American dream'04: Living in a car

http://www.wnd.com/news ^ | Jan 18th, 2003

[missyme]

Some New York elementary school students are learning the typical home in an American city is the back seat of a car parked next to a boarded-up, graffiti-riddled apartment building.

The lesson is featured in a book by Arthur Dorros entitled ''This Is My House.''

Illustration from ''This Is My House'' (Photo: New York Post)

The book is published by educational publisher Scholastic and is among 120 titles in a resource guide for teaching English as a second language. The guide is produced by the state education department and schools determine which books to use.

''My family is staying in our car,'' reads the book. ''We will move into a house when we can.'' The illustration shows a destitute mother and two children living in a car parked near a burned-out tenement and an empty lot with an old tire. The page is labeled ''USA.''

State Sen. Martin Golden, a Brooklyn Republican, wants the book pulled from schools.

''Urban stereotypes and illiteracy should not be tolerated in our schools." "While housing in other nations is presented in a positive fashion, the author presents, to impressionable young children, housing in an American big city as an abandoned car parked in front of a boarded-up building ... I just find it nuts," Golden states in a letter to the state Education Commission.

The book depicts houses in other countries which are presented in a more favorable light than housing in the U.S., according to the New York Post. It also contains two other drawings of more traditional American houses. The main character lives with his grandfather in a contemporary house in Seattle, near the waterfront and within sight of the Space Needle tower, reports AP.

"If people look carefully, they'll see I show a diversity of housing in each location," Dorros tells the news agency.

Reviews on Dorros' website quote Publishers Weekly as saying the book ''is a useful starting point for children's own explorations of their communities.''

''This book is well regarded in educational circles ... it was a ''Reading Rainbow'' selection on the well respected PBS reading series,'' state Education Department spokesman Tom Dunn told AP.

Candace de Russy, a State University of New York trustee and lecturer and writer on primary and higher education, is critical of the book, saying it paints an unfair picture of America.

''This propagandizing of a generation of Americans erodes our sense of national identity and is particularly pernicious in this time of war on terror,'' she told AP.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Same old propaganda. The message is that we should let the homeless do anything they want in their mission to have a free ride and be free to be a public nuisance anywhere and everywhere because any of us are a lost paycheck away from being homeless. What a joke.

Those that want to moan about poverty in America ought to take a trip to Turkey. They'll show you what poverty is.

[Bringbackthedraft]

Wow, now here is a good use for Soros's money.

[glockmeister40]

Some New York elementary school students are learning the typical home in an American city is the back seat of a car parked next to a boarded-up, graffiti-riddled apartment building

I wonder if that's better than their home back in mexico?

Just because they live in a car that doesn't mean they miss out on FREE medical care at the nearest hospital ER and FREE education for their dozen or so children.

Life in norte america es bueno. Viva la migra! Viva el jefe presidente jorge bush!

[stopem]

Funny thing tho, the illegals live in a nicer place than poor white.
And there are poor white. The "paycheck away from homeless" is not just a slogan for Dems. My neighbors son, 18 years old went out on his own in another city and he lost his job and when she found out he was homeless she about had a breakdown. He was embarrased to tell her he had lost his job and apt.
She helped him to get another apt and he has another job now. He is finally considering going to college.

[liberty or death]

These articles were non-existent during the Capo-Clinton years.
Rush was right. When they lose power the Socialist/Dems go nuts:>))

[waterstraat]

The low paying jobs that used to be available are not available anymore - with 50,000 immigrants coming into this country every week, and more and more employers not wanting to hire americans, there are few unskilled(or skilled) jobs available now.

[cyborg]

I wanted to get a second job myself. I had good rapport with a man that ran a cleaning company so I asked him how much is housekeeping fetching in a shopping mall. SIX DOLLARS an hour... it was hard to hide the look of disgust on my face. Today the only answer is to make your own opportunities. As Walter E Williams says, the underground economy keeps tax money out of politicians' wallets.

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

A car just like this one was my home for over a year and a half my wife and i have been there done that ! and we were both working full time jobs !

I couldnt buy a break that year i traded the car for a full sized pickup truck and started hauling junk that extra boost in cash put us in a home of our own and they have been getting better ever since

[missyme]

Well I am very glad to hear that, and wish you continued success in your life. I do realize people are proably one step away from living in there cars, hopefully you will be an inspiration to others there is always hope with hard work and courage :-)

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

Well I am very glad to hear that, and wish you continued success in your life. I do realize people are proably one step away from living in there cars, hopefully you will be an inspiration to others there is always hope with hard work and courage :-)

You know what its not an experiance that i would want anyone to go through but at the same time people who take freedom and their surroundings for granted could learn a valuable lesson from being in the dregs to say the least its not pretty but it does give you an understanding of sorts of what people go through in the travels of life !

Some people think that being without a TV or Radio is being poor if your electric goes out for an hour its a tragedy if your kept from taking a bath for a day or two because theres no water well thats just a horrid hapenstance of life

But there are people who go months without a bath who have no place to releive themselves but in a back ally or a wooded lot they have no food or water to speek of except for the kindness of strangers and im not talking about the bum who gets a couple hundred dollars from begging then walks around the corner and jumps in his mercedes

These people truly have lost all will to carry one with life except to settle for less they are the ones who truly need the help and never get it .

Then there are others who wouldnt accept the help if you forced it on them for one reason or another they survive on sheer will and determination maybe these folks are truly free for they have not the worrys of an ever changing lifestyle but stay stagnant in a world of their own

All i know is im happy where i am and happy that i had the forsight to help get me there and god bless all those people who have made it and those that dont want to one and all have the power inside them to change or to stay the same thats true freedom !