Analysis Unit Reflection

11/18
Analysis Unit Reflection

At the beginning of this unit, I assumed I knew what to say and think because of the way I’ve been raised. I walked in the first few classes with the preconceived notions that poverty is not a choice, and that wealthy, upper class citizens assume things about poverty that aren’t true. However, these ideas were shaped, countered and expanded with readings from our SUPA course pack, as well as the movie The Pursuit of Happyness. These readings included “Seeing and Making Culture: Representing the Poor” by bell hooks. Her article in particular taught me some of the most important ideas in my essay “No Disgrace”.
In her chapter, I read about the reasons the upper class might not jump to discuss the issue of poverty. One of the reasons she listed was particularly intriguing to me both because I had never fathomed it before and also because it made so much sense. The rich dismiss the issue of poverty and justify their ignorance with the assumption that the poor have put themselves in this state, rather than acknowledging the cycle of poverty and how it keeps the impoverished there without their consent. This cycle is made up of racial discrimination, the contrast in well funded educational systems and poorer educational systems, and misrepresentation. Watching The Pursuit of Happyness made me realize how some poor can be represented as more deserving than other poor citizens, in that they work harder, have stronger values, or are simply well-dressed. This is an extremely simplified version of the reality many poor citizens live in today’s society. The complicated truth includes being born into families lacking in money, going to a badly funded school, growing up seeing misrepresentations of poverty that destroy confidence, and if graduating, going to a community college to get a job that makes barely any money. Then the cycle continues, with factors such as mental illness and racial discrimination added in.
I had never contemplated the idea that upper class citizens use the “poverty is a choice” argument to justify their own obsession with being rich and/or getting richer, but it makes sense. Who wouldn’t want to be rich? Despite this logic, bell hooks asserts that being impoverished doesn’t necessarily stop someone from leading a “rich and meaningful life.” Even though the main character in The Pursuit of Happyness was poor, he was never content until he had ‘moved up’ in the world and was making more money. I did wonder that perhaps the story was hyperbolized so that the main character was so poor it was not possible for him to be content; another way of justifying his need to gain wealth. On the other hand in Good Will Hunting, most of the poorer characters seemed to live more comfortably while still being impoverished, which allowed them to expand their concerns outside of just making more money. An example of this would be how Will and his therapist, Sean, were much more concerned with Will’s emotional well-being after being abused for most of his life than choosing one of the prestigious jobs offered to him by Professor Lambeau.
Professor Lambeau in particular was a character I enjoyed analyzing because I felt he reflected a similar behavior to upper class white citizens I am familiar with in my own life. His need for high public standing and for everyone to know his name feels similar to how I feel my classmates are raised to pursue the highest grades and get into the best college, no matter what those accomplishments actually mean in the grand scheme of life. Even though Lambeau had won the Fields Medal, which is an accomplishment, Will and Sean are sick of hearing about it, especially when Lambeau has no social skills and is seemingly heartless towards Will in how he would rather see Will working in a job he sees as ‘successful’ than see him overcome his emotional obstacles.
The learning I had during this unit was essential in enhancing my understanding of what it means to be impoverished and reshaping the assumptions I had made just because of what I was raised to think. Representation is extremely important to society’s understanding of certain groups of people, and I’m glad to live in a generation that works towards more accurate representations of these groups in the media.

Isabelle Pipa

9/24/18



Journalist Nikole Hannah Jones has seen cases like this many, many times, which is why she stands by her firm belief that there is one bright and shining solution to “The Problem We All Live With”. In Part One of this podcast, Jones illustrates the bigger picture: in America, there is a clear gap between “good” schools and “bad” schools. Although some may disagree, it is a race issue. The schools we usually identify as “good” are primarily white, and those we see as “bad” have a black and latino majority of students. These “bad” schools are most often severely impoverished, and stuck in a loop since they are unable to finance the immediate fixes for their lack of qualified teachers, space, and programs, which disadvantages students, the students do poorly or don’t graduate, and the schools continue to receive no help. However, even if they were able to achieve these fixes they would only serve as short-term, band-aid solutions to the real problem: the fact that these “bad” schools consist mostly of impoverished people of color. We can never seem to discuss the solution that has proven to be beneficial to both the “good” and “bad” schools.

 The solution, according to Jones, is remarkably simple for such a complex issue. Integration was at its peak in 1988, because after a sustained investigation of 17 years it had closed the “achievement gap” between black and white students. Test scores and class grades were put into a point system that averaged black students 40 points lower than white students, but after experimenting with integration the overall scores of black students had increased by 18 points. Jones grants that it may seem like a small development over the course of that many years, but argues that slavery had caused 352 years of inequality that was now being dismantled in only 17 years by a revolutionary education system.

 Jones takes on this complicated explanation by narrowing into the story of Normandy school district in Missouri, and tells of one student in particular. Through a series of interviews, the student recounts the numerous instances the Normandy middle school teachers had failed her: whether it was skipping her name at an honors student breakfast, or losing track of her credits and assignments, the system was a mess. Her mother was extremely concerned, but found that she couldn’t afford public or private school even with financial aid.

 When Normandy finally lost its accreditation from the state of Missouri, parents were overjoyed since they could now remove their high achieving students from the corrupt district. However, the district only provided transportation to a district called Francis Howell, which was almost 25 miles away and the residents wanted nothing to do with Normandy.  At a town hall meeting that Normandy parents attended, Francis Howell parents expressed their demands. Among these were that Normandy students’ discipline records and even health records be transferred, that there be metal detectors installed in the school to prevent violence, and some threatened to flee the town if Normandy was combined with their child’s school.

 Race wasn’t discussed until parents began to argue that race wasn’t a part of the issue at all. Francis Howell parents were furious when Normandy families accused them of being racist, and one woman even became emotional while saying that a black Normandy speaker was using their privilege against her. It is still unclear what privilege she was referring to, since she and most other Francis Howell families worried aloud that their school test scores would drop or that the middle school would also be stripped of its accreditation upon the arrival of Normandy students.

 Even though the district fought hard against it, the law forced the accidental integration plan through, and Jones proved to be spot on about the truth of integration. The black students who now went to Francis Howell flourished, test scores never plunged, and no white families decided to leave. Normandy schools desperately struggled to rebuild themselves by firing and rehiring teachers, and seemed hopeless after the murder of Michael Brown just nine days before school started (he was a Normandy graduate just three weeks before).



 The question remains: why do schools continue to avoid integration across the country? Why can we still think of places where “good” schools and “bad” schools clash just miles apart? We hesitate to answer these questions because the truth is we are the problem we all live with, our ignorance perpetuates the disadvantages that impoverished children of color are born into. It won’t always be so grim, for as soon as we acknowledge our ignorance, we are taking steps closer to being leaders of change.