#3 Amazing Grace by Jonathan Kozol

After reading, Jonothan Kozol's thoughts on the conscience of a nation, I made connections with previous readings from class such as Johnson's piece on privilege and Delpit's piece on codes of power. According to Johnson, human beings "need to feel that we belong to something bigger than ourselves, whether it's a family or a team or a society" (Johnson 6). Kozol describes how children adapt their thoughts and actions to their environment. A woman accounts to Kozol that given the unsafe and unsanitary conditions of their neighborhood, "our children start to mourn themselves before their time" (Kozol 11). With that, Kozol and Johnson make the point that we have this need to fit in and belong and when that need is not being met we conform to what we are given. If children are not receiving the physical, emotional, social, educational and other supports that they need, then this will damage both their view of themselves and their view of the world. Then there are some that accept the way that things are and believe that they will never belong - which is further detrimental to our self esteem and mental health as individuals. Another connection from Kozol to Johnson is how, "ignoring privilege keeps us in a state of unreality, by promoting the illusion that difference by itself is the problem" (Johnson 16). Kozol recognizes the perception and opinion of some that is it the fault of people who have low socioeconomic status that they ended up where they are. However, Kozol challenges this idea in that the institutions and ideologies that support our nation are the root of problem. Instead of solely blaming the people who are in the low SES situation for what they are going through, Kozol looks at the big picture and how there are bigger systems in place that leads factors to stay out of people's control. Overall, these connections between Johnson and Kozol about sense of belonging and ignoring privilege which reminds me of Delpit's codes of power and how those with privilege are the least likely to realize that they have it. Also these connections support that in order for change to occur and for our children to see their place in the world as a positive, change must occur. More about Kozol - https://www.jonathankozol.com/