FREE ESSAY ON AMAZING GRACE

AMAZING GRACE

Amazing Grace by Jonathan Kozol.
At first glance, it seems that the author is going to take us on yet another journalistic
ride through the land of the poor. Similar to the ones you read about, or hear in the
news. However, this is not the case; the real underlying theme is what is society doing
about the plight of the poor? Kozol uses the views of children to emphasize that these
reports on living conditions are not being obtained by "disgruntled" adults, but from
innocent children whose only misfortune was being born to this particular area. 
The author takes us from the seventh richest congressional district in the nation (being
E 59th Street in New York City) to the poorest in the nation. A mere eighteen-minute ride
by subway to the South Bronx, to a little place called Mott Haven; where the median
family income for the 48000 residents is only $7,600. An area known for crack-cocaine and
heroin; prostitution; poor hospital care, where one-quarter of new mothers tested in
obstetric wards are HIV positive; and the police say is the deadliest precinct in the
city.
Kozol writes about the trials and tribulations of everyday "normal" life for the children
and people who live here. Normal for them however is quite different than it is for most
of us. Living with drug dealers, pollution, poor hospital care and an abominable
education system not to mention the social system of the city, is the "norm" for these
children. In his interviews with the children of this squalid neighborhood, we find that
the children speak honestly and freely about their feelings. Forgotten, hidden,
abandoned, are just some of the words that come to mind. One boy named "Malcolm X" wears
his hair in a style referred to as "25 years to life". His sister asks "Like in prison..?
This is how you want to wear your hair?" His reply "You don't have to be in jail to be in
prison". This is just one of many examples given to show the reader the effects that this
environment has upon youths.
As we read further, we find that there are multitudes of problems inherent within the
South Bronx. One of the only ways of determining where these problems stem from is by
looking at the possible reasons as to why they exist. Drugs, violence, AIDS infections,
are not new, however this community differs from others in the United States. One of the
main differences is that the City has grouped all of these people together and created a
"ghetto" of the lowest income families. Albeit the government helped get these people off
the streets and out of homeless shelters and provided them with rent-free housing, they
then decided to put them all together in one location. The City has effectively
segregated them from the rest of the population and is telling them that they are not
worthy of living with the rest of the population.
Another factor involved is air pollution. With an incinerator located right in the middle
of the South Bronx, it is no wonder why so many children have asthma. "According to a zip
code breakdown of New York shown ... by Dr. Robert Massad ... asthma statewide in New
York is 1.8 per 1000 people. In New York City, it is 2.5 per 1000, but in Mott Haven the
rate rises to 6.0" (p. 171). To compound matters of health, the buildings that house
these people are both rat infested and in such need of repair that they are borderline
condemned. Most of the elevators do not work thus forcing its inhabitants to utilize the
stairs which is very time consuming and energy draining; especially for the elderly. Once
these people go outside, they are met with an extraordinary amount of drugs and violence
and find it much safer to just stay inside their homes.
Cultural differences between these people and those of higher income communities add to
the list of reasons as well. Racism is blatantly obvious to the people of the South
Bronx, particularly when they leave their district. If someone from this neighborhood
goes to a hospital in one of the wealthier districts, they are usually treated in such a
way that they don't feel welcome. One nurse who has been working in the South Bronx for
five years tells Kozol, "As bad as Lincoln or Bronx-Lebanon may be, at least
receptionists don't call a woman of color by her first name. And some of the nurses and
housekeepers talk to you! If a woman's black, Hispanic, and on welfare, maybe a drug
user, or has HIV, she knows she isn't welcome in a first-class hospital. This is not
perception. It's a fact. If they wouldn't want you as a neighbor, why do you think they'd
want you in the next bed?" (p. 175-176) And for those few that actually do get admitted
to a facility in the higher income districts, they are placed on "special" floors
dedicated to Medicaid patients. "On the fifth floor of Mount Sinai Medical Center, a
distinguished private hospital, according to the paper, 17 newborn babies are placed in a
row in front of a window in the obstetric ward. All are white. One flight down, in the
fourth-floor nursery, are 14 other babies- 'all black or Latino.' The fifth floor,
supposedly reserved for private patients, offers 'private and semiprivate rooms with
bathrooms.' On the fourth floor, black and Hispanic women are assigned, four each, to
'overcrowded rooms' with 'peeling paint' and 'showers in the hallways.' ... Patients on
the fifth floor are given classes in nutrition, exercise, breast-feeding, and infant
care, which, says a nurse, are not provided to the patients on the fourth floor. On the
fifth floor a nurse is instructed not to document the fact of alcohol abuse in making out
a patient's record. On the fourth floor, in contrast, 'nurses...note for the records a
mother's drug or alcohol abuse' and notify welfare officials if a mother uses drugs." (p.
177)
Education is also in a severe predicament in this area. With major overcrowding, students
find themselves trying to learn while jammed into spaces not intended as classrooms, such
as stair landings, gymnasiums, bathrooms and even coat closets. These large class sizes
make it difficult for students to concentrate on their work and often result in increased
disciplinary problems. Teachers therefore find that their effectiveness as a teacher
diminishes exponentially as they spend more time trying to maintain order in an
overcrowded classroom. Another hindrance to the students' educational process is the
physical conditions of these schools and the insufficient supply of proper materials.
Most of the students are using outdated textbooks and do not have access to the kinds of
materials or equipment that would enhance the learning experience and/or create the
opportunity to explore subjects such as science. As for the physical attributes, these
school buildings are in horrible condition with "barrels...filling up with rain in
several rooms... Green fungus molds... growing in the corners of the room in which the
guidance counselor met kids who were depressed." (p. 151-152) 
Qualified teachers are also in dire need. "...students seldom see a certified teacher but
are instructed, for the most part, by 'provisionals,' or permanent subs" (p. 155) while
the more experienced teachers are choosing to work in schools located in better
neighborhoods that receive better funding. 
You would think that with all these negative influences surrounding this community that
everyone would lose hope. Fortunately this is not true for many of the children that
Kozol both talked to and befriended during his numerous journeys into their neighborhood.
The children speak of their problems with a great deal of maturity. Many of them seem far
older than their age, for they have felt true abandonment by our city. Many of the issues
they have had to deal with are not ones in which we would think of as children's issues.
AIDS for example, is not something that we think children would talk about or even think
about. However for the children of the South Bronx, AIDS is a major issue. With
one-quarter of the pregnant women in this neighborhood testing positive for AIDS,
pediatric AIDS takes a high toll. The numbers of children who have had one or both
parents die of AIDS in the South Bronx and surrounding areas is the highest among the
nation. "...if the city continues with its present policy of channeling its sickest and
most troublesome families, often addicted and quite frequently infected, into housing in
this area, it is likely that entire blocks will soon be home to mourning orphans, many of
whom will follow their own parents to an early grave." (p. 194) 
The city's decision to place a waste burner in the middle of the neighborhood only
contributes to the residents' view that they are being "thrown away". Many of the
residents believe that the incinerator is to blame for their health problems. Considering
that it burns "red-bag" products from 14 hospitals (amputated limbs, syringes, fetal
tissue, etc.), it would be a tough claim for the City to disprove. Many of the children
in this community are only able to breathe with the use of inhalers because their asthma
has gotten so bad, presumably from the incinerators' fumes. This brings some questions to
the reader's mind such as, why would the city place an incinerator in this area? Did the
city planning board even consider the residents of the area? What did the residents have
to say about this? Unfortunately we can only answer the last question with no doubt. The
residents do not have much say in city or state political matters. Wealthier and more
powerful people who most likely have no first hand knowledge of what life is like in
these low-income "ghetto" communities hold positions in the government. Is there a
solution to this?
The solution is to change the whole community, no easy task, which involves more than
just direct practice with individuals. Dealing with people on an individual basis gives
only individual responses. The problems in the South Bronx are not with the individuals
themselves, but rather with the organization of the community. The community must change
its' social policy in order to make it a better place to live. The community's norm is
currently violence and drugs. In order to change this, the community must use more
education targeted towards social issues in their schools and community to help people
learn to live healthier lifestyles. They must make it known that drug dealing and
violence are not "all right", and to help people obtain some sort of unity. The well
known community members need to get involved in politics so that their voices can be
heard and let the City know their communities needs/requirements. Creating support groups
for people with AIDS, ex-addicts, people who have lost a family member, also for people
who just need a place to talk and get their frustrations out would help the community as
a whole. If the people of the South Bronx would act as a community bound together to help
themselves and each other, there would be less tolerance for deviant behavior among its'
members. The City must also be made more accountable for its' actions. Clean up and
reconstruction of Times Square to Battery Park is a step in the right direction. However,
painting a mural of "... flowers, window shades and curtains and interiors of
pretty-looking rooms..." (p. 31) on the walls of empty buildings in the Bronx, just to
give the illusion that this area is a good neighborhood it is not.