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On November 17, we discussed Jonathan Kozol's Savage
Inequalities. Here are some responses. |
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"My present crisis of conscience leads me to ask what do
I or anyone do with this information. The implications of the argument proposed in Kozol
are that capitalism totally eclipses any sense of cooperation, community, conscience,
consciousness. In my world view (one including spirituality) this represents total evil.
To combat this at any level is to live as a martyr. Ideally I value this above all.
Realistically, I am one of them, capitalists. The hypocrisy of my own life almost
paralyzes me. I am very troubled. Somewhere in the distance I still see the light and
remain hopeful." |
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"In all honesty, I don't take the time to sit
and think enough about the problems other people grow up facing, but his terrible accounts
of some of the most unequal schooling in the country bring to light some serious issues
that need to be addressed." |
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"I can associate my own mental picture with what he
describes. When I went cross-country this past summer, I took a wrong turn and ended up in
East St. Louis, and though it may seem difficult to believe, Kozol's account is
sugar-coated." |
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"Savage Inequalities is emotionally charged
but filled with manipulated figures and stretched and elastically worded phrases. He
sneaks in words like 'can,' 'may,' and 'could' to deceive the reader." |
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"The problems we have in our school systems are a reflection of a society based
on self-interest. Their will always be someone or group less well off then another. And
therefore nothing will ever be equal. The playing field is perpetually uneven." |
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"My mother is a teacher in Lowell, MA. . . . For a while, working in
Lowell my mother has had a 'renovated' closet as
a classroom. Then she had a trailer in the parking lot as a classroom. My mother went back
to college in her forties to work in these conditions. I wonder why?" |