I decided I would listen to the podcast Three Miles for this week’s blog because I was interested in hearing how different two schools that were so close to each other were. The story of the two opposite schools reminded me of the book The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, except this was a true story. In the beginning of the podcast I wondered what happened to Melanie, just as her peers and teachers wondered. Where did she disappear to? Why did she disappear? It all made sense after Chana Joffe-Walt finally got in touch with Melanie.
It is quite unfortunate that a woman with so much potential gave up on herself as early on as she did. It saddens me that Melanie felt the need to distance herself from many people who believed in her, and saw how exceptional she was. It is a shame that she thinks she was only considered to be exceptional because of who she was surrounded by and the stereotypes that follow her classmates about their intelligence. As an aspiring teacher, I am sure that Melanie’s teachers were only trying to motivate her and truly felt that she was special. Yet, I understand Melanie’s thought process. I understand that she feels she was only superior because of the stereotypes that follow the community she was a part of; but it is not fair that because of her social economic status, she did not receive the education that she and her classmates deserved. Imagine what it must have felt like to come from a school with so little to a school with everything you could imagine and more. Of course it was a culture shock for Melanie, but it is a shame that she did not receive the same opportunities as the students only three miles away from her.
I was hopeful that all three of the alumni from University Heights would have a happy ending and have the chance to live the American dream. Unfortunately, only Raquel would have her happy ending. It is not right that these chances at the American Dream are so limited. Students like Melanie and Jonathan deserved the same chance at a bright future as any other white student. They seemed doomed from the start, lacking a good education all because of where they lived, and as teenagers they did not really have much of a choice as to where they lived. By the time Melanie, Jonathan, and Raquel finally had the chance to make decisions about their future, they were limited by circumstances they had no control over. My dad always told me that life is not fair, and after hearing Jonathan and Mealanie’s stories I really do not think life is fair at all for minorities in America.
Ethnic American Literature 