Jonathan Kozol's Amazing Grace: Summary

Fall River, Massachusetts is not nearly the poorest urban neighborhood of the United States. Its people have not endured any fraction of the strife, poverty, violence, or tumult that residents of the South Bronx have. Its schools are functional, its neighborhoods are diverse, its hospital systems – though similarly understaffed and sometimes unhelpful – operate smoothly. In 2012, Fall River was ranked among the top “100 Best Communities for Young People” in America (“2012 Competition Winners”). It lends itself the nickname of “The Scholarship City” and its motto maintains a universally optimistic and perseverant attitude in reaffirming that “We’ll try”. Fall River, Massachusetts is home to me. It is where I was born, it is where I was raised, …show more content…
Kozol portrays true darkness in the world around and enables me to parallel that with my own experience, better perceiving the similarities and disparities between the two. In order to surpass the superficial and to come to a fuller understanding of the suffering of a city, I was forced to adopt the struggles that Kozol conveys of the South Bronx as my own. After this encounter, I could never attempt to say that my experiences have in any way rivaled those of the children and citizens of the South Bronx. But that is what makes Kozol’s book special, reflective, and enlightening: that I am able to draw parallels and make connections with an experience that is not my own, not personal or singular, but universal, and one that I can use as the basis for a more enriched understanding of the world around me. It is in this light that I have come to realize how true poverty and suffering affect one’s values and perceptions of the world around. I understand that those who are oppressed – who realize their unfortunate, but still hopeful position in life – are also those who are most likely to actively pursue truth and justice in their lives and to be enlightened by this