A review by larryerick
Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools by Jonathan Kozol

3.0

Simply put, this book is a report on how minorities in America are compelled to live in segregated schools with a fraction of the support that affluent white schools receive. The author is a good writer, but I take exception with his presentation. His whole argument could have been presented in a quarter of the space. A huge percentage of the book consists of examples of where white/affluent schools are good and minority/poor schools are trash. Fine, I believe him. I believed him after the first three or four detailed examples. I didn't need a dozen more examples. The author does eventually get around to reasons why the differences are so great and so prevalent and why the "haves" are making sure the "have-nots" stay that way. He also presents that case well, and much more concisely. However, he does little to say what we, the readers, should do about it, especially since he points out how strong the human element is for "protecting" what we have. Some reviewers of this book commented on how "angry" the author was. I'm sure he was, but it doesn't come through in his writing, unless you feel that pointing out injustice as poor manners. And for what it's worth, I finished reading this book the same day of the Newtown school shooting. Despite the horror and sadness of that event, the book had me thinking and wondering how that tragedy to a white affluent community compared to the day-after-day, year-after-year tragedy of poor minorities living with substandard schools, housing, and environmentally trashed neighborhoods.