Jonathan Kozol, Amazing Grace-quotes

Jonathan Kozol  “Amazing Grace” article described  a poor neighborhood in New York. Kozol’s article informed me that neighborhoods like this really do exist and then gave me the idea on what the living conditions were really like and how the people who lived there managed to live. I am including some research I did on South Bronx which is one of the neighborhoods what it’s like to live where this article takes place today, South Bronx Today. Today South Bronx, is very similar to the information we got from the article and South Bronx is still a place for poverty and people of color. To show you how I understood these neighborhoods and the people of these neighbor hoods by giving examples of a few quotes and how I interpreted them   

This article told a lot about illness and how these people were treated in their homes and in the hospitals due to their illnesses. These people were not giving the proper care that they needed, and often didn’t even bother going to the hospital. One example from the text is, “‘It’s the difference between terrible and worse than terrible’ she says. The time before, when I had a fever, my doctor said I had pneumonia. I waited in the emergency room for two days to be admitted” (16). These people from these neighbor hoods had a lot of health issues aids was a big one and they weren’t taken care of which is why a lot of these people didn’t bother going. It is ridiculous that people had to wait that long to be looked at by a doctor. I know that when I get sick it is easy to make an appointment and to be seen by that doctor in that same day. The medicine is also available right away as well.

This article mentioned deaths of children. All of the deaths were tragic because of how they lived and how they were brought up and raised they got into bad habits including drugs. One example of this is, “Cop says, ‘I’m sorry to tell you this. Your son is a crack addict.’ He sold every stitch of his clothes even his underwear. A few months later he was dead…” (14). In this neighborhood these kids all get involved with drugs even if they had a lot going for them like this kid for example who was a senior and had a scholarship to play football. From what I got out of this article most these kids aren’t given an opportunity like these kids are introduced to it early on. It’s crazy how once you hit middle school, schools usually teach us about these drugs and how to say no. Stories from this article like this one is are stories that we hear teachers speak of. 

The first two quotes I chose to write about were realistically what it’s like to live in these neighborhoods like South Bronx. This church is the center of these neighborhoods and the only place people from this neighborhood feel safe. As you can see from this picture people are gathered, kids are sitting down talking and playing games. Everywhere else in South Bronx people aren’t acceped,  “People who don’t live here come and dump things they don’t want: broken televisions, boxes of bottles, old refrigerators, beat up cars, old pieces of metal, other lovely things” (11). People who live in this neighborhood just let people to continue to leave their trash there, that is how they get some of their things as well. South Bronx is the neighborhood of poverty and violence in New York. It’s sad that the people who lived there weren’t supposed to leave and are hated on by everyone around them.