New York's Darkest Place

Above: A young boy turns a fire escape into a makeshift home.

     In Jonathon Kozol's Amazing Grace, the reader is introduced to the behind the scenes action of one of New York's toughest cities. From drug use to prostitution to a  being one of the highest concentrated areas of AIDS infested people in New York The Bronx has been battered with the effects of poverty and depression in almost every way.
     While reading this, I realized that I too, have witnessed hardship like this in my own life. Growing up in the quaint town of Bristol Rhode Island I never believed anything was bad. I always felt safe and felt that everyone in Bristol was "good" and I had nothing to worry about. However as I got older I became more aware to my surroundings and began to realize that not everything in this small town was perfect. For we too had the local homeless, the alcoholics, and the cannabis abusers. But it wasn't until I hit high school that I saw just how bad things were. Kids who I had gone to school with since kindergarten were now experimenting with drugs far worse than marijuana. Drugs like cocaine and heroine or hallucinogens like "shrooms" had finally infiltrated the walls and kids were actually dying. Within just a couple years we lost three teenagers due to overdosing. Now that may not seem like a lot but in a small suburban town where everyone knows each other losing three kids due to drugs is three too many. But drugs weren't the only things ruining our small town; For instance the act of prostitution became more prominent, and as of an occurrence last May Bristol's own Colt State Park became an area of complication, when during a Blood's gang cookout a stabbing took place.
     But this leads me to wonder, even through recognizing all of the harsh realities my home town hides, Bristol is nothing but a mediocre speck when it comes to dangerous cities.  And when compared to a place like described in Kozol's writing, I cannot physically understand the hardship that goes in cities like the Bronx or Harlem.
     While reading this chapter I really admired Kozol's writing. I admired the way he integrated his own personal opinion and experiences with the stories told by the many people he met. I really liked this because it helped me understand the extreme hardship that is going on in the other parts of the country.
      One thing I really had to question was idea of social security and welfare. In the case of Ms. Washington I still not comprehend how it was so hard for her to get it. Yes, I understand that today many people abuse and cheat the system to get easy money, but how can a single homeless mother battling two forms of cancer not eligible for SSI? I believe that it through our messed up government that we are just giving money to all the wrong people for all the wrong reasons, and then in return leaving the American citizens who have worked all their lives but are facing hardship to struggle and for themselves.