Blog 2

Amazing Grace by Jonathan Kozol is and article from 1995 in which a man follows a child around the streets of Manhattan getting tour from the seven year old boy of all the hazards and ugly truths of the city for a lower class citizen.  Throughout his article Kozol uses descriptions of the young boys reactions to the many hazards that are constantly surrounding where he lives.  One such descriptions when the boy took Kozol to a spot i the park with a tree covered in stuffed bears.  This was the sight of a shooting that the young boy witnessed in which another boy was shot in the head and left for the public to see until the police cleared the scene.  after explaining the importance of the spot to Jonathan the young boy asks him if he wants a cookie, a causal and polite offering at a time of great sadness and personal emotional conflict.
“All Lives Matter” by Kevin Rose is an article about how by using the term “all lives matter’ instead of “black lives matter” you strip away the individual struggle by turning the direct and selective statement into a blanket and broad statement.  The author even stated that”The real issue is that, while strictly true, "All Lives Matter" is a tone-deaf slogan that distracts from the real problems black people in America face.”.  The author then went on to source a Reddit link, in an “explain like I'm 5 tired” by GeekAesthete, that stated that although both statements call for  change when you turn “black lives matter” into “all lives matter” you dismiss the original protest by saying everyone needs something and isn't equal and in turn the effectiveness of the protest and power that the phrase carries may diminish resulting in no changes at all.  The link also explained that the way people interpret phrases may lead to how they area taken.  For example some mat use “black lives matter” as a way to promote the idea that African American citizens need equal rights too and just want to be treated like everyone else.  Whereas a different person may see “black lives matter” as meaning that only African American lives matter and that they are the most important, which clearly isn't the intention.  

Comments

  1. Dr. McKameySeptember 28, 2018 at 6:09 AM

    This quote was striking to me too: after explaining the importance of the spot to Jonathan the young boy asks him if he wants a cookie, a causal and polite offering at a time of great sadness and personal emotional conflict.

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