Sunday, April 17, 2011

Introduction and Chapter 1 Summary

          The introduction talks about how Jonathan Kozol began teaching and he introduces the book. Kozol lets the reader know what to expect when reading the book. Chapter one is about how schools named after someone in history like Martin Luther King Jr. or Thurgood Marshall are not integrated, they are still segregated. Kozol also mentions how Dr. King said, "as long as the Negros basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one," (33), but right now minorities are moving from larger ghettos to smaller ones. They are trying to get out and move into the suburbs, but when they move out they end up in the same situation. Kozol, at the end of chapter one, talks about how the schools try to instill in the children that they can achieve anything they want to by chanting things like, "yes I can, I know I can." (35). Kozol believes that this does not work because society does not believe that they can.
          This section of reading uses a lot of examples to support what Kozol is saying. He repeatedly mentions how many of the inner-city schools are not integrated. Kozol is always giving examples of school that are anywhere from 96-99% African American or Hispanic.

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