Kozol Amazing Grace free essay sample

Kozol Reaction/Analysis Paper After reading Jonathan Kozol’s Amazing Grace, two main topics stood out to me. The first topic that stood out to me was power and the affects of power. The second topic that stood out to me was the major socio-economic class differences that exist between the rich and the poor. Using the course reading from Miller and the two course readings from Mantsios, I will further analyze and examine these two topics from Kozol’s Amazing Grace. To begin, let’s see how Kozol’s Amazing Grace relates to Jean Baker Miller’s â€Å"Domination and Subordination†. Miller focuses on dominance and subordinates and how the dominants are the superior ones with all of the open power and authority and the ones who determine the ways in which power may be acceptably used (Miller, 112). She refers to subordinates as inferior and powerless and the group that has to concentrate on basic survival (Miller, 113). The dominant ones in Amazing Grace are the political leaders of New York City because they are the ones with all the wealth. For example, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani plans to cut back sanitation and inspection services and programs for children and teenagers as well as a variety of other services relied on by poor people such as drug-rehabilitation programs, programs that help hungry families in obtaining food, and the cancellation of AIDS services to 600 children and 16,000 adults (Kozol, 100). When one has all the power in their hands, they can control economic and social situations and put it in their favor just like the political leaders of New York City did. They used the cuts to create a $150 million dollar school in the rich area and to build a prison. The poor, being so powerless that they are, have no other choice but to accept it. They are expected to â€Å"look at what is there and take advantage of it† (Kozol, 101), when in reality nothing is there for the poor to take advantage of. The way power is used by the rich is 2 one of the main contributing factors as to why places like Mott Haven are so bad. If the rich raised their own taxes by a little bit, they could solve many of the problems that exist in these poorer cities. This goes to show that the rich don’t care about the poor. The rich are just trying to maintain their reputation and power by staying on top. This is a classic example of dominance and subordination that Miller describes. Furthermore, Gregory Mantsios’ article about media also shows a lot about power and what gets put out in the social media and what doesn’t. Mantsios states those who control the mass media are of the upper class and that is why there is hardly any media coverage of the poor and lower class (Mantsios, 617). The upper class blames the poor for being in the situations they are in and for the problems they are enduring (Mantsios, 613). He goes on to say that what gets put out with mass media about the poor is often distorted and misleading and that the news media ignores the poor (Mantsios, 610-611). This is shown perfectly in Amazing Grace. The radio portrays the poor as being from a â€Å"different species† (Kozol, 41-42). The media is quick to judge based on one crime. When one crime is committed, suddenly all blacks and Hispanics are considered as bad and dangerous people, that â€Å"no amount of food stamps†¦no amount of punishment†¦will help the situation† (Kozol, 41-42). Only the bad things about the poor get put out in the media. However, stories of a little boy dying in front of a building or from a broken elevator aren’t important enough to make it in the media. On top of that, the victims get blamed because of lack of security and maintenance inspectors. Mrs. Washington states, â€Å"I rarely hear the people on these TV panel talk about ordinary things as never getting a night of good deep sleep because you’re scared of bullets coming through the window from the street† (Kozol, 180). The media misrepresents the South Bronx when they headline â€Å"A South Bronx Renaissance† (Kozol, 190). They give false hope saying that new plans are being into place when the truth is these plans are hardly ever completed and if they are completed, it isn’t done well. The main 3 problem lies with upper class controlling the media and how they depict in the media that things are good. Instead of talking about the real problems, they selfishly focus on problems of their own. They are afraid that they will lose their power if they include stories of the lower class in the media. A huge reason as to why the poor struggle and are so powerless is ecause hardly anyone knows to what extent the poor are suffering on a daily basis in places like Mott Haven and the South Bronx. In â€Å"Class in America† by Gregory Mantsios, Mantsios focuses on class differences and how these differences have a profound impact on the way people live (Mantsios, 184). He focuses on the positive correlation between education and socio-economic status as well as class standing and life expectancy. He goes on to say that our economic system is the reason the rich are rich and the poor are poor (Mantsios, 188). These points all directly relate to Kozol’s Amazing Grace. The poor lack all opportunities to be successful. They lack proper education and health care to live a long, successful life. The poor don’t get a proper education. Most teachers aren’t even certified to teach. Being uneducated, the people of Mott Haven and the South Bronx turn to drugs as a sense of relief. Their living conditions lead to many health problems including AIDS and asthma. They can’t even seek proper medical attention because all the hospitals are overflowing and too expensive. The poor didn’t choose to live in these conditions. They were born into it and America’s economic system being the way it is will not help the poor. They are stuck and left to hope and rely on God that things will get better. Not having the proper education and health care strips away any opportunity or hope for the poor. Thus, they will be at the bottom of the social hierarchy. The rich, on the other hand, having proper education and all will be at the top of the social hierarchy, thus being more successful than the poor and having a longer life span as well. Lack of education and being of the lower class means you will not make it in America and this is demonstrated throughout the novel and supports Mantsios’ points. Works Cited Kozol, Jonathan. Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation. New York: Crown, 1995. Print. Mantsios, Gregory. Class in America 2009. Race, Class, and Gender in the United States. New York: St. Martins, 1992. N. pag. Print. Mantsios, Gregory. Media Magic Making Class Invisible. Race, Class, and Gender in the United States. New York: St. Martins, 1992. N. pag. Print. Miller, Jean Baker. Domination and Subordination. Race, Class, and Gender in the United States. New York: St. Martins, 1992. N. pag. Print.