Brothers By Jay Macleod: Article Analysis

The following is an examination of the essay prompt for the week-two module of Inequality and Diversity in Education. Accordingly, it presents discussion relating the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child to the multi-year observation study by author Jay MacLeod in his book, Ain't No Makin' It: Aspirations and Attainment in a Low-Income Neighborhood. Moreover, the emphasis of this paper is to discuss the efficacy of the aforementioned documents with regards to the two peer group subjects of MacLeod’s work, the “Hallway Hangers” and the “Brothers”. First, this paper presents a synopsis of the study’s organization as evidence of the depth and breadth of MacLeod’s research. Secondly,
Specifically, the influential United Nations’ documents – The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. To be sure, both documents contain specificity on how participating nation-states should, and must, uphold the standards set forth within them (United Nations, 1948; 1989). However, there is an important distinction between the two documents. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights serves as guiding principles for participating nation-states, to clarify, it is not a treaty and it is not legally binding (United Nations, 2017). On the contrary, the Convention on the Rights of the Child is a treaty inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and as such, it is a legally binding document (Nakagawa, 2017, p.
As previously mentioned, variables for consideration in this study are poverty, racial tension and lack of opportunity. To begin, the Hallway Hangers have eight members – one who is Black, one who is bi-racial, and six of Italian or Irish heritage (p. 25). Characteristics of this group are their long history at Clarendon Heights, as most of them belong to families who have occupied the housing project for several years. They abuse drugs, participate in crime, are self-proclaimed alcoholics, exhibit overt racism, and five of them are high school dropouts. They claim that their “bad” behavior is a badge of honor, display a strong sense of loyalty to each other and lack parental involvement. The Hallway Hangers also present a pessimistic outlook on life, that is to say, they express they wish to make it out of Clarendon Heights someday yet all of them envision bleak futures for themselves (pp. 25-45). On the contrary, the Brothers are a group of predominately young Black men who are heavily influenced by their mothers. They are considered recent tenants of Clarendon Heights, which serves as a point of contention between the two peer groups. The Brothers do not habitually abuse drugs or alcohol, they stay clear of crime, and regularly attend high