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Analysis Of The Article ' The Life Of East St Louis ' Illinois '

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The article “Life in Mississippi: East St Louis, Illinois” is one that is not taken lightly. The article shows one the injustice that African Americans face in the city of St. Louis. The article all together is shocking and heartbreaking. To know that in a country that is suppose to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, there still is so much injustice is not only eye opening but also upsetting. One of the 2 most heartbreaking parts for me was when Kozol describes the old men leaning on his cane listening to Jesse Jackson and crying. This is something so powerful to me because this is someone who has experience all of the hardships that east St. Louis has to offer and he has to live knowing that not much has change and maybe Jesse Jackson was the only one promising the change they deserve. The last scene was when one of the students goes up to Kozol after class and tell him that what Dr. King did was nothing because they are still living in such horrible situations. For a teenage kid to think and feel that way, they must have had to suffer through so much, which is exactly what the article is able to show us, the injustice that these kids face on a daily basis. Having read this is shocking to one because we live in a different area where we aren’t prone to see such things and because we have grown up and taught to believe that racism and poverty is almost non existing because this is American a country that doesn’t fail the people.
Having lived in Austin for almost

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