Political Struggle Is The Most Important Thing

I Write Books To Change The World. Perhaps I Can Only Change One Little Piece Of That World. But If I Can Empower Teachers And Good Citizens To Give These Children, Who Are The Poorest Of The Poor, The Same Opportunity We Give Our Own Kids, Then I'll Feel My Life Has Been Worth It.

The First Ten, Twelve Or Fifteen Years Of Life Are Excavated Of Inherent Moral Worth In Order To Accommodate A Regimen Of Basic Training For The Adult Years That Many Of The Poorest Children May Not Even Live To Know.

In The Book, I Write About Children In First Grade Who Were Taught To Read By Reading Want Ads. They Learned To Write By Writing Job Applications. Imagine What Would Happen If Anyone Tried To Do That To Children In A Predominantly White Suburban School.

Many Of Us Regard Ourselves As Mildly Liberal Or Centrist Politically, Voice Fairly Pleasant Sentiments About Our Poor Children, Contribute Money To Send Poor Kids To Summer Camp, Feel Benevolent. We're Not Nazis; We're Nice People. We Read Sophisticated Books. We Go To Church. We Go To Synagogue. Meanwhile, We Put Other People's Children Into An Economic And Environmental Death Zone. We Make It Hard For Them To Get Out. We Strip The Place Bare Of Amenities. And We Sit Back And Say To Ourselves, "well, I Hope That They Don't Kill Each Other Off. But If They Do, It's Not My Fault.

Even If You Never Do Anything About This, You've Benefited From An Unjust System. You're Already The Winner In A Game That Was Rigged To Your Advantage From The Start.