Are we tackling the aftershocks of issues or the actual problems? Think about it. When an earthquake occurs, there are a range of other issues that arise from that one event: sanitation, clean up, rebuilding, etc. However, when it comes to social problems, we as a society rarely look at the start of the problem (the earthquake); instead we look at the aftershocks (broken buildings). How can problems be fixed if we merely bandage up the aftershocks? What makes this even more problematic is the fact that there is widespread visual neglect that a problem even exists in the first place. If people can't even acknowledge the aftershock, they won't see the underlying problem. For example, let's look at lower graduation rates of African-Americans in low-income communities. There is statistical evidence that African-American children graduate from high school at lower rates then their white peers. Now the usual response to this is how we can improve education as a whole and in those communities. This is important, but what doesn't get asked is why this is happening specifically to African-American children in low-income neighborhoods. In order to answer that question, we have to answer a series of questions. Why are white students with the same income levels as those children graduating at higher rates? Why is it so prevalent in the African American community? What are the other factors influencing this trend? How long has this trend been occurring or building? Is this just at one specific school or community? What if this is happening across the country? Can we still say that it is simply a "bad school" or is there something deeper? Those are a lot of questions, but they each serve a purpose in that they bring awareness to the actual underlying problem of systematic injustice. You see, you won't ever get to the actual underlying problem if you don't ask the harder questions. The thing is, most people won't even see the disparity in education as a problem in and of itself because you don't have to fix a problem you don't see. Not seeing the aftershocks is the first underlying problem we have to fix.