Nature versus Nurture
The book is almost literally a textbook sociological text examining the still ambiguous question of what matters more in the development of a person: inherent nature or the nurturing they receive as they grow. Dasani is surrounded by not just kids, but adults who are not as intellectually developed as she is and it goes without saying that kids her age growing up in far more nurturing environments are doomed to tragedy and failure in their lives. How is it that Dasani can grow up in such a horrific environment (not familial but societal) as so many others and yet demonstrate an aptitude for critical thinking that “far surpasses” not just those other kids sharing those living conditions but those kids who are so much better off?
Systemic Racism in America
The focus of the book is not just that of Dasani and her family in the present day. The author effectively traces the history of African-America society since the Great Migration of southerners from rural areas into the urban centers of the north during the first few decades of the 20th century. Despite slavery having been abolished more than a half century earlier, the systemic racist policies of explicit discrimination and more closeted personal prejudices served to ensure an underclass status for most of black America from escape was purposely made almost impossible except under the extraordinary of circumstances. To paraphrase a lyric from the British post-punk Gang of Four, history is the reason these invisible kids are washed up.
Invisible Stories
At the heart of this story is the simple fact that it can be told about so many millions of Americans, but rare is so. The stunning figures on poverty, hunger, homelessness, educational funding, drug addiction and gun violence that form the broader social background to the sharp focus on Dasani’s story would, in a world of journalistic integrity run on a foundation of merit, be making the news every day to the extent that no American would ever again be able to name a member of the British royal family or know more about reality TV celebrity whose name will be forgotten next year than they know about their own neighbors. The underlying theme of the book that juts is square jaw forward and dares readers to knock it away is that of where American media’s priorities lie.
