Final Thoughts: Pages 285-317

Hello readers! And welcome to my final blog post!

I have just finished reading The Shame of the Nation and I think its overall message is a strong one.


The Shame of the Nation was certainly not a pleasure read for me. I found that the chapters blurred together and lacked distinct support. I wish that Kozol had used a larger variety of evidence because I found myself coming back to the same example schools, cities, and students over and over again. I believe that the goal of this was to provide continuity and to help the readers associate names (and faces) with the issue. Still, it struck me as redundant.

Personally, I feel that I would have liked the book better if it had been divided into only five chapters: infrastructure, per pupil spending, standardized testing/mechanical teaching, past and future solutions, and one big-picture race inequity discussion chapter. I think if Kozol had followed a more simple organizational structure, his support would have come off stronger. I, for one, am a fan of reading a concise argument.

Despite this, I think it was an educational read.

In fact, it was an extremely worthwhile and important read.



In his book, Kozol attempts to answer (too frequently unasked) questions about the growing segregation of American schools. In doing so, he teaches his readers an important lesson about the consequences of reverting back to the Plessy v Fergeson decision.

The beginning, he establishes answers to two major questions: what causes resegregation? And, what are the major ramifications?

The Shame of the Nation attempts to call America’s white population to action. It seeks a strong, yet necessary, educational reform and is very effective at convincing the reader as to why. Calling for equality is often difficult. The path to achieving equality is often the hands of the people who think they have the most to lose.

At the root of the problem are white parents acting in their own self interest at the expense of minorities. Although this may be subconscious, there has been a distinct migration of white Americans from city to suburban environments in the past few decades. Many white parents choose to send their children to non-racially diverse schools.

Throughout the unit, I think this was the hardest example of a racial issue to come to terms with. Originally, I would think that white parents' ability to move to white suburban districts was merely an example of economic inequalities. This oversimplifies the issue.

These parents may ask “Why… should they inflict upon their children a compendium of stick-and-carrot practices and strange salutes and silent signals and direct commands modeled upon military terminology when they have reason to believe their children can be educated well and wisely by instructional techniques that draw upon a child’s thirst for learning rather than relying on the inculcation of docility and fear? Why should they be denied exposure to the arts and music, history and science” (Kozol 272)?

While these parents’ perception of the public school system is not incorrect, I think that it fails to take into account any long term positive effects that are the goal of integration programs. First of all, these fears fail to see the short-comings of Plessy v Fergueson. They believe that maybe, separate but equal can be executed properly. This is obviously not the case.

Second, as stated in a quote from Gary Orefield in response to existing integration programs, “Once you do it… you find that almost everything people feared was false” (Kozol 223).

In reflection, I found that Kozol instilled an adequate amount of hope in the reader without detracting from the seriousness of the issue. I found it encouraging to know that once integration programs are in place, they are well supported.

However, they are not supported. Kozol uses this book as a platform to go in depth about the economic consequences this can have on inner city schools. For the most part, I would say he talks about short term and quantifiable effects like poor infrastructure, low per pupil spending, and lack of resources. He starts chapter 2 with a quote from a recurring student, Alliyah.

“We do not have the things you have” (Kozol 39).”

After finishing the book, I think it was stories like these that caught my attention the most. I particularly like it when Kozol told narratives of class time experiences because they were much more engaging.

However, I found that the strongest answer to what ramifications exist as a result of educational apartheid were more subtle. They are the long term learning barriers —like teaching methods and preparing students for technical or managerial jobs rather than giving them opportunities.

To me, these explain why racism is a timeless issue; why it can be passed from generation to generation; why it has proved difficult to break through.

“The longer this goes on, the further these two roads divide, the more severe and routinized these race-specific pedagogies may become the harder it will be to find a place of common ground on which the children of the many ethnic groups and social classes in our nation’s public schools will ever meet” (Kozol 273).

This was an important lesson to learn. I think it further developed my understanding of the term institutionalized racism as something subtle yet life altering.

Identifying that this is a cause of educational apartheid is essential to taking retroactive measures.

The trouble is, this book still left me wondering the best way to bring about such a reform.



In the last few chapters of the book, Kozol attempts to answer the question: what works?

While Kozol does not directly say why he believes they work, Kozol spends the last chapter of his book building hope. He speaks of “treasured places.” These places, in part, work due to their teachers’ resistance to the system.

“Being a part of something and aware of what it is at the same time, regenerates the energy they will bring with them each morning to the very little place (one room, one set of chairs) in which they use what gifts they have to make the schoolday good and whole and sometimes beautiful for children" (Kozol 287).

Kozol appreciates the work of good teachers and the lifelong impact it can have on students. I think this is one part of the solution to racial inequities in teaching. In order to learn, like these children, schools must not respond to the military like and standardized teaching that has been popularized.

Kozol clearly does not believe that former President Bush’s No Child Left Behind had any positive effects on minority schooling. In fact, on multiple occasions he calls out this policy for encouraging standardized test taking practices that take time and money away from students' education. This does not work. I agree.

“A political movement is a necessary answer” (Kozol 221).

Integration policies, if truly seeking racial equality, generally work. One of such, is interdistrict busing programs. Another, discusses merging districts (a policy that Kozol supported on page 158).


In the end, I think Kozol’s interview in the Epilogue drove home the answer to his question. It left me with a clear understanding of what must happen in the future. Activism is what works. First, Kozol subtly achieves this message by using a primary account from a Freedom Rider. Then, he emphasizes the idea that segregation is wrong. He reminds us that integration is a goal worth fighting for. This gave well appreciated sense of conclusion to the book.

He ends on the thought “You cannot give it up. We cannot give it up.”




Putting this answer to “What works” together, Kozol uses the Shame of the Nation to show us that we need to actively wage war on the current education system so that all students can receive an equally high quality lifelong education.


This message is a very ethical and admirable one, which is why my initial distaste for the book itself was by far overshadowed by its merit as I reached its end.