Vanessa Preedanon
Dr. Andres
English 1A (Thursday)
7 May 2017
Finding Common Ground Between Gene Marks’ “If I Were a Poor Black Kid” and Danielle N. Lee’s “If I Were a Wealthy White Suburbanite,” both authors argue contradicting opinions on the topic of poverty. For instance, Marks proclaims “I’d become expert at Google Scholar. I’d visit study sites like SparkNotes and CliffsNotes to help me understand books. I’d watch relevant teachings on Academic Earth, TED and the Khan Academy” (259). To clarify, Marks is explaining how poor black kids could use online resources to help them research and study. On the other hand, Lee writes, “If he [Marks] (and others like him) want to make a real difference in the lives of these communities, then I recommend working with folks and organizations already in place and leveraging that privilege to get more resources to those poorer parts of town” (266). In other words, …show more content…
However, despite the fact that Marks and Lee have varying views on poverty, they still share some common ground: informing the public about the situations of those in …show more content…
She reports,
“I learned, watching my mother, that there was a price we had to pay to signal to gatekeepers that we were worthy of engaging. It meant dressing well and speaking well…Why do poor people make stupid, illogical decisions to buy status symbols? For the same reason all but only the most wealthy buy status symbols, I suppose. We want to belong…belonging to one group at the right time can mean the difference between unemployment and employment, a good job as opposed to a bad job, housing or a shelter, and so on”
Dr. Andres
English 1A (Thursday)
7 May 2017
Finding Common Ground Between Gene Marks’ “If I Were a Poor Black Kid” and Danielle N. Lee’s “If I Were a Wealthy White Suburbanite,” both authors argue contradicting opinions on the topic of poverty. For instance, Marks proclaims “I’d become expert at Google Scholar. I’d visit study sites like SparkNotes and CliffsNotes to help me understand books. I’d watch relevant teachings on Academic Earth, TED and the Khan Academy” (259). To clarify, Marks is explaining how poor black kids could use online resources to help them research and study. On the other hand, Lee writes, “If he [Marks] (and others like him) want to make a real difference in the lives of these communities, then I recommend working with folks and organizations already in place and leveraging that privilege to get more resources to those poorer parts of town” (266). In other words, …show more content…
However, despite the fact that Marks and Lee have varying views on poverty, they still share some common ground: informing the public about the situations of those in …show more content…
She reports,
“I learned, watching my mother, that there was a price we had to pay to signal to gatekeepers that we were worthy of engaging. It meant dressing well and speaking well…Why do poor people make stupid, illogical decisions to buy status symbols? For the same reason all but only the most wealthy buy status symbols, I suppose. We want to belong…belonging to one group at the right time can mean the difference between unemployment and employment, a good job as opposed to a bad job, housing or a shelter, and so on”