You realize that the Brothers are not a subculture like the Hallway Hangers. They strive to embody the norms and values of the dominant culture and believe strongly that they can change their social status. They trust in the achievement ideology and the idea of equal opportunity.
Though the Brothers think they are on the same level as every other student, they are still being prepared for jobs at the bottom of the occupational structure. They therefore blame themselves for their poor performance because they are unaware of the practice of schools being partial to the cultural capital of the upper classes. Their low grades and beliefs that achievement in school leads to higher level jobs lead them to lower their aspirations, believeing not that the system has failed them but that they have failed themseleves.
Upon talking to Juan, the only Brother to have graduated so far, you find that the Brothers will not realize how limited their opportunities are until they graduate from high school and try to get a full time job. Though they may have good academic records, the Brothers have been trained in a skill, which limits them severely. If they cannot find a job in that particular skill, it is likely that they will work a job that is mostly manual labor and associated with low class workers.
Without a peer group to take to protect them, the brothers suffer from lower self esteem. They do not realize that the school system is working against them, so they blame themselves for their poor performance.
To finish reading about the Brothers, turn to page 0.387
To find out why there are no fun links on this page, turn to page 34.
