QTPC 17

Quote: “He went to a white neighborhood, he didn’t care ‘bout me.” Said by a black man when after a helicopter left where he was without helping him.

Talking Point: I found it very interesting how there were a lot of people that said the Coast Guard did an amazing job in the relief effort—throwing out the rule book that they usually follow in order to help the people in need.

Connection: Soon after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, the World Baseball Classic was supposed to take place. Most baseball players are from somewhere in the Caribbean or of Latin decent. And being that the USA has an embargo with Cuba, Cuba, naturally, could not play in the World Baseball Classic, which was being held in the US. The US government actually ended up letting Cuba participate in the WBC, but not until after they agreed to donate quite a large amount of money to the Katrina Relief Fund.

QTPC 16

Quote: “I would issue a mandatory evacuation…this storm is the real deal.” Said by Max Mayfield to mayor of New Orleans.

Talking Point: Since the people in the lower ninth ward have been looked down upon most of their lives, I can understand why some of them believe the levees were blown. But the being able to think that the government would do such a thing, that would kill so many innocent people, is mindboggling.

Connection: How the lower ninth ward was effected and they pictures that were shown of that area following Katrina, reminded me of the graphic descriptions of the ghettos that were given in Savage Inequalities. The fact that both of these groups of people were neglected to the extent that they were really makes you think where is the government when you need them most.

QTPC 15

Quote: “Societies cannot be all generals, no soldiers. But, by our schooling patterns, we assure that soldiers’ children are more likely to be soldiers and that the offspring of the generals will have at least the option to be generals. If this is not so, if it is just a matter of the difficulty of assuring perfect fairness why does the unfairness never benefit the children of the poor?” (176)

Talking Point: I know that this book is to bring the setbacks of intercity schooling to light. But the author mainly focuses on black children. Granted the majority of the students in the schools she visits are black, but there is a small percentage that are also white. And with the general idea that white people get more than blacks, why doesn’t she interview the white children and parents that live in the ghetto and attend these same schools. If the author were to cover all bases, than be biased an only observe minority students, I would see her work with more credibility. There is no doubt that I agree that the issues with funding and the school conditions need to be worked out. But interviewing the whites in those schools and seeing why they haven’t been able to escape, like the majority, would broaden the spectrum.

Connection: When the schools in intercity DC are talked about and compared to other schools in the surrounding areas, I feel that she is comparing polar opposites, rather than comparing schools that are closer in status. Fairfax County is the school system that she compares DC schools to. Fairfax County, VA is one of the richest counties in the country. And the schools there are very nice, nicer that the one that I attended, and knowing the overall atmosphere in Fairfax, since my uncle lives there, and comparing that to the ghetto schools in DC is like comparing the US government to the government of Sierra Leone.

Obama Nobel Peace Prize (See “Blogroll” Link)

How does Barack Obama get awarded to Nobel Peace prize? Sure he has extended the “hand of America” to other countries, but has not changed policy in anyway. America is the most despised country in the world, and even if you put a mask on on the face of America to disguise our true nature, we still have out true nature of invening in others’ business and playing “world police.” And on a final note, how did Obama get the Nobel Peace Prize for trying to make the world better, when he is considered to have the worst Foreign Policy Policies of any US President in modern US history?

QTPC 14

Quote:  “I ask him, “Will white children and black children ever go to school together in New York?”  “I don’t see it,” he replies. “I just don’t think it’s going to happen.  It’s a dream.  I simply do not see white folks in Riverdale agreeing to cross-bus with kids like these.  A few, maybe.  Very few.  I don’t think I’ll live to see it happen” (90).

 

Talking Point: It seems that the public city schools in New York are in not as bad of a situation as the schools in Chicago and East St. Louis.  It does not give a full explanation of why this is.  So my question is why?

 

Connection: When they author makes it known that the school is leaking and the overall integrity of the building of falling apart, I could connect to the high school I went to my freshman year.  With a new senior high school being built, the administrators neglected to fix the problems of leaking and sagging roofs, lack of proper heating, and the total absence of air conditioning.  But when former President George W. Bush visited my high school in 2004, it seemed to prompt the repair of everything that was in need.

QTPC 13

Quote:  “The city itself is full of bars and liquor stores and lots of ads for cigarettes that feature pictures of black people.  Assemble all the worst things in America—gambling, liquor, cigarettes and toxic fumes, sewage, waste disposal, prostitution—put it all together.  Then you dump it on black people” (16-17).

 

Talking Point: I knew the teaching conditions were bad in intercity schools and impoverished areas, but I didn’t know it was this bad.  Since this was written in the early 1990’s, have any of the situations changed or improved?

 

Connection:  Many of the towns that are now considered “projects” used to be where the white middle class family lived.  And as socioeconomic situations changed so did the race and average income of the families who lived in those areas.  An example of this is Howard Stern.  He grew up in a white neighborhood which changed into a minority neighbor hood when he was in junior high and into high school.  And much like whites did with blacks, he was the main person everyone picked on because he was different.  It is a shame, but race is still a huge social and economic cleavage today.

QTPC 12

Quote:  “She tells him that she is staying with friends, until she can rebuild her shack.  She explains that after killing her son, they came and petrol-bombed her home.  She fled with only the clothes on her back.  Toloki wonders about the identity of ‘they’.  She talks as though she is talking with someone who knows the facts of this tragedy” (51).

 

Talking Point:  The job of a “Professional Mourner” is mentioned in a few paragraphs.  I was wondering what that position exactly entailed.

 

Connection:  When the taxi drivers refuse to pay the weekly subscription fee to the association because the money is being used to purchase arms, they are often killed.  This reminded me of the movie, Lord of War.  Where a gun running is being done through legitimate businesses.  And many of these guns are being used to kill other African natives.

QTPC 11

Quote:  “Because I couldn’t face one of your eruptions.  David, I can’t run my life according to whether or not you like what I do.  Not any more.  You behave as if everything I do is part of the story of your life.  You are the main character, I am the minor character who doesn’t make an appearance until halfway through.  Well, contrary to what you think, people are not divided into major and minor.  I am not minor.  I have a life of my own, just as important to me as yours is to you, and in my life I am the one who makes the decisions” (198).

 Talking Point: I seems like David is making some moral progress after his daughter is raped, but the fact that he has sex with Bev, how he eyes up Mr. Issac’s daughter, and how he hires the prostitute that is high of her ass, all show that he has changed very little when it comes to his outlook on women.

Connection:  So far in our readings, it seems like contraceptives of some kind play a huge role in the plot of the novel.  In Brave New World, birth control is given to the alphas, and I believe the betas too, so they cannot have children.  In Disgrace, contraceptives are used, buy by personal decision.  Before Bev seduces Lurie, she prepares the contraceptives, before they get freaky.  But Lurie’s daughter does not take bitch control.  And even after she is raped, she does not take the morning after pill, with puzzles Lurie—myself included.

QTPC 10

Quote:  “So he was wrong! He and his daughter are not being let off lightly after all!  He can burn, he can die; and if he can die, then so can Lucy, above all Lucy!” (96).

 

Talking Point:  Does the fact that Lucy and her father are white, and being the minority in the region where Lucy lives, have any influence on them being attacked?  Or was the attack just random?

Connection: In Disgrace, there is obviously racial tension between whites and blacks.  The same can be said for the United States.  There are still racial cleavages that influence society, especially in the south, where segregation was widely accepted until the civil rights movement.  And having friends that live in the south, their racist tendencies towards blacks are more prominent than my friends in the north that I consider racist.

QTPC 9

Quote:  “Stay. Spend the night with me……..Why? Because a women’s beauty does not belong to her alone.  It is part of the bounty she brings into the world.  She has a duty to share it” (16).

 

Talking Point:  I found it different how David is satisfied with having casual sex with the prostitute and then one of his students.  He says that he is surprised that a small amount of a woman’s company can make him happy.  He just seems like a lonely older man who is satisfied with random flings in his life.

 

Connection: The casual sex that David has reminded me of the characters in Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.  In Never Let Me Go, the children are told to have casual sex with each other talk about it quite freely.  David has casual sex, but it is less accepted in his circumstance and ends up getting into a bit of trouble for his “relationship” with Melanie.