Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools

For those of you who grew up like me, you probably have never really thought about the injustices in the public school system because they don't apply to you. However, you probably have noticed that schools in nicer neighborhoods are typically better than those in worse neighborhoods. It's time to think beyond just that fact and find the consequences of public school systems based on property taxes. You are born into a class. The children born into nicer neighborhoods get access to the best schools, find it easier to get into a college, and have a variety of job choices available to them. This knowledge has motivated me to work hard in school. Knowing what the finish line looks like gives me an incentive to show up to class and work hard. Since there are a variety of colleges within my reach and an endless amount of career choices to pick from at these colleges, I have been motivated to not only show up to school, but to work hard too. How hard I study is a reflection of what I know the reward will be. People who don't succeed are not necessarily born lazier than me. When their schools do not promise a successful future for them, they have no reason to show up and try hard. If my school did not have the right teachers or supplies to provide an adequate opportunity to get me farther in life, what would the point be in showing up or trying? If dropping out of school and working minimum wage jobs is the only known way of providing food and shelter, then why would I choose to go to a school where nothing is promised instead?
In the last chapter of Jonathan Kozol's novel Savage Inequalities, Kozol takes the reader into the towns of Alamo Heights and Cassiano, both in the city of San Antonio. The two towns are just seven minutes away from one another. To the children in Cassiano, Alamo Heights seems an impossible distance away. My past four blogs on previous chapters in this novel explain the inequalities. Something new struck me in this last chapter. A social worker from one of the schools in Cassiano explains the future of many of the children. She says, "Many of these teen-age girls helping their mothers to make supper will be pregnant soon. They will have children and leave school. Many will then begin the daily trip to Alamo Heights. They'll do domestic work and bring up other people's kids. By the time they know what they were missing, it's too late."
The last sentence in this quote is what generated my thoughts and questions at the end of the first paragraph. Society likes to look at the poor and unsuccessful and blame it on laziness. However it is unjust to compare the amount of school work done by the children in Alamo Heights to the children in Cassiano without comparing the history and more importantly the environments. The human brain works on a reward system. Every behavior we do is a result of reinforcement or punishment. To children in Alamo Heights, they know they will be rewarded with college, a job, and a substantial income, if they attend school. To the children in Cassiano, their school provides no promise of any of these things. Instead, when they drop out of school and work minimum wage jobs they are rewarded with minimum wage, the only known way to provide food and shelter. The powerful words, "By the time they know what they were missing, it's too late," say it all. The children from Cassiano are not exposed to a decent education until they work for families in Alamo Heights and see the schools over there. They do not understand the importance of education until they see how a good education can give someone a entirely new future. Now that they are exposed to good education and what good it does, "it's too late". Then they go back to Cassiano and learn even more. They learn their children are not equally worthy as the Alamo Heights children in receiving an education. They learn their place in the world is somewhere along the lines of housekeeping. This was predetermined for them from the second they were born into a Cassiano family.
This novel has opened up my eyes to injustices, the simple unequal education between the rich and the poor. This novel has made me understand others. Instead of judging and labeling others as lazy or chastising those who don't attend school, I now understand the problem is much bigger than the individuals choice to attend school or not. It's a problem the entire public system is to blame for. It's not just districts with the high dropout rate's problem, but schools like mine with the high graduation rate's problem as well. The most important thing I got out of this novel was a gratefulness for my education. I've learned not to take my education for granted, because not everyone has it in this "democratic" country. Above I mentioned it's everyone's problem. I was given a good education, and there's no need to feel guilty for what I have. Just as the children in Cassiano did not choose to be born into that town, I did not choose to be born into mine. But I do have control over how I use what I've inherited. I will take advantage of the education given to me, and use it to help others less fortunate than me. Kozol might have showed me the injustices in the the public school system and the injustices placed upon America's children, but the message I got was that it doesn't have to stay like that.

DO NOT SHOP AT LOWE'S

Home Depot is better.
Seriously though, Lowe's recently pulled ads from the reality TV show All American Muslim on TLC. Why? Well apparently it is misleading to portray a Muslim as a real American.
It all started and ended with the Florida Family Association. This Christian conservative group convinced Lowe's and 65 other companies to pull ads from the TV show. Again, why? I took the chance to go on their website where I read, "The show profiles only Muslims that appear to be ordinary folks while excluding many Islamic believers whose agenda poses a clear and present danger to liberties and traditional values that the majority of Americans cherish."
Wow. This organization actually thinks they are saving American values by opposing this TV show. What about the American values that give all individuals the right to practice their own beliefs and religions. The Florida Family Association argues because some terrorists happen to be Muslim, it is necessary to be racist and stereotype every Muslim as a terrorist. There are so many ways I could respond to that, but since no one wants to read this blog post for an hour I'll start with this. Many convicted serial killers in America are white Christian middle aged men, yet many American TV shows portray white Christian middle aged men as just normal people, usually as faithful husbands and loving fathers. The truth is, just because many serial killers fit the characteristic of a white Christian middle aged man, does not mean all people with those characteristics are serial killers. There are many more that aren't than those who are. Same for Muslims. Although many of the terrorists in the world are Muslim, there are still many more Muslims who are not terrorists than those who are terrorists. It's funny how this conservative organization has no problem with their race being portrayed positively, but when it comes to other races they find it wrong. The truth is, the show All American Muslim is just what American society needs. After 9/11, the lives of American Muslims have been hard because the terrorists in charge of the attack were Muslim and American brains are now unable to differentiate between the two. Somehow people see the religion of Islam to coincide with terrorism. If you are a Muslim you are automatically a terrorist. If they took a minute to study the religion they would find Jihad does not mean killing innocent people. In fact, killing innocent people is against Islamic Law. Many human rights activists in our country, like Malcolm X for example, happened to be Muslim. There is definitely no automatic connection between Islam and terrorism. Before Lowe's makes a decision to pull ads they should pay more attention to what kind of message they are giving in doing so. Since Lowe's pulled their ads from the TV show the message they are sending is that Muslim's are all terrorists and cannot be treated like the proud and faithful Americans most of them are. Unless Lowe's comes out with a statement changing their viewpoint I do not plan on shopping there and I suggest you don't either.

Invisible Children: One Organization. One Goal.

Invisible Children started as the story of three young filmmakers. They set out to Africa to investigate the genocide in Darfur. When they were told a lot of refugees were relocated in Uganda, thier mission led them there. In Uganda they discovered a whold new conflict. Children being abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and forced to become child soldiers. The filmmakers soon became englufed in the conflict when they found out this conflict affects every child and every person in these villages of Uganda, not just the child soldiers. All of the people live in constant fear of the LRA and almost everyone has lost loved ones to the LRA.
After watching thier documentary, one simple line recited by the narrarator lingered in my mind. "They sing praises to God for making it to the shelter every night." Every night all the children have to go sleep in a shelter to hide from the LRA and to prevent from being abducted and turned into child soldiers. What lingered in my mind was that they were thanking God for making it to the shelters. I viewed having to even go to shelters every night as such a negative thing that I would not be thanking God for putting me in a situation where I had to sleep in a shelter. I realized their lives are filled with so much hardships that little things like this they are grateful for and they are forced to look for the good in everything or else they will have no happiness in their lives. A feeling of guilt came over me. I know there is no need to feel guilty, it's not my fault, but I still couldn't help it. I guess I felt that way because I know I didn't do anything to deserve the great life I have. I mean, literally all I did was be born into my life and then everything was given to me by my parents and my country. The children in Uganda did not do anything to deserve to be born into their lives either, to get just one meal a day, and to live in fear of the LRA. The truth is, you cannot help what family you are born into. The fate of one's childhood is of no control to anyone. The point of this blog is not to make me seem like a Holden Caulfield, so I am not going to stop with this cynical idea. The truth is, everyone was given life and given it differently. Instead of sitting and feeling horrible about all the bad in the world, beleive it or not, there are ways to do something about it. Maybe I was born into my life for a reason. I can use all the resources available to me, like my education, to help those in need.
Invisible Children is the perfect example of this. Three kids who saw an injustice, and did something about it. They knew just giving some charity money would not be enough because these African children would still not have the same freedoms of American children. They started the organization Invisible Children, and actually made a difference. They got Obama to sign the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act which was unanimouly backed by Congress. Instead of just raising money and providing short term relief, they wanted to do something to change the future for these children. They realized these children are equally human to American children and are working to change the unfortunate fate these Ugandan children were born into. One day I hope to turn that guilty feeling I had into something greater. I look to Invisible Children and the way in which it began as a role model. I hope to make something positive from my privileged life, and use what I was given to give others what they weren't: life, love, safety, freedom and happiness. Although many people are deprived of basic rights, it is not a bad thing to have more than you need. It's what you do with what you have that will impact the purpose and accomplishments of your life.