Talking Point #1 - - Amazing Grace/100 People Who Are Screwing Up America

Johnathan Kozol: Amazing Grace and
Bernard Goldberg: 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America

Premise:
race
income
poor
drug abuse
sexually transmitted disease
depression
homicide
hope
religion
children
starvation
friendliness
getting used to circumstances
handicapped
hungry
society
strength
prejudice
desperate
sickness
death
rationality
love of country
fascist
brainwashed
classroom
traditional learning
enemies

Author's Argument:
Kozol and Goldberg argue that children living in a poorer environment are not receiving the correct education because they are surrounded by a corrupt society filled with drugs, violence, and disease.

Evidence:
1. Kozol-- "What is it like for children to grow up here? What do they think the world has done to them? Do they believe that they are being shunned or hidden by society? If so, do they think that they deserve this? What is that enables some of them to pray? When they pray, what do they say to God?" (5)

2. Kozol--"There are children in the poorest, most abandoned place who despite the miseries and poisons that the world has pumped into their lives, seem, when you first meet them, to be cheerful anyway." (6) This shows the corrupt society that children in certain areas are living in. They are exposed to the worst circumstances but always seem to have high hopes.

3. Kozol--"I believe that what the rich have done to the poor people in this city is something that a preacher could call evil. Somebody has power. Pretending they don;t so they don't need to use it to help people--that is my idea of evil." (23) This quote also connects to Lisa Delpit piece saying that "People with power are frequently least aware of - or least willing to acknowledge -its existence. Those with less power are often most aware of its existence."

4. Goldberg--"There are a number of way that the American education system has broken down over the years. Far too many of today's schools are violent and far too many are filled with kids who don't care much about learning." (294) This shows that because of today's corrupt society, maybe parents are not enforcing the importance of education as much as they should so children don't care about it.

Questions/Comments/Points to Share:
I really enjoyed reading Kozol's Amazing Grace. It brought to my attention the horrible environments that children are forced to live in. Its hard for me to believe or even think about these situations. I would never want a child to live in a place where their was use of drugs, homicide, violence, and hunger. These circumstances allow children to become depressed, fearful, and suffer from anxiety. I was also surprised at the amount of people suffering from STDs/AIDs or dying because of overdose. I cannot imagine living like that, reading this article makes me realize how lucky I am to live in a good neighborhood and city (for the most part).
Kozol's piece was a lot easier to read then Goldberg's. I was a little confused with what Goldberg's main argument was. I also found Kozol's piece as a more visual image type of writing because it contained a lot of detail.