The Outsider Identity Of Society

is that there are outsiders in today’s society. When one is made into an outsider, the bias

Due to the forgoing facts brought to light by Kozol in his essay, it is apparent that there is a growing trend of racial segregation within America’s urban and inner-city schools. Educators and politicians seem to have abolished any semblance of respect for learning for its own sake and have made the school system a joyless experience for the majority of the children, which in turn seems to be related to the high drop-out rate in the inner-city schools. For America to remain great, just and competitive in today’s world, these educational anomalies must be timely addressed and corrected adequately.

In his article “Against School”, John Taylor Gatto criticizes America’s system of schooling children, arguing that the whole system is bad and unfixable. In the majority of the essay Gatto relies on personal anecdotes, historical examples that do not correspond with modern day society, and bold unsubstantiated claims. Due to this, instead of convincing parents to take their children out of school and rethink our societies schooling structure, he just leaves the reader confused over what the problems he’s criticizing truly are.

An outsider is defined as “a person who does not belong to a particular group.” In the book, The Outsiders, many of the characters can be described as being an outcast from the social society. Ponyboy, Johnny, and Cherry are outsiders in this novel because none of them really fit into the groups that they’re “supposed” to be in.

Racial formation is a vast sum of signifying actions and social structures that clash in the creation of complex relationships and identities that is a labeled race. Throughout the history of the United States, a large array of strategies was engaged in regarding education that took advantage of nonwhites. Since policies by those who supposedly “protect our rights” attempted to eradicate social, economic and cultural aspirations, dominated groups were more often than not suspicious of the school 's interests. According to John Ogby, “children from dominated cultures often failed school because they considered the school to be representative of the dominant white culture” (Spring, 101). This portrays racial formation having an effect on equality. “Acting white” meant to attempt to do well in school because

Although the statistics are more than 10 years out of date, the reality of America school segregation has not changed. The barely functional buildings, lack of up to date text books (or in many cases any text books), overcrowded classes, non-existent lab and computer equipment, and low paid teachers create a situation of despair that leads to a drop out rate of more than 50% in many districts. And even those who graduate are often barely literate. Kozol draws the clear link between these schools and the imprisonment of the oppressed nations who, after dropping out of a dead end education, end up locked behind bars.

In the essay “Still Separate, Still Unequal” by Jonathan Kozol, the situation of racial segregation is refurbished with the author’s beliefs that minorities (i.e. African Americans or Hispanics) are being placed in poor conditions while the Caucasian majority is obtaining mi32 the funding. Given this, the author speaks out on a personal viewpoint, coupled with self-gathered statistics, to present a heartfelt argument that statistics give credibility to. Jonathan Kozol is asking for a change in this harmful isolation of students, which would incorporate more funding towards these underdeveloped schools. This calling is directed towards his audience of individuals who are interested in the topic of public education (seeing that this

In “Still Separate, Still Unequal”, Jonathan Kozol, a teacher, author, and educational activist and social reformer argued that “American schools today might be more segregated than at any time since 1954…[which] threatens an entire generation of Americans”(Rereading American book). “Still Separate, Still Unequal” was affected by the author’s life, works, and purpose in that his thoughts are biased based on his experiences as an inner-city elementary school teacher and work with poor children and their families and was persuasive for an audience of American citizens. The view Kozol had on this topic of the “resegregation” of schools in America is explained and written as a negative look on the American education system.

What is an outsider? An outsider is a person who is not excepted by or is isolated by society. Have you ever been an “outsider”? Everyone experiences a situation where they weren’t able to fit in. The feeling of not being able to fit it is universal. Not everyone is the same and in certain situations you may not be able to bond with everyone. Everyone is focused on being judged or being the person who is judging someone. If you are not like everyone in your society group, those people don’t except you. Nowadays our society feels that if you aren’t up to people’s expectations, you are known to be an “outsider”. Being an outsider is universal because not everyone is social, not everyone can afford nice things and not everyone is popular.

      Socioeconomic indicators such as education, income, and occupation are measures of social class (Social World). The novels Baby of the Family (Ansa, 1989), and Black Girl Lost (Goines, 1973) are examined to determine the intricate role one's environment plays in dictating the type of life one leads. "The class you are born into and raised in, class is your understanding of the world and where you fit in. It's composed of ideas, behavior, attitudes, values, and language . . ." (Social World). The contrast will analyze the affect assimilation, resistance, and the environment has on social ranking.

The American education system is a prime example of an institution that has been formed around the exclusionary principles of American society and as a result the education system, which has become the preferred means of climbing the socioeconomic latter, is also an institution that works to indirectly keep poor minorities in their hierarchical place. Schools that were meant to be public facilities of education continue to be funded under the assumption that these institutions are necessary and inclusive. Although public schools are necessary, they are far from inclusive, in fact the best schools can be defined as sects. Max Weber wrote about the exclusive characteristics, benefits, and consequences of sects in terms of religious groups,

Many people are familiar with the works of S. E. Hinton, although they are unaware of it. Her greatest work, one of which many high schoolers read today, is The Outsiders. This book for young adults has gotten much praise and love by many people, young and old, and will continue to enlighten the hearts of those who read it. Within this novel, and the movie that followed afterwards, many prominent themes of sociology are shown. One would have to be blind not to see how the social groups and other sociological themes relate to this masterpiece. Of all of the themes that the movie glosses over, ingroups and outgroups, deviant behavior, and group conformity are the themes that most relate with the real world, outside of the pages and scenes of these works.

Throughout history, countless individuals have broken the walls and boundaries set by his/her society. Martin Luther King Jr, Salvador Dali, Abraham Lincoln, Jack Kerouac, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Mahatma Gandhi are just a handful of these rebels and change-seekers who have impacted societies and peoples worldwide. Whether it be art, social justice, or creative speech, each one of these individuals has established themselves through various outlets of action; and, have left their legacies weaved throughout the threads of this worlds history.

Society Outsiders Orange is the New Black has become a smash hit Netflix original series and admittedly, I am one of those huge fans. I can easily recall the many summer nights I sat positioned on the edge of my couch with a Drumstick ice cream cone clutched in my right hand, a Roku remote fixed in my left hand, and my eyes plastered to the TV screen. The two main characters, Alex and Piper, were madly in love until had become tired of being in a relationship with Alex and Piper settled down as a heterosexual woman with a man named Larry before landing in prison because of the judgement of her family and friends.

Everyone wants to fit in, but sometimes it’s harder than you think when being an outsider in your society. People often think that outsiders are weird and so “not cool” compared to their standards. They’re judged or they become this way due to friends or family pushing them away, their appearance, and if they don’t act the same. Outsiders are both misjudged and misunderstood by their peers in their society.