In my social and behavioral aspects of public health class last week our professor asked us to reflect on this song and the social determinants of health that play into the story. The TA put up a few excerpts on the class webpage and mine was one of them! :) See my thoughts below the lyrics.
As the snow flies
On a cold and gray Chicago mornin'
A poor little baby child is born
In the ghetto
And his mama cries
'cause if there's one thing that she don't need
it's another hungry mouth to feed
In the ghetto
People, don't you understand
the child needs a helping hand
or he'll grow to be an angry young man some day
Take a look at you and me,
are we too blind to see,
do we simply turn our heads
and look the other way
Well the world turns
and a hungry little boy with a runny nose
plays in the street as the cold wind blows
In the ghetto
And his hunger burns
so he starts to roam the streets at night
and he learns how to steal
and he learns how to fight
In the ghetto
Then one night in desperation
a young man breaks away
He buys a gun, steals a car,
tries to run, but he don't get far
And his mama cries
As a crowd gathers 'round an angry young man
face down on the street with a gun in his hand
In the ghetto
As her young man dies,
on a cold and gray Chicago mornin',
another little baby child is born
In the ghetto
"I think the writer chose this setting because it highlights so many disparities and discrepancies in the social determinants of health. The baby represents the early life and the importance of addressing the early life. The poor mother is under stress to feed her child and attend to his health, but does she have the social support? Does he have social support as he grows up? Does he fall into addiction in addition to stealing and other criminal activity? The troubling thing to me is that this is such a familiar topic 40 years later."
What do you think?
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