Amazing Grace Kozol Summary

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For many Americans, the South Bronx is the area you have to drive by in order to get out of the city. It is the area you hear politicians discussing and arguing about. It is the area that you avoid. But for many children, the South Bronx is where they call home. It is a neighborhood filled with extreme poverty, drugs, disease, and violence, but, as Jonathan Kozol discovers in his book Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation, it is also a neighborhood filled with childhood curiosity, strong religious beliefs and sharp honesty. In his book, Kozol digs past the rat infested buildings and drug-dealers to the lives of the children who live in this neighborhood. In the process, he discovers the effect the Labeling Theory has had on citizens of the South Bronx and uncovered the countless injustices that many Americans continue to turn a blind eye to. For residents of the South Bronx, the Labeling Theory is not just a theory learned in school; it is a theory that applies to their everyday life living in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the United States. The Labeling Theory itself comes from human interaction, and is continually shifting and changing. Within the labeling…show more content…
There are many children and adults that Kozol comes across that are what the Labeling Theory states as Tertiary Deviants. They are the individuals who have often embraced the labels society has given and tried to make the most with what they have been given. One such character, that is an example of someone that goes against what they have been labeled, is the character of David, Mrs. Washington’s son. Despite having to take care of his sick mother full time, he continued to go to school and earn top grades in order to receive a full scholarship to

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