A Personal History of Violence in America - Essay Example

Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun: A Personal History of Violence in America Book Summary Canada’s book Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun: A Personal History of Violence in America is a moving tale of violence in urban America and how it is related to education, sex, race , gender and race. By detailing how his life worked out since his early years, the author paints a picture of Urban America youth and how they function. They strive to get social recognition and make ends meet through early initiation into the acts of violence. This essay summarizes the book examines how violence in urban America impacts education and its relationship to race, gender, sex and social classes. The issue of social classes is a major highlight in the book. It is one of the main contributors to urban violence. According to Canada (1995), killers are made in the streets. The situations they faced forced them to engage in violent acts. They come from the poor social class that has limited opportunities to rise the ladder of success. Poverty made the young urban men take up knives and use fists to commit crimes. Even shocking to the other is the thriving of the drug trade. The poor young men identified the drug trade as a way to make a living. As the drug trade became characterized by crack, it was no longer fists and knives but guns (Canada, 1995). The guns made the young Americans feel powerful and it was tempting for them to use guns for easy crimes. Children had no role models and they needed up falling into the same trade as their older relatives. The consequences of the lower class were tied to race. The streets that the author grew up in were predominantly composed of black youth. The author notes that the time he grew up were not easy for the minority races such as the black population. They had been deprived of opportunities to rise the social and economic ladder. There was a culture of oppression and systemic racism. It was the time of civil rights movements. As such, the black youth did not foresee a bright future as discrimination persisted even in schools. They had no outlet but to devise their means of survival. Black youths and children loitered around Canada’s neighborhoods in South Bronx (Canada, 1995). Their ideal minds conceptualized criminal activities as a channel to survive and make a statement. As more people lost hope in the government and social systems, crime became the order of the day in black neighborhoods. Men took up the responsibility of catering for themselves and their families through criminal activities such as selling drugs. Men took up their gender role aggressively. It explains why a boy had to establish himself early to be in a better position to fend for himself and his family. Young males were the most vulnerable to urban violence. They easily fell into the trap as older boys formed groups in the blocks. However, some girls also felt the need to establish themselves in the streets by engaging in crime. According to Canada (1995), there were sidewalk boys who had a good mastery of the codes of their blocks and had ranking according to their prowess in perpetrating violence. At a young age, the author was exposed to violence and it impacted him as the only way to establish himself in the community. Fighting was the order of the day to make a claim and establish oneself among the peers. As the stakes went higher due to the proliferation of drug trade, ways of establishing oneself became severe. As a young boy, he took up responsibilities that are more criminal and fought more with boys from his age group (Canada, 1995). Fighting spilled over to school. For a young boy, there was no upright mentor but an older young man who was well equipped in the ways of the streets (Canada, 1995). A young man had to take up crime as a means of survival in the rough and unforgiving streets. Many boys lost their ways in this manner as the situation demanded that the boy becomes tough to survive (Canada, 1995). Consequently, they would shun education as there were more urgent life matters to attend to. There were more pressing issues of safety. This made young students fail to concentrate in school. The author notes that he was a good student and managed to join Bowdoin College. However, his earlier encounters would not let him concentrate in school. He writes that the guns had changed his personality. He acknowledged that the streets were no longer safe for him and his family. Once he bought a gun, it defined his life. He did not like that the street lifestyle had changed his life but acknowledges that it was imposed by nature rather than self-imposition (Canada, 1995). It was not a priority for him or other young men from the streets to pursue education. Instead, they went deeper into violence and the situation worsened. It did not help the desire or willingness of young people to pursue education once gun dealers magnified their distribution agenda. Also, more young people were lured away from education as the media highlighted the thriving of gun violence and the crackdowns became regular in urban areas. Through it was a noble agenda to crack down on the drug trade, it gave rise to negative effects. The gun suppliers utilized the services of children to get guns in the streets (Canada, 1995). Due to the prevalent poverty, young men had limited options. They got caught up in the gun supply and drug trade at the expense of their education ambitions. For those who managed to get into classrooms, the street lifestyle was always with them. They would remember their struggles for power and street supremacy. Evidently, what happened in the streets was more realistic to the young men. It was a part of their life. It was hard to put full attention to education matters. They had to participate in unorthodox tactics even in school as some attributes of systemic racism and poverty carried over to the education setting. In conclusion, this book is an eye-opener to the proceedings of the streets. It exposed the operations of the streets, especially where poor people reside. It also addresses the problem of classism and race. It shows how they contribute to urban violence and impacts urban youth to shun education. The readers and policymakers can draw valuable lessons on how to approach urban violence. It is evident that they should focus on youths from a young age. References Canada, G. (1995). Fist, stick, knife, gun: A personal history of violence in America. Boston: Beacon Press. Read More