Quotes: Kozol "Amazing Grace"

Kozol's article called "Amazing Grace" was about poverty in the Bronx. The article was very interesting and easy to read. It really opened up my eyes to the large amount of poverty we have in this country. People from other countries believe that the United States is rich and thriving with opportunities : the white picketed houses is usually the phrase associated with the United States. However, we do have a lot of poverty in this country, and this article points this out. 35.9 million people live below the poverty line, and 12.9 million of those are children. One of the first things that stood out to me in this article was that the median household income in this city in 1991 was about $7,600.

Kozol set up the article by writing how people from this poor neighborhood lived. AIDs was a very common disease, and many children knew many people who were suffering from the disesase or had died from it. In the winter, the city would hand out electric blankets or sleeping bags. Kozol interviewed a father of four, who said: "You just cover up ... and hope you wake up in the morning" (Kozol 4). One of his children was only a month old. i was astonished when I read this because I felt like it was not fair that he and his children were sleeping with coats and hats in a sleeping bag to stay warm. It made me think of how much I take for grated everyday.

The main part of the article was when Kozol interviewed a seven year old boy named Cliffie. They walked together through the streets, as Kozol asked Cliffie questions about his life. The boy was very enthusiastic about talking to Kozol. He was just like any other young boy.  I was very moved when Cliffie began to tell Kozol about how he gave away part of his pizza to a homeless man. Kozol asked if his parents were  mad, and Cliffie said "why would they be mad, God told us to share". It was very insightful to hear Cliffie's experiences because it is always different hearing something through a child's eyes. Some of the things that Cliffie talked about was something a child should never hear or see. He had seen someone get shot, prostitutes on the streets. In the beginning of the article, children were very aware to the fact that crack cocaine is a heavily used drug in the neighborhood. Children call it the needle drug.
Alice Washington was the third person Kozol interviewed. She was living with AIDs and frequently had to go to the hospital to keep the disease under control. She talks about her experiences going in and out of the local hospital. She once waited in a hospital waiting room for six hours, and when they finally got her a bed the bed linen had not been made and the floor was dirty from the last patient. She recalled getting a nurse took another half hour. This quote really stood out to me during this interview: "I know most of the nurses. They are like old friends, but still why should a patient have to make her bed and wash her room"  I asked myself the same question. In any other area this would not happen. As Mrs. Washington talks about the other hospitals in the area it is clear that these peole in this neighborhood were not getting accurate  help and service. I think you see this alot in poor neighborhoods such as this one.