What We Don't Know

When reading the articles for class today, the only thought that came to my mind is: “Why don’t we already know this?”

June Jordan pointed out that “California will spend 2.5 times more money on prisons than it will spend on education” (106). This fact makes we wonder why. Shouldn’t education be the priority of our country? How can we evolve without it? Why isn’t it public knowledge that there are more African American men in prison than college? Why didn’t I know before today that in 1997, “39.9 percent of black children [are] living in poverty and in 1993 the net worth of African-Americans averages $4,418 compared to $45,740 for whites”?

According to Mishra, Arnold, Oteino Cross, and Hong’s article (written in 2007), 1/8 children in sub-Saharan Africa are orphans. These children are also at a much higher risk of having HIV. A guest lecturer came in on Monday, and I was surprised to find that although the medicine for a pregnant HIV positive woman to take to ensure her child not to have HIV, many people refuse to, or don’t have the funds take it. Shouldn’t some issues be global? I know that it costs money to make medicine, but shouldn’t every person, no matter where they live, or how much money they make have access survival?

I’m not saying that I know the answers, or believe in extreme solutions that only work on paper, but I do think that it is important that we know this, and I am upset that this is not common knowledge. If this was common knowledge, then people would be more willing (and able) to create solutions to the problems.