I thought that Amazing Grace by Kozol was really easy to read and very interesting and eye opening. I think everybody has an idea of how each class lives. Poor people are less fortunate than middle class and middle class less fortunate than wealthy people. But, I think no one seems to stop and think about what kind of lives each class really leads. The stereotype that is perceived for wealthy people is that they are happy and they have all the money they need and more and nothing else could be wrong in their life. In reality, their lives might not be perfect. I think we do not know unless we talk to someone from that class or experience being in that class. As Kozol gives us many examples of what it is like to live in the South Bronx it really starts to open my eyes about what kind of things go on and it is a lot worse than I had imagined. One part that really stood out to me was when Cliffe was taking him around town and he asks if he wants to go down a certain street. Kozol asks what is down there and the boy responds and says, "That is where they burn people." When they walk down the street we come to find out that the incarcerator is not really there to burn people but other things. When the boy and the narrator get back to the house and the narrator tells the mother about the incarcerator and what the mother said I felt like her response to what her son had said almost sent the message like anything could happen here and burning bodies there is a possibility. Another part that really blew my mind was when he is talking to the Pastor and the Pastor tells him about the Children’s Park. I found it crazy that volunteers bring condoms and clean needles to adults with their children who are addicted to drugs. I think this is very thoughtful to try to help these people but I just never knew something like this happened and it really showed me how different of a life I have from other people in the world.
One Quote from the article that really said something to me was, "The point is that they put a lot of things into our neighborhood that no one wants. The waste incinerator is just one more way of showing their affection." I liked this quote because this woman is living here because she is cannot afford as much as others but, at the same time our society is making it worse by adding things like the incinerator and other trashy things around town. I got the impression that it is offensive to the people who live there because there is no reason to put a bunch of trashy things all over there town just because they are less fortunate than other people. I think the society/institutions add to the problems in the poor areas by adding more areas that are trashy and unsafe to be around. I think this article by Kozol is very well written and eye opening to people like me who really do not know what life in the Bronx might be like because in my mind I had a totally different image than I have now after reading Kozol's piece.
This link is a little bit about Kozol and another perspective on his piece "Amazing Grace."
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