When Work Disappears

This selfish, ignorant attitude stems from the same ideology that not only keeps blacks from getting formal jobs or moving out of the ghetto - it may even be part of why the ghetto still exists today in our country of supposed "supreme" economic wealth and prosperity - but also the same thinking that required Alfred Agee to leave St. Joseph's. In the long run, he may have been better off with the way things ended up, but the fundamental message beneath all of these stories, from both When Work Disappears and Hoop Dreams, is that for a country that incessantly preaches equal opportunity until its face turns blue, there is an incredible amount of hypocrisy that is practiced. I am sitting here today, a white girl from a wealthy family, bettering myself and widening my opportunity structure as I write this paper and learn about these problems, and I am deeply glad that my eyes are being opened so that I can try to fix the social disorganization that appears to run rampant in our country - but I can't help but wonder how many other kids are sitting somewhere, maybe even down the street from me right now, staring at the wall of their dilapidated, over-crowded apartment, not knowing how they are going to survive, with no one to turn to for help or answers or support, and wondering why their life is happening to them and what they did to deserve it. It is an incredible weight to bear just for the price of a skin color.…