Jonathan Kozol
Amazing Grace


Quotes: 1. “Why do you want to put so many people with small children in a place with so much sickness?....”

This quote represents the issue of this whole reading. The staggering statistics provided at the beginning of the reading is enough to show that something, many somethings, need to get done. When you continue reading into the shared stories of the lives they touched upon it’s tragic to see them as victims of a system that has gone wrong and has placed them here and has not seen to their basic human needs and rights. No one, especially children, should live in unsafe housing or communities, in the sickness, and drug addiction, prostitution, and other conditions described in this reading. Children can’t develop emotionally, physically and intellectually if they are not provided with their basic needs.

2. “The point is that they put a lot of things into our neighborhood that no one wants,” she says. “The waste incinerator is just one more lovely way of showing their affection.” I ask, “Does it insult you?” “It use to,” She replies. “The truth is, you get use to the offense.”

During these stories being told to the Author throughout this reading of seeing a boy shot in the head, sleeping through the night in the cold and hoping you wake in the morning, waste incinerators that other neighborhoods don’t want, drug dealers, prostitution, HIV/Aids, beyond poor healthcare, etc….they are all just discussed as a way of life. This is it. It is just the way things are. For the most part like the author phrases it on page 17 “She seems resigned to things the way they are” Everyone quoted in the reading seems this way. No one except for Cliffie’s Mother in my first quote and David at the end in my 3rd quote seem to question things. They just live with things the way they are.

3. “Evil exists,” he says, not flinching at the word. “I believe that what the rich have done to the poor people in this city is something that a preacher could call evil…”

This quote is from David. He is blaming the rich or some rich system perhaps for the things that have happened in his and his Mother’s life. Someone is responsible for the neighborhood they are in, his Mother’s healthcare, her missing welfare checks, everything. It isn’t God, but it is someone with money that is responsible. It all comes down to others control on their lives and they have them in a living hell and are doing nothing about it from his perspective.

Questions/Comments/Points to share
I enjoyed reading how Amazing Grace was written as a story of this Author’s experience conducting his research and interviews of the people of Mott Haven. There are awful statistics and stories shared in this reading. No one should have to live in these conditions. There needs to be appropriate housing, food, safety, and healthcare available to all.

Kids Count