Scan barcode
A review by amber_lea84
Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools by Jonathan Kozol
5.0
This is definitely one of my all-time favorite books.
I had to read it in chunks because, my god, it's soul-crushing.
But it's important because this is reality. And it's so easy to go through life never knowing that this shit happens. I went to a relatively shitty high school, it was definitely the poor school in my community, but I didn't have to deal with anything near the same level of deprivation as some of these kids.
This quote (from page 176) basically sums up what is explained in the book:
"But what is now encompassed by the one word 'school' are two very different kinds of institutions that, in function, finance and intention, serve entirely different roles. Both are needed for our nation's governance. But children in one set of schools are educated to be governors; children in the other set are trained for being governed. The former are given the imaginative range to mobilize ideas for economic growth; the latter are provided with the discipline to do the narrow tasks the first group will prescribe."
If that sounds interesting to you, read this freakin' book.
This book was written 21 years ago, but it's still incredibly relevant. I say that as someone who was in second grade when it was released and came up in the aftermath of the situation he described, but also as someone who has lived in these poor areas since graduating from high school. (I currently live in the Cherry Hill/Camden area.) They are still effected by these harsh inequalities. Not only does this book cover the history of the situation, but it's obvious that not a lot has changed. I've looked up the stats of the nearby schools and talked to parents. It's still bad. Maybe even worse in some ways.
I actually saw this video when I was about half way through the book and talks about the same shit. It covers things that happened in 2009.
Now, this book doesn't offer any new solutions. It just lays out how our school system works, the effects, and the solutions that are/have been tried...and the fact that poor kids deserve better than what they're getting now. Which honestly, I appreciate. I often find myself frustrated with "here is a problem and this is how you fix it" books because I want to be informed, more than I want to hear somebody's theories and solutions. I can hear about possible solutions from further reading and research.
Plus, much to the frustration of many readers, this book is just honest: We don't live in a meritocracy, and we likely never will. At least not if we don't drastically overhaul the way we do pretty much everything. You can't describe the problem and come up with a real solution in 230 pages. I think it was smart to just stick to describing the problem and what it means for kids.
This book is excellent. I highly recommend it.
I had to read it in chunks because, my god, it's soul-crushing.
But it's important because this is reality. And it's so easy to go through life never knowing that this shit happens. I went to a relatively shitty high school, it was definitely the poor school in my community, but I didn't have to deal with anything near the same level of deprivation as some of these kids.
This quote (from page 176) basically sums up what is explained in the book:
"But what is now encompassed by the one word 'school' are two very different kinds of institutions that, in function, finance and intention, serve entirely different roles. Both are needed for our nation's governance. But children in one set of schools are educated to be governors; children in the other set are trained for being governed. The former are given the imaginative range to mobilize ideas for economic growth; the latter are provided with the discipline to do the narrow tasks the first group will prescribe."
If that sounds interesting to you, read this freakin' book.
This book was written 21 years ago, but it's still incredibly relevant. I say that as someone who was in second grade when it was released and came up in the aftermath of the situation he described, but also as someone who has lived in these poor areas since graduating from high school. (I currently live in the Cherry Hill/Camden area.) They are still effected by these harsh inequalities. Not only does this book cover the history of the situation, but it's obvious that not a lot has changed. I've looked up the stats of the nearby schools and talked to parents. It's still bad. Maybe even worse in some ways.
I actually saw this video when I was about half way through the book and talks about the same shit. It covers things that happened in 2009.
Now, this book doesn't offer any new solutions. It just lays out how our school system works, the effects, and the solutions that are/have been tried...and the fact that poor kids deserve better than what they're getting now. Which honestly, I appreciate. I often find myself frustrated with "here is a problem and this is how you fix it" books because I want to be informed, more than I want to hear somebody's theories and solutions. I can hear about possible solutions from further reading and research.
Plus, much to the frustration of many readers, this book is just honest: We don't live in a meritocracy, and we likely never will. At least not if we don't drastically overhaul the way we do pretty much everything. You can't describe the problem and come up with a real solution in 230 pages. I think it was smart to just stick to describing the problem and what it means for kids.
This book is excellent. I highly recommend it.