In the novel United by Cory Booker, there are countless examples of how different the people of America are, based especially on their different classes and ethnicities. Poverty, racism, crime, and finding your place in the world are three common themes scattered throughout the book, and make others realize how segregated people still actually are. In the beginning of the story, Booker discusses how he grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood, however he and his family suffered great racism-- despite the fact they were a wealthy African American family. Throughout Booker’s life, he was a very successful businessman, politician, and U.S. Senator. He made numerous significant changes in his time as a politician, including decreasing crime
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Whether you are white, Spanish, black, Asian--most of these people will not get along (especially in Booker’s town of Newark). This is hurtful to recognize, as it’s easy to tell we are becoming more segregated year after year. Booker states: “If you are born in America today and are white, you have a one in seventeen chance of spending time in jail; if you are Latino, one in six; if you are black, one in three.” (Booker 120). This was a harrowing statistic to read, as you shouldn’t have a better chance of going to prison depending on your …show more content…
One particular woman, a waitress at IHOP with the name of Natasha, lives a very rough life. She is a single mom, living in a very dangerous area, where it’s filled with drugs and violence, and is even living off of a waitress’s low salary. At just ten years old, she was raped and living with her grandmother (because her mother was a drug addict), and was then assaulted again in her teen years. She dropped out of high school, then gave birth to three children. Despite all of Natasha’s hardships, Booker described her as still being a positive woman. He discusses the fact that she even gave a pep talk to a young girl about how not to waste her childhood, and how to stay positive in life. I believe that Booker added this anecdote to his book because we need more people like this in our world. If more citizens demonstrated qualities and characteristics like this, it would be easier to try and mend America. Despite the fact that Natasha is very poor, she doesn’t let the hardships of life bring her down, and she thanks God everyday for every little thing he gave
Whether you are white, Spanish, black, Asian--most of these people will not get along (especially in Booker’s town of Newark). This is hurtful to recognize, as it’s easy to tell we are becoming more segregated year after year. Booker states: “If you are born in America today and are white, you have a one in seventeen chance of spending time in jail; if you are Latino, one in six; if you are black, one in three.” (Booker 120). This was a harrowing statistic to read, as you shouldn’t have a better chance of going to prison depending on your …show more content…
One particular woman, a waitress at IHOP with the name of Natasha, lives a very rough life. She is a single mom, living in a very dangerous area, where it’s filled with drugs and violence, and is even living off of a waitress’s low salary. At just ten years old, she was raped and living with her grandmother (because her mother was a drug addict), and was then assaulted again in her teen years. She dropped out of high school, then gave birth to three children. Despite all of Natasha’s hardships, Booker described her as still being a positive woman. He discusses the fact that she even gave a pep talk to a young girl about how not to waste her childhood, and how to stay positive in life. I believe that Booker added this anecdote to his book because we need more people like this in our world. If more citizens demonstrated qualities and characteristics like this, it would be easier to try and mend America. Despite the fact that Natasha is very poor, she doesn’t let the hardships of life bring her down, and she thanks God everyday for every little thing he gave