Talking Points #1--Amazing Grace, by Jonathan Kozol

1. "'They're burning bodies there,; he says.
'What kind of bodies?'
'The bodies of people!' he says in a spooky voice, as if he enjoys the opportunity to terrify a grown-up." pg 7

- I picked this quote out of a few to id of show the life that Cliffie and his neighbors live. We later find out that Cliffie is actually referring to the incinerator that burns waste of local hospitals. I picked it because it shows that the authorities don't care what the people of this neighborhood think as they placed the incinerator here over the objections of neighborhood parents. I also picked it because I could remember telling my friends that the stone protruding from the ground at the beach was God's arm. And I loved seeing the looks on their faces, just as Cliffie did.

2. "She knew that the police would not arrest this man. She told me, 'I ain't waitin' for the law.' In less than 48 hours he was dead." pg 14

- This quote is referring to the grandmother avenging her daughters death and her granddaughter's rape. First of all this is really sad, because its so true. The legal system is so messed up that people can get off because of technicalities and loopholes in the system. It also reminds me of the book I'm reading where a mother/prosecutor shoots her child's rapist and uses every trick she's had used against her to get off, because she knew that the legal system would fail her and her son.

3. "'Somebody has power. Pretending that they don't so they don't need to use it to help people--that is my idea of evil.'" pg 23

- This quote really struck me because it relates to Delpit's idea that white people are the power of culture and we are unwilling to acknowledge that we have this power. It was also really sad because David goes on to talk about the addicts and prostitutes and how they are all colored in some way and that he fears what will become of his race. David also talks of how these people hate him because he is not in their condition, which is just so upsetting because it means that he really has no where to fit in.



Overall, I think this was the easiest read we had so far. I liked it best as well. I felt that a lot of the times I could relate in some small way, which for me, makes a reading sooo much easier (like the examples above). If i can see where they are coming from at least in some way, I can understand their situation a lot better. I also feel like the author wasn't yelling at me or telling me what to think so much as both Johnson and Delpit tended to do. Definitely there were a lot of pieces that fit into the other two reading that we have done so far. A lot of the time I thought of Delpit and her theory of the power of culture. But at the same time i also think Johnson and how we have to fix these problems. This reading was really sad in many ways, I found myself getting really torn up about the different people and just wanting to reach out to them. It's really terrible to think that people live this way everyday, in the South Bronx, and other meighborhoods and communities. And more and more people are being brought up this way and dying because of their lifestyle and lack of good opportunities. It's really opened my eyes (along with the other readings) about how privileged I really am. And how things I may think are the worst possible thing, really isn't that bad.