Alright, I've thought about it.
First, I always have a visceral reaction to Kozol's work. It's often painful to read. For example, the young woman in high school who tells Kozol that if they (the black kids in under performing schools) all just disappeared, she thinks the rest of New York would just be relieved. IT's hard to read that. Here is a young woman doing her best in school, and yet, she feels this way about herself and everyone around her.
Secondly, I think we must recommit ourselves to desegregation. The irony mentioned by some of the teachers, that to find the most segregated schools you need only look for the schools named after MLK or Rosa Parks, was rather horrible. I had not realized just how badly the schools were doing in terms of segregation. I knew the situation in the poor schools was still very poor, but I had not realized to what extent the poor schools traveled in tandem with segregation.
Can the country wake up to this? I don't know. Should they? Absolutely. These children are a resource, and we're squandering it. Even if one can't think of "them" as human beings who deserve a decent education, even if one is merely practical, it ought to make sense that giving "them" a better education will end up giving a better return to society. They will pay more in taxes and their communities will have fewer problems. I realize it's hard to confront difficult problems- especially ugly difficult problems, that might force us to be uncomfortable, but it has to be done for things to get better. Of course Americans manage to turn their backs on a lot of ugly difficult problems- and perhaps they will continue to do that with this one. I have the feeling that only the "choir" will read Kozol's book. As a member of the choir myself, I don't think I'm the one who really needed to read it (but of course I'm glad I did). |
