Darnell Gardner, Jr., a junior at Davis Aerospace Technical High, recently wrote an extremely emotional, logical, and effective essay describing his opinion on the recent events in Detroit, surrounding Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
The logical order and passion of Darnell’s essay play a huge role in why it is effective. He begins his essay identifying his point of view, so that the reader can relate to him from the very start: “I am a lifelong Detroit resident, a student in the Detroit Public Schools, and a child of a tax-paying single parent." This identifies him as one who knows firsthand what it is like to live in Detroit, knows what the conditions of the schools are, and is living in a one-income home, which has a write to be concerned with how their hard-earned tax money is going to.
Darnell also describes where he is coming from- that his words are "no tainted with 'bigotry' or a product of some 'lynch-mob mentality'. This shows that he is writing out of concern for his future and the future of the city that he lives in; his words are sincere and his thoughts are genuine.
This Detroiter also expresses how difficult it is getting to defend this city. He states, “I was ridiculed, alienated and even called ‘white’ by both black and white students. But I did what many other Detroiters still do on a regular basis: try to uphold the image of our city.” It is bad enough that we are struggling to sustain hope for Detroit, but to have one of our own government leaders add to that struggle, instead of abolish these negative thoughts, is even worse. Forget calling his scandal a “personal issue” or one that does not concern the citizens; he cost Detroit $8.4 million. This is enough to make local news, national news, and further destroy the city’s reputation. He is reminded of this by the 'decay' of Detroit that he is forced to see every day. He contrasts his once "gem of the city" neighborhood of East English Village, to the unpeaceful, deteriorating, and unsafe area it has become.
The term "gem" is also used later to describe the now "lost" and "fading" Renaissance High and Belle Isle. Darnell fears that Kilpatrick has failed to recognize any value the city might have left. This fear extends to the children enrolled in Detroit school systems as well. Darnell explains next how some children are even incapable to write a legible and understandable essay. As Darnell explains, "education is the backbone of any successful community. It matters not how much you repair a place if the people who will inhabit it have no education. They will just turn to various forms of crime and end up destroying everything that was created." It is apparent that Darnell knows where to start in repairing Detroit, but it is pathetic that Kwame does not possess enough common sense to realize what even a junior in high school can figure out. This goes for the mayor's scandal as well, "The mayor is clearly a sharp man; can he not see the ramifications of his actions?" It is obvious that Kwame is only hindering Detroit's ability to turn itself around. Darnell supports this by saying that the mayor has "embarrassed this city", "disgraced us", "furthered stereotypes about blacks and Detroit", and has "disparaged the work so many of us have done." With this said, I completely agree with his message to Kwame: "GIVE US A BREAK AND PLEASE LEAVE OFFICE."
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