Problem People.
Though Cornel West primarily refers to race matters in terms of African Americans in the beginning of the passage, I think that many of the points he brings up can be attributed to any group really. In page 210, West says, “It is vital to situate yourself in a tradition, in a larger narrative that links the past to the present.” This idea, I think relates to so many of the children I get to work with at Kid’s Club as well as to their families, from what I have experienced. In most cases, the parents have not been in the United States for that long and I think their traditions and customs form their home countries are what links that feeling of home to where they are living now. I can see this in the way families interact at the park, in the foods that are sold in the area — there is so much tradition, so much culture embedded in these simple activities.
In his writing, West also states, “He understood what it meant to be cast as part of a problem people rather than people with problems.” This quote stood out the most for me out of his entire passage. I feel that often times, most people who live outside of the canal area see those who inhabit it as problem people, more specifically, the children. They are presented as low scores on a graph or “at-risk” children. This issue relates to the mission of Kid’s Club in general, to help these children and their families break from the category of problem families, but better yet show that they are simply children that are members of families that have to deal with a little more than those fortunate enough living outside the area.
Another point that West brings up is the importance of a neighborhood community. He says, “This backdrop [many different people living in a neighborhood besides nuclear family] provided children with a sense of what it is like to be human.” I’ve noticed from my visits to the canal area, that it is one of only places I’ve been in San Rafael where I truly sense the feeling of a community. I see people waving at each other, smiling, calling each other by their names. I see groups of mothers chatting, while waiting for their children at the bus stops. Many of these children and their families have very similar backgrounds of how they got there, and they relate to one another, so they stick together. These children understand that, they know what it’s like to live in an area where violence exists, where people know each other and interact with each other — they know what it’s like to be human.
Jane Goodall also brought up various interesting points towards the end of her passage. She states, “Probably the single most important contribution we can make, those of us who care enough to try, is in the sphere of child upbringing and education….. the nature of early experience is so critical.” This concept relates to every single aspect of my community experience. The concept of child education and understanding the importance of these early years of education is what drives the mission of CCCFS.
West states in his passage, “Problem people become indistinguishable and interchangeable, which means that only one of them has to be asked to find out what all the rest of them think.” To be part of a larger democratic community means to have a voice so that things like this don’t happen. If we are not willing to struggle as individuals and wait for it to happen to someone else, we won’t know what it takes or took to get what we wanted, and therefore, we won’t learn to appreciate as much as we would have if we knew we had to fight for it in the first place. If we don’t question or strive as individuals, we run the risk of filling our lives with numerous “what ifs?”
