An Analysis of the Book Our Am
An Analysis of the Book Our Am� How does the world described by LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman illustrate the urban issues we have discussed in this course?
� Devise a community plan that would best address inner city problems such as described on Our America?
The world described by LeAlan and Lloyd illustrates many of the issues discussed in class. They show us a world of children that have no hope. Whatever hopes dwell or develop in this place quickly die out.
The children growing up in the Darrow Houses, Cabrini Green, and the Ida B. Wells projects are surrounded by negativity. The homes of these children are cheaply made. In Cabrini Green the medicine cabinets separate each apartment. If you were to remove the cabinet you would have easy access into the next apartment. Desolate lots surround the homes. These projects were made with catwalks giving them the jail appearance. There are no playgrounds or community activities for the children. There are no signs of grass because grass was never planted. The people dwelling in these developments have no sense of pride in their community since its appearance is rundown and nothing is kept up. The cracks in the basketball court's cement have weeds growing out of them; proving the unkempt conditions.
The children don't ever see anything more than the long strip of housing developments that run consecutively down one strip of Chicago's south side. These projects are like jail because once you grow up around them it is hard to get away or out of them. Some children in the book have never been anywhere else expect for school and then back to their homes.
Attending school was not something to look forward to. The school's environment was not conducive to learning. The appearances of the schools were depressing. The building had small windows and no welcoming banner. There were no play areas, there was concrete with cracks and weeds growing in the cracks.
The schools were overcrowded. The teachers could not reach or attend to the needs of each individual student. Thus, the development of the student educationally was stunted. Most students would graduate with low reading levels, and they could not do math on their appropriate levels.
The teacher and principal interviewed in the book commented on the plight of the students. They mentioned that some of the students had younger brother and sisters to take care of, either because of parents who are at work, are on drugs, or are just incapable of taking care of their children. Some of the children go to bed hungry and don't eat breakfast; this affects the students learning process because their minds are wandering on other things like food instead of on the lesson being presented.
Violence is also prevalent in the neighborhood. Most of the people in the neighborhood hate the conditions in which they live. The pent up...
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