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Different social classes in america
Different social classes in america
Different social classes in america
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Different social classes in america
Different social classes in america
Different social classes in america
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In “So Mexicans Are Taking Jobs from Americans,” by Jimmy Santiago Baca, there are many references to the lives of minorities. One stanza shows the general theme of minorities in America, representing all minorities, not just the one being described, and even the abundance of the majority. “I see this, and I hear only a few people/ got all the money in this world, the rest/ count their pennies to buy bread and butter” ( Line 30-33). This quote describes the struggle that Americans experience every daily living paycheck to paycheck.
The American dream is a dream of a land in which one can prosper with ambition and hard work. This idea has created many illusions for some because in reality the American dream is proven to be something that is rarely achieved. No individual is guaranteed success or destined for failure, but it is apparent that women, people of color, and those born into poverty will face greater obstacles than others, despite being a greater part of the American population. An author that tackles the issue of class in the United States is Gregory Mantsios. In his essay, “Class in America-2009”, Mantsios aims to prove that class affects people’s lives in drastic ways.
Being born into a particular family determines how well off you are. Class in America determines the people that influence you, and the better opportunities you are exposed to. In Gregory Mantsios writing of “Class in America” you can understand the many differences between class and how one might have better success. Mantsios shows three profiles of three different people born into different classes. One of the profiles shows how the lifestyle might be born into a wealthy family.
Class Stereotypes Stereotypes are seen as overgeneralized ideas, images, or beliefs of a person based on a group of people. Stereotypes can either be taken or said in a negative or positive way but mostly seen in a negative way. Stereotypes are formed on a life experience, idea or a belief a person may have towards one person based on the person’s gender, race, religion or social class. The most common stereotypes are of the social classes which are the: upper, middle and lower class.
One of the myths stated that everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed, when in reality white males have the equal opportunity to succeed. It is said and blunt, but it is the truth. To break down that truth, one must begin with the word “white”. Racism still exists today no matter what the myths or government says. There are statistics, personal experiences, and even experiments done that prove possibility of a black man versus a white man getting a job (therefore making an income) holds a dramatic difference.
For this week 's current events I an article read on the Huffington post that talks about the vast wealth gap between Black and White America. According to the post the gap got a bit smaller in the years leading upto the Great Recession but in the past 30 years has exploded as the black and Latino communities have been hit by foreclosures and job cuts. There 's a lot of reasons why there are enormous wealth gaps between minorities and whites in America. The most simple answer is, it takes money to make money. Part of the reason that there 's this enormous gap is because whites have long had higher wages and wealth to pass on from generation to generation.
America, the land of equity, has the largest ratio of rich citizens to poor citizens at 12:1. Compared to Japan and Germany’s measly 4:1, this information is outrageous. America is shown to have the most skewed economic pyramid when denoting the amount of people on each side of the economic slide. The selection, Class in America - 2006, an academic paper by Gregory Mantsios, argues the existence and magnitude of class and economic standing in the United States; through the use of fact and opinion, he creates the visual of a society severely divided by economic standing. Gregory Mantsios effectively convinces the audience of the differences in class sanding that cause a significant impact in the lives of americans and economic spectrum with his use of logos, anticipation, and credible evidence.
(Jewell, 2007, P. 14). As the labor force is impacted by race, income is affected; as class is defined by wealth, colored races are segregated and ranked lower in the hierarchy of social
Golash-Boza states that African Americans and Latinos have less than 8 percent of the wealth that whites have. Because African Americans as well as Latinos make less money than Whites, they are unable to own the same type of homes Whites are able to. Based on a study conducted by Shapiro, Meschede, and Osoro; the wealth gap is attributed to five factors. These factors are years of homeownership, household income, years of unemployment, college education, and inheritances or financial support from family members. Years of homeownership accounted for the largest portion of the differences between White and African American families.
In America after World War Two, citizens were split between classes based on their economic stability. Americans today still look at these classes and define these people as better off or worse off than the next person. Why do people judge others for having less money than them? Why do employers send lower class citizen away when they need the money the most? These are some question that citizens in the lower or middle class have when they are looking at their position in America’s economic system.
There is lower, middle, and upper class, but there are also subcategories that fill the gaps in between, like the impoverished and the top one percenters. “Class in America”, written by Gregory Mantsios, addresses the myths and realities about socioeconomic class in America and how they affect American lives. His article highlights the unequal divide that has persisted over the course of history and will continue to manifest in the future. To introduce the existence of this issue, Mantsios states that this country’s citizens “don’t like to talk about class...or class privileges, or class oppression, or the class nature of society” (Mantsios 378). This is the case in America today because people are neglecting to acknowledge the existence of these elusive
The Big Picture: Social Class in the U.S. Basically, this video talks about social class. In class systems, people are ranked by both birth and individual achievements. Also, people are born into certain social classes, but are able to move through individual effort in class systems. The divide between the rich and the poor is increasing. I believe that richer people have more opportunities.
Anglo-Saxons Americans became the “employing and land-owning” class, while African-Americans became exclusively the “laboring class” (Course Reader 5). The newly granted citizenships created a need for additional resources. Grady in a speech takes note of this by saying, “No section shows a more prosperous laboring population than the [black southerners]… He shares our school fund, has the fullest protection of our laws…” (Course Reader 5).
In the economic inequality article, the author talks about how people from poor backgrounds rarely ever turn out to become successful or having a good amount of money. In this quotation from Wuthering Heights, Nelly Dean is talking about how Heathcliff became rich. Just because your parents are a certain way does not mean you will be the exact same way and Heathcliff is a terrific example of this. Many people thought it would be impossible for Heathcliff to become a rich gentleman because he is a different race as well as from a poor background. Heathcliff proved the so called “statistic” about poor people being poor for life wrong.
Wealth and Inequality in America Inequality The inequality in America has increased over time; the gap between the rich and the poor has become a problem that many Americans don’t see. Inequality is the extent of income which is distributed unequally among the citizenry. The inequality of the United has a large gap between the poor and the rich making it unfair to the population, the rich are becoming wealthier and the poor remain poor. The article “Of the 1%, By the 1%, For the 1%”, authored by Joseph E. Stiglitz describes that there is a 1 percent amount of American’s who are consuming about a quarter of the United States income in a year.