Always_Running_Essay

Luis J. Rodriguez’s autobiographical novel tells the story of his turbulent and perilous youth while residing in a violent neighborhood on the outskirts of Loas Angeles. The people that live in the incommodious neighborhood primarily consists of ethnic minorities, many of whom (if not all) rank in the low-income bracket; the area is unincorporated. Thus, the area experiences severe poverty and property taxes cannot help supplement the state’s budget to area schools. Rodriguez also vividly describes and aims for the reader to envisage other horrific events in his life including riots and the means one of his friends must revert to, in order to survive. Via publishing his life experiences and that of his acquaintances, Rodriguez aims to inform the middle and upper class that bigotry is one of the major causes of the dire situation in Watts; this leads to poor education, and implores them to advocate for change in the American society. To begin, Rodriguez emphasizes to the reader that the education system is biased towards to success of the middle class, Caucasian majority, and the failure of the lower class Hispanic and African American minorities. He elucidates about the putrid state of schools, “students at Garvey had some of the worst academic scores in the state … Books were discards from other suburban schools … it had more than a 50-percent dropout rate among Mexicans,” (Rodriguez 43). The author also tells the reader that during the time of segregated schools in California, that the notion that schools, “are created equal,” could not be more apocryphal and misleading. First, as stated above, students are not given the necessary materials required to succeed in a class; pupils are not able to learn when the curriculum is out of date. Furthermore, Rodriguez complains that many of the subpar teachers whom he has in primary school consist of “those that other schools didn’t want or for some reason couldn’t cut,” (Rodriguez 46). A good teacher is perhaps the singularly most important aspect of one’s education. Considering the fact that most of his teachers are unwanted, it should be apparent to the reader that the educational institutions are not created equal, and the school board shows preference to the Caucasians, and feels no qualms about leaving the minorities with the lower quality education; this shows the racist attitudes of the middle and upper class. Furthermore, even after the school board decides to allow the intermingling of the Hispanic and Caucasian students, the situation is still does not allow equal opportunity to take effect. Rodriguez explains that at the integrated school, he attempts to be placed into an English class, along with a few other college preparatory classes. However, his counselor denies him access to all of the requests, but a basic English course. The experience is not exclusive to Rodriguez, as “They [Caucasian students] were tracked in ‘A’ classes … [there were] mostly Mexican[s], in the ‘C’ track (what were called the ‘stupid’ classes,” (Rodriguez 83). “C” track classes consist of print, woodshop and other industrial courses. In theory, the school board states that these classes prepare the students enrolled in them for careers. However, in actuality these classes are essentially of no help the students as they prepare the students for one option in life (the trade the class focuses on), which often pays low wages. If placed in a track “C” course, a student barely processes a minuscule chance of attending a university or any other life path to life him or her out of the impoverished lifestyle. Furthermore, the administration’s bigoted attitude, which seems to implement a system determining one’s chance to succeed in life after high school appears to influence the students. Since the “C” track is labeled as “stupid,” it seems to create a sense of rivalry between the lower and middle/upper class students. The wealthier students feel that they are superior, and thus act upon their beliefs. In response, the lower class feels threatened mentally and insecure because of the condescending acts, and even racist remarks/actions of their better off peers, so they cannot obtain the second step on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (security); they prioritize obtaining that security by any means possible, including instigating riots and fighting. In turn, this unsettles the other students and they retaliate as well, which only starts new conflict, and strengthens hate from older confrontations. Until a solution is implemented, the cycle of never ending violence will not cease and hate shall forever continue. This argument from Rodriguez is especially effective as it directly affects the Caucasian community, the conflict puts their children at risk from the violence. Therefore the author’s plea for change is met, it directly benefits all in a positive and obvious manner. Also, Rodriguez emphasizes the lack of social welfare to help struggling youths trapped in poverty. He tells the story of Roberta, who is not extraordinarily pretty and looks overweight. Yet he falls in love with her. She lives with her sister Frankie, who has several children and an addiction to la carga. In order to pay her sibling’s rent and help to pay for Frankie’s heroin addiction “[she] turned tricks … A fever of emotion swept through me. The thought of Roberta selling herself to other guys chocked on me,” (Rodriguez 129). Although prostitution is sometimes associated with glamor, and extremely high pay, the reader can safely infer that this is not the case for Roberta, as she has no choice, but to live in the cramped apartment with her sister and she tries to keep her job a secret from Luis. For her, prostitution can be classified in the more modern sense of the word – a degrading job that makes one feel invaluable. Thus, as long as she is in this mental, mind state, she can never achieve the acceptance step on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and never arrive at self-actualization. As Roberta is a runaway, it can be assumed that her home situation was not desirable, and possibly even abusive. Similarly, to other people affected by the poor education in the outskirts of LA, it is implied that Roberta feels as though she lacks any other choice of professions as a consequence of her skill set. Rodriguez effectively uses pathos to induce the reader into a melancholic and depressing mood while reading this memoir of Roberta. She is a sweet girl, but what happens to her is tragic and despicable. Thus, the reader can infer that the author advocates for the government to create solutions to help minors in situations similar to Roberta’s so that teenagers do not have to revert to demeaning and illicit manners of obtaining their livelihoods. In addition, the author explains criminality’s roots. Rodriguez is expelled from school for fighting. Although he does not instigate the fight, he and his coterie are blamed for the violent confrontation, while the Caucasian students leave the incident without even a simple warning. Like many other injustices in this novel, this is due to the biased attitudes of the school board. Furthermore, now that Rodriguez no longer has to attend school, he has more free time on his hands. He attends a rally for equal rights. Although the rally is innocent and the protesters use peaceful methods, police break up the march with violent and uncaring attitudes, and they arrest Rodriguez. Despite the fact that his intentions for going to the rally were honorable, the reader can safely assume that he would have been spared this traumatic experience had he still have been enrolled in school. The author describes poetry written on the cell’s walls, which has been written anonymously by other inmates. This is important as it means it could have been written by any prisoner including Rodriguez, “Here I stand in the street without money, nobody knows my name and nobody cares,” (Rodriguez 190).* Thus the reader can infer that Rodriguez feels that the experience has left him alone and desolate. He has done no wrong (he has actually completed a brave and commendable action) yet he being treated as a criminal. Thus, it can be inferred that Rodriguez is stating that due to his ethnicity, he is held to harsher standards, which shows the unjust attitude of law enforcement. Perhaps because of the line saying that no one care about the prisoner, he is also arguing the goal of prison should not be to simply punish, but to rehabilitate and genuinely help the person who locked in jail, whether it be via counseling, monetary loans with reasonable interest to use in education or basic necessities, etcetera. Subsequently Rodriguez criticizes the police and their brutal, mean-spirited, and cruel methods. In an ideal society, police are supposed to be outstanding citizens, models of behavior and the group that enforces justice in fair way. Yet in Watts, it seems that police do the opposite. The author reminisces about the corrupt and abusive way in which justice is enforced, “In the barrio, the police were just another gang. We even give them names … They like those names … they approach dudes from Sangra and say Lomas is a tougher gang and Sangra is nothing. Shootings, assaults and skirmishes between the barrios are direct results of police activity … Everybody knows this,” (Rodriguez 72). Teenagers become involved in gangs so that they are able to secure the need of friendship and acceptance, and achievement on Maslow’s pyramid. When the police deviously try to demote a gang’s stature and ranking, it undoes what in several of the gang member’s minds is their only achievement. Therefore, in an exasperating attempt to retain its pride, a gang instigates volatile and even deadly conflict in the hope that its side will emerge victorious Since the police like their names, the police take pleasure in the own gang like behavior. This is especially evident when Rodriguez and his cohorts take a trip to the beach, and are verbally harassed by undercover cops, who are more than eager to arrest them. Finally, the fact that the author claims that everyone knows, implies that the improper conduct of law enforcement is not unique to the treatment of Rodriguez’s gang; rather, numerous gangs received similar treatment Rodriguez’s purpose in writing this novel is to advocate for the reconstruction of American society; it is extremely effective. He uses pathos to make the reader feel empathetic to both his character, Roberta and the anonymous poem writer. Furthermore, he uses logos to advocate for the need for people to abolish their racist attitudes, and by proving the point that helping to improve the lower class’s courses in school and to increase their success will also help the keep middle class children safe. Finally, he uses the absence of ethos (lack of credibility in the police force) to criticize the law enforcement. In conclusion, Rodriguez thoroughly makes a case for the improvement of education and the abolishment of bigotry in order to improve the situation in Watts. *Please note that the above quote is originally in Spanish on page 189, but the translation is from an annotation on the following page. Works Cited Rodriguez, Luis. Always Running: Gang Days in L.A.. 1993. Reprint. London: Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd, 1995. Print. MLA formatting by BibMe.org.