) that the circumference of the Earth was much smaller than his contemporaries believed
The infestation of drugs overtaking communities results in corruption in neighborhoods, destroying families, weakening the school system and increasing the crime and violence rate. The usage of drugs in major cities, and certain urban areas have transformed them to become an eye sorer. The type of place where unfamiliar faces will be scared to drive through at night. The ghetto is filthy and nasty looking; drugs have caused the used to be new, to look like a complete city that needs to be rehabbed. Some say the ghetto is a beautiful place and there is nothing wrong with it, certainly you would have to live there to feel that way. Recently real estate tycoons have made a fortune on rehabilitating houses. So how do drugs make our neighborhoods look so bad? “When it comes to drugs, think of it as real estate. Location is very important, just like your property value goes up and down, so does the drug market” (Local dealer 1, 2008). Local dealers compete in price and product, drug houses are being set on fire to force users to purchase from the arsonist that funded the fire. Once these houses have been burnt, that puts the house out of business until they move to another location and establishes their clients; I guess it’s like a store. Most big time drug dealers have more than one drug house; the more houses the more money. ...
In 1982, at the age of fifthteen Debb ie Martinez of the Bronx, found out she was pregnant and was forced to drop out of school and move in with her boyfriend. She had a baby girl she named Jasmine. With little education and no job, it wasn’t easy for her to raise her child. She stayed at home caring for her daughter while her boyfriend worked. Since it was his house she had little say about anything that happened. He did as he pleased and came home with money only when he wanted to. Less then two years later she found herself about to raise another child. She had a baby girl she named Jennifer. She struggled to care for her two babies without much help from the father. It was then that she realized she had to do something to better her life.
The movie Amazing Grace is based on an abolitionist named William Wilberforce, who also was a politician that was determined to end the slave trade. Throughout the movie William faced many complications. In his adult years he suffered with a stress-related illness called colitis. Also, at some point in his life he struggled with the decision to dedicate his life to doing God’s work or politics. In this movie William came across many beneficial people in his life-time that helped him on his journey to end slave trade and view many life aspects differently.
“No one should fear to undertake any task in the name of our Saviour, if it is just and if the intention is purely for His holy service.” Christopher Columbus was one of the most important explorers in history. He also was a navigator, colonist, and citizen of the republic of genoa. He completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean. He was born in genoa Italy and died May 20, 1506 in Valladolid Spain.