My reflection on savage inequalities: children in america’s school

Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s School is a book written by Jonathan Kozol in the 1991 talked about the education difference between school in of different area and race. Education also play an important role in everyone’s life. Knowledge is power, and more education we have the more powerful we are. In this excerpt Kozol compared two school in the location East St. Louis and Rye, New York. The city East St. Louis has the 98 percent black that has no obstetrics services, trash is not collected regular, and is only few occupations available. Almost all family are low income family, and the city hall also poor that they need to sell the city hall and the fire station get money to maintain the city. The sewage is everywhere that they don’t even have money to fix. Then the city Rye is totally the opposite of East St. Louis, they have beautiful landscaped, people are busy working, and have good school, most people having wealthy life.

Irl Solomon’s history class in East St. Louis High School was taught by a man of 54-year-old that have taught in urban school for 30 years already. This history class is the highlight of the school, there is senior girls was pregnant it and there is no reason for them to not have a baby. They tell the truth at even they get a diploma in a ghetto school like it won’t help much when they get to the society. There is also student telling Kozol why are they skipping certain class. From what they had told him we know that this school is lack of almost everything. There is no water, equipment in the lab room, so students are skipping physics class. Typewriter doesn’t work so they don’t go to typing class, some students want to learn Latin, but there is no teacher teach it. And a 14-year-old girl have point out the irony of the name of school, this school was built for honored Martin Luther King, but is more like segregated school for his name.

A student named Jennifer from the Rey, New York high school that was originally from the Bronx. Her parent move to New York because the environment was bad at their old place. She thinks if the people live in the ghetto poor area didn’t want to come out, then there is no point for those students to take the bus to be educated in their good school. Basically, she is saying that if you want a good life then you must want it for yourself, so she thinks there is no use for the student from poor area to come if their parent didn’t care much about their education. She did agree that everyone should have a chance to take the same class, but she also think there is no benefit for her to pay more taxes to let the student in poor are to have better education.

School in East St Louis and Rye, New York have a clear contrast, one is hell and one is heaven. East St Louis school is lack of a lot of thing to give the student better education. Their school is old, dirty, no water, not enough teacher, a lot of class can’t function because lack of equipment. Even though they did build a new campus before, but is because the ceiling is too strong and the whole building collapse. Rye, New York high school have landscaped campus, beautiful auditorium, clean wall, comfortable and beautiful library, everything they have is way better than East St. Louis school. Basely is only white and Asian in Rye, New York school, have few Hispanic and only 1% or 2% are black. East St. Louis is only black.

Usually it takes a long time to read article, but this one is interesting and I was finish reading in a short amount of time. It makes me think a lot after reading this article, does this savage inequality still happening? I never thought of the city hall and sell the city hall and fire station for money, why isn’t there had any help? Where is the government at, are they like isolated, or is the racial discrimination? Especially I feel like the student like Jennifer and so cold hearted, she does make me feel like as long she is good, the other have nothing to do with her. Think about it more, this is how the society is now a day and before. Everyone is only care about themselves, I think this is one thing didn’t change much during the past 20 years and I don’t it will change much in the future. I mean is better now, that people can do much to help others, but it just seems the change is slow. The unfairness between poor area and rich area also didn’t changed much, the level difference will always be there, no matter how many years, because that is how society form it. A lot of poor area people didn’t get much education also because of lack of material and equipment. In rich area almost, everyone has the chance to get educated. More people donate money to these poor areas now, I hope in the future every child in this world can be educated.