Based on the article written by Bruce E. Levine, " 8 Reason Americans Don't Fight Back: How the US Crushed Youth Resistance The ruling elite has created social institutions that has subdued young Americans and broken their spirit of resistance," I find myself in some sort of agreement of this article of eight reasons why young americans do not fight. However, I believe this article is more of a less motivator toward young Americans because this is only semi-accurate. For this reason, I would like to present my thoughts on why us young Americans do not fight back.
I like many others live in a world of "COLOR-BLIND RACISM" in which this is a new emergence of racial ideology of America in order to perpetuate inequalities . Amongst many Americans, since the Civil Right Movements and the dismantling of Jim Crow, there is a a belief that all inequalities has ended and we live in world of no " racist" or "racism." In other words, Americans live in denial that oppression still exist. This denial has created frameworks in which one believes racism has ended and many individuals wonder why are others still complaining about these issues of racism or inequality. Another framework presented is the belief that racial segregation in neighborhoods are the natural way of things even in the public school systems.
Thus, this idea of a natural way of seeing things can also relate to student-loan debt and social security issues. In which, one accepts this as the norm that individuals occur student loans for school or one accepts that social security will not exist. Other reasons perhaps many young Americans accept this because some worry more about their own benefits and privileges above others . As a result, if issues of inequalities do not pertain to us than we will just walk away. I know this is harsh but in some cases it is true. How many of us just walk away from an issue because it did not concern us the individual or we just did not have the time to care. The point is those who live in privilege often at times may not see the reality of their own life and are in denial of issues. As for student loans, I do find it as an impediment toward youth resistance or subduing effect on activism in which the author led the reader to believe in his argument. In reality, I myself have occurred student loans and see it as a way for me to be here in another state yet the only thing that is true in this section is students should fight and lobby for free education.
In addressing the section that schools educate for compliance and not for democracy, the author believes that "schools don't really teach anything except how to obey orders" (Levine 3). For me, I find this is semi-true in which another author Johnathan Kozol in his book The Shame of the Nation: Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America(2005) writes about schools in the districts of New York especially in the Bronx in comparison to other sections that are middle-class. In his work, this author describes also about charter schools and other locations in the United States to give an accurate account. As investigated by the author, there is a sense of teaching of a drill-base teaching approach in which this is due to schools wanting to win a bonus to pass the standardized test due to "No Child Left Behind". Another factor Kozol mentions about how schools model themselves as a place of work in order to prepare students for the market. As being the perfect worker can lead to a system of compliance because many may believe the only profession they can strive for is a manager job. This suggest that students are not being encouraged to be anything else and this can reflect in their lives later on and give them a lack of confidence. In regards to Bruce E. Levine's arugment in comparsion to Johnathan Kozol, Kozol provides more validity as oppose to the author For this reason, I find the argument written by Levine true to an extent in which he emphasizes that if students are taking orders, this lead into a system of tyranny in which there is a sense of lost of creative thought and critical thinking being developed. However, this is not the case for every school charter schools may promote creative thought. In addition, this also depends on the district and the funding needed by the school. For me as mentioned by Johnathan Kozol, he points out the differences between schools of the higher class and lower classes in which creative thought is either being emphasized or not due to systems of inequalities and the quality of teaching being assessed. As for " No Child Left behind" not all educators are in agreement to this issue and again this all depends on the district and the quality of education the child receives.One issue of importance that I would like to mention from the Bruce E. Levine's article is the section about medicating students. I thinks this is often used as a solution for student behavior issues but I also believe that if someone is not so called normal than they are labeled to be a certain way. Furthermore, if they do not fit in this hierarchy and meritocracy of education than they are considered to be different because they do not follow the norms of society. In other words, medication is a form of solution for many to shine away from other issues of reality. However, some children may need this because they do suffer from ADHD, hyperactivity and other issues where they have difficulty in concentrating, understanding things, and often fall asleep for no apparent reason. Than this is needed if this is the only solution. However, in some cases, the cause of behavior issues could be that they are expressing abuse at home, lack of attention, and this is an image issue assumed to in perform a lack of interest in taking school seriously.
Finally, another factor why youths do not fight resistance is due to fear, intimidation and the lack of motivation. In our nation's past, a system of fear and coercion has led to centuries of pain and blood. As noted by Fox-Piven's book Challenging Authority How Ordinary People Change America(2006), many individuals accept this as natural way of things because of fear of backlash by the government, violence, and intimidation. However, there are moments of disruption as said by Fox-Piven, in which ordinary people become the power force to fight against issues like Jim Crow and the abolition of slavery. For me, I believe it is important to be reminded of this so the youth can fully understand our nation's past. As Solomon noted, some historical moments are taken out of history in order to erase their collective memory; however, these historic moments do exist and so do their similar issues today. For instance, today there are still issue of segregation, inequalities in education, in job hiring and wages. In addition, in the Post 9/11 era using the tactic of fear to allow surveillance and racial profiling for fighting against terrorism is another form of racism being reinvented using old tactics by the hegemony as a method of control by eliminating privacy rights to continue on a path of backwardness.
In sum, to change us youth there is a need to acquire consciousness and reflect on what is going on in our own environment and in the nation. In reality, the only things concerning many youths are how and when to start today. Thus, another question youths may ask is how can we get to our goals to change issues that concern them and the future. These issues of concern are related to education reform, inequalities in schools, health, diversity in institutions, immigration, education for illegal students, and poverty. In essence, it is their responsibility and others amongst ourselves to gain consciousness and to think about the bigger picture beyond the classroom, our daily routine, and the media. In the end, I do not find that the spirt of resistance is subdued not yet since there is still hope to change the future and to dismantle the tactic of fear.
Work Cited
Fox-Piven, Frances. Challenging Authority How Ordinary People Change America. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, INC, 2006.
Kozol, Johnathan. The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid in America. New York: Random House, 2005
Levine, Bruce L. " 8 Reason Young Americans Don't Fight Back: How the US Crushed Youth Resistance" Alter Net 31 July 2011. 29 September 2011
/151850/8_reasons_young_americans_don%27t_fight_back_--_how_the_us_crushed_youth_resistance?page=entire>.
Salomon, Larry R. Roots of Justice. Berkeley: Chardon Press, 1998.
Other Resources:
The Shame of the Nation The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling In America By Jonathan Kozol from Fall 2006 issue of Rethinking Schools.
https://facultystaff.richmond.edu/~bmayes/pdf/ShameNation_Kozol.pdf
Student Activism Today
http://www.diversityweb.org/digest/sm99/activism.html
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