Blog Post #3

 Amazing Grace by Jonathan Kozol 

Argument

I believe that the author Jonathan Kozol argues that children in the South Bronx, predominantly African American and Hispanics are trapped in a cycle of poverty. The author talks about it through the living conditions and opportunities available to these children compared to those in more wealthy neighborhoods.

I believe that his argument means these children are living in horrible conditions. The children need help emotionally and they lack essential resources every child should have access to. Kozol talks about how children attend overcrowded, underfunded schools, which are often lacking in essential resources like textbooks and qualified teachers. It just shows that the poor neighborhoods and schools need support and nobody really cares to give them the care they need.

One of the Author's main points is when he talks about violence in these neighborhoods and how violence impacts on children's lives. He describes how children often live in fear and are exposed to violence, both at home and in their communities. Violence is everywhere these children are at. There is a sense of no escape from it. The childrens have to endure and work with violence and it becomes normal at that point. Violence leads to hopelessness and it pushes children to go down the wrong path because of how the neighborhood and school doesn't have a pace of belonging and safety for them to learn and be themselves.

Jonathan Kozol wants society to recognize and address these problems. He is urging for the readers to confront these crises of allowing such conditions to still be the way they still are. He wants change, better neighborhoods, better schools and education,  people around to help those children in need. He wants everyone to join together to break the cycle of poverty not just in New York but all over the world.