Book Analysis: Savage Inequalities
Savage Inequalities: Essay on Chapters 1-4 Chris Hendrick Mayer, PHIL 1200-100
In chapter one of Savage Inequalities, by Jonathan Kozol, he speaks of the disastrous state of East St. Louis. He describes in horrific detail, the condition that many school children from grades K-12 are forced to learn in. East St. Louis is one of the worst ghettos in Illinois, and Kozol goes into great detail about the multitude of problems facing the city and more importantly, the school children living there. The economy is too weak to pay for any type of necessity for the schools. Therefore, the school system is compromised. There is absolutely no money for proper supplies, teachers, programs, or even a proper building to teach in. Even worse is the home life of many of these children. Most do not have supportive parents that can take care of them, let alone push them to be academic. Kozol goes on to imply that these children are not born into a situation of equal opportunity. They are set up to fail from birth to fail. There are many contributing factors that make for an unfair condition. It seems to Kozol that racial segregation is the worse injustice committed by the local school board of East St. Louis. Without the immersion of lower-class blacks with upper-class whites in one school district there is no opportunity to stimulate the economy of East St. Louis. The children in East St. Louis are not just in a bad situation. They are in one that they cannot escape. They are born into a loosing battle for well-being. I agree with Kozol that this is a severe injustice towards the children of East St. Louis. Classism is the biggest hindrance in their life and it has been brought about by a government and by private industry that consider the people of East St. Louis expendable. A once integrated city of middleclass industry workers is now a segregated slump for chemical waste and poverty.
In chapter one of Savage Inequalities, by Jonathan Kozol, he speaks of the disastrous state of East St. Louis. He describes in horrific detail, the condition that many school children from grades K-12 are forced to learn in. East St. Louis is one of the worst ghettos in Illinois, and Kozol goes into great detail about the multitude of problems facing the city and more importantly, the school children living there. The economy is too weak to pay for any type of necessity for the schools. Therefore, the school system is compromised. There is absolutely no money for proper supplies, teachers, programs, or even a proper building to teach in. Even worse is the home life of many of these children. Most do not have supportive parents that can take care of them, let alone push them to be academic. Kozol goes on to imply that these children are not born into a situation of equal opportunity. They are set up to fail from birth to fail. There are many contributing factors that make for an unfair condition. It seems to Kozol that racial segregation is the worse injustice committed by the local school board of East St. Louis. Without the immersion of lower-class blacks with upper-class whites in one school district there is no opportunity to stimulate the economy of East St. Louis. The children in East St. Louis are not just in a bad situation. They are in one that they cannot escape. They are born into a loosing battle for well-being. I agree with Kozol that this is a severe injustice towards the children of East St. Louis. Classism is the biggest hindrance in their life and it has been brought about by a government and by private industry that consider the people of East St. Louis expendable. A once integrated city of middleclass industry workers is now a segregated slump for chemical waste and poverty.