"If you grow up in the South Bronx today or in south-central Los Angeles or Pittsburgh or Philadelphia, you quickly come to understand that you have been set apart and that there's no will in this society to bring you back into the mainstream.“


-Jonathan Kozol

posted in society


If you grow up in the South Bronx today or in south-central Los Angeles or Pittsburgh or Philadelphia, you quickly come to understand that you have been set apart and that there's no will in this society to bring you back into the mainstream.

Other Quotes You Might Like

Discover more inspiring quotes from our collection

"I beg people not to accept the seasonal ritual of well-timed charity on Christmas Eve. It's blasphemy."

-Jonathan Kozol

christmasView Quote
"The contrasts between what is spent today to educate a child in the poorest New York City neighborhoods, where teacher salaries are often even lower than the city averages, and spending levels in the wealthiest suburban areas are daunting challenges to any hope New Yorkers might retain that even semblances of fairness still prevail."

-Jonathan Kozol

teacherView Quote
"By far the most important factor in the success or failure of any school, far more important than tests or standards or business-model methods of accountability, is simply attracting the best-educated, most exciting young people into urban schools and keeping them there."

-Jonathan Kozol

successView Quote
"The primary victims of Katrina, those who were given the least help by the government, those rescued last or not at all, were overwhelmingly people of color largely hidden from the mainstream of society."

-Jonathan Kozol

societyView Quote
"But for the children of the poorest people we're stripping the curriculum, removing the arts and music, and drilling the children into useful labor. We're not valuing a child for the time in which she actually is a child."

-Jonathan Kozol

musicView Quote
"The inequalities are greater now than in '92. Some states have equalized per-pupil spending but they set the 'equal level' very low, so that wealthy districts simply raise extra money privately."

-Jonathan Kozol

moneyView Quote

More Quotes About society

Explore other inspiring quotes in this category

"The whole system of society tells you what to do."

-Barry White

societyView Quote
"I want a society that provides decent jobs for those who can work and decent security for those can't."

-Frances O'Grady

societyView Quote
"That a society controls, to a greater or lesser extent, the behavior of its members is a universal but the methods, the particulars of that control, vary from one culture to another."

-Kenneth L. Pike

societyView Quote
"Europeans say they are proud of their social fabric, of strong rights for workers and the weak in society."

-David Korten

societyView Quote
"RFK was a compelling figure because he was willing to challenge his audiences, and in turn connect with them in a unique way. Kennedy showed that our values define us and can inspire others to believe in the possibility of change and a better society."

-Frances O'Grady

societyView Quote
"I think human society for tens of thousands of years has sent young men out in small groups to do things that are necessary but very dangerous. And they've always gotten killed doing it. And they've always turned it into a matter of honor and a way of gaining acceptance back into society if they survived."

-Sebastian Junger

societyView Quote