Talking Point #1

Jonathan Kozol
"Amazing Grace"

Premise: (What is this about?)

1. Segregation
2. Religion
3. The Poor
4. Faith/ Belief
5. Sex/ Drugs
6. Power
7. Education (or lack thereof)

Argument:

Jonathan Kozol argues that, if the poor behaved "rationally" they would seldom be poor for long in the first place.

Evidence:

1. The adults in this story are riddled with the HIV/AIDS virus
2. The town has a high rate of murder in the town and prison
3. The drug addicts try to bring you down with them, sell you or try to get you addicted to drugs

The story "Amazing Grace" by Jonathan Kozol describes the poor side of a town in New York that is racially separated by a river from the wealthy. When taken on a tour throughout the town by a young boy he meets at a local church named Cliffe, he discovers the poor living conditions that exist. The houses are like miniature sauna's where the heat is so bad its possible to die, not to mention making citizens irritable and the rats and roaches you'll find living in the houses as well. There's a town incinerator that is used to burn anything from bottles, used needles, cars, and other various metals, in addition to a flood of prostitutes which leads to a high case of AIDS, and poor hospitals to take care of the sick.

You would think with such negativity surrounding everyday life it would affect everyone in the town top to bottom. Upon meeting Cliffe, a very friendly, courageous young boy in the church, Kozol asks him about God and is given a very stereo-typical answer. Cliffe tells him that God has long hair, can walk on water, and has taught him how to share. He also mentions that his heroes are Michael Jackson and Oprah. The two alarming factors are that he has no idea who George Washington is, and how he thinks the world is coming to an end because of drugs.

My Thoughts:

I agree with Kozol here, in the sense that I believe life is what you make of it. The decisions you make, have an effect on you and those around you and can have an impact now and in the future. In a poor society today, events like the ones told here in "Amazing Grace" exist and it up to not only some outside force to provide support, but internally for the people of the society to first realize what they're doing in order for change to occur. If they do not see anything wrong with what is going on (in relation to denial) then there would be no sense of help at all.

This story was somewhat hard for me to read, I don't know about most people but reading something about helpless people, AIDS, and death isn't exactly fun to read. I believe there's a moral to this story, and is that of if you do not do something good with your power (power being anything. Fortune, fame, knowledge) to help the less-fortunate, then you are contributing to the negatives in society.