The South Bronx is divided into two parts: the wealthy, suburban section, and the poor, filthy ghetto. One is a painted shell, concealing people who are inhumane from having to see what they have become, and the other is an asthmatic walking graveyard, waiting for its moon to show and deliver its retribution. So many things are wrong, and one side ignores the other entirely. It is the denial of existence of human life, which leads ultimately to the impoverishing of it. One cannot pretend that things are not there and simply hope they"ll go away. Problems were meant to be resolved.
I am often curious as to my abilities to overcome my situations and problems, but I do not want them tried repeatedly. To that degree, I should think that I would not like to live in either community of the South Bronx; the wealthy area because of its ignorance, and the poor area because of its hardships. The South Bronx encompasses two sides of the spectrum, a fact embodied by the segregation throughout the area.
One slum is considered a dump for a richer area. Unwanted by the wealthy community, a waste incinerator is then located in Mott Haven. As Cliffie's mother says:.
[. . . . . . . . . . . . .] The point is that they put a lot of things.
into our neighborhood that no one wants," she says. "The.
waste incinerator is just one more lovely way of showing.
their affection.".
I ask, "Does it insult you?".
"It used to," she replies. "The truth is, you get used to.
the offense. There's trashy things all over. There's a gar-.
bage dump three blocks away. Then there's all the trucks.
that come through stinking up the air, heading for the.
Hunts Point Market. Drivers get their drugs there and their prostitutes.".
Amazing Grace, 10-1.
Some are so used to being oppressed that they can no longer fight it. Others feel so oppressed that they act out violently against both their friends and their oppressors.
Childhood is already innately so brief, so inappreciable until it's over.