“Even though I never experienced anything other than the
’hood, I know there is more than this
in the world. But why can’t anyone else see that?” By this time, you’ve
probably heard every single Christmas song made in existence via radio—and we
still have nearly 2 weeks left until Christmas, (-____-”) . That said, today I was
passively listening “Santa, Come Straight to the Ghetto” by James Brown until the
lyrics suddenly struck me. I then noticed acute desperation in his plea to Ol’
St. Nicolas to treat the children of the ghetto with more priority on this one
special day as it is very rarely done to them. (Surely this revelation occurred
due to the fact that I’m slightly more mature and aware than, you know, when I
was biting ankles.) The difficulties of children growing in underprivileged or
impoverished areas are many and should not be taken lightly; and yet, they
are—not just by those outside of and unaware of these communities, but even
those residing in them. Perhaps this is the case due to lack of knowledge of
the factors of their conditions. So…do you mind being educated one time today?
According to the research of
sociologist Linda M. Burton, there are three discontinuities that minority
children and adolescents of low-income urban communities very commonly observe
and exhibit: condensed-age hierarchies (i.e. age difference between the child
and parent is 17 years or less), inconsistent role expectations (i.e. in school
student must be an obedient child, but at home student must be an effective and
responsible adult), and accelerated life course (i.e. adolescence is
nonexistent as adulthood is assumed immediately following childhood, and
middle-life is considered late adulthood because examples of differentiation
between the two very rarely exist). Such conditions exist more prevalently in
low-income communities of ethnic minorities, primarily African-American and
Hispanic. (NOTE: Adolescence, as stated before, is the time when the most
development in the human body and psyche occurs, and it is also the period for
which exploration of the self should happen without compromise; thus, imagine what
it must feel like for these youth to never partake in that right.)
It is foolish to assume that
children of these environments value the standard definition of “the good life”
when few observable, tangible examples of it—or the process of attaining “the
good life”—exist. However, it is duty of those with better circumstances not
only to be conscientious of these children, but to also act pro their
enrichment. #2Times
- Brandon Avery
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