It is a scary thing when you are afraid to let a child go outside and play, because you fear that someone is going to drive by and start to shoot at someone else and hit your child on accident. Unfortunately, things like this happen every day of someone's life. bell hooks talks about how African American men would rather deal drugs and steal than work a 40 hour a week job. These same boys are dropping out of school just so they can make more money faster and at a younger age. This seems to be the normal day-to-day life of many people. According to hooks, African Americans do not want to work a job, they want to party and fight instead. They are disrespectful to everyone including their friends and do not care if they are hurting anyone. Most think it is sexy or cool to be bad and mean. They think there are more ways to make a living and that they can make more money faster than anyone working a job can. Thankfully, not all African Americans have that mentality. Most are great people that work jobs and raise kids just like anyone else. There are some people black and white alike that need to stop thinking poor me and just live their lives. They need to stop the drugs and violence and make this world a little safer for the children out there.
Hi Cristina,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you have chosen to analyze the reading. I love talking about it and I wish we had more time in class to do so, but we also have to talk about writing issues :) If only we can have a reading class!
Were you surprised by hooks's claims? I think it is important to remember that not all African American men buy into this kind of mentality, but it is also important to remember that the white community should be held responsible to some degree. There is a distinct separation of white communities and black communities. I remember viewing the 10 most segregated cities throughout the United States. Do you remember Kozol's book last semester? He had stated that in inner city locations, the dynamics of the student population include 99 percent nonwhite, which is typically made up of black and Latino students. Why do you think there is this kind of separation?
Ms. C