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Class In America By Gregory Mantsios Analysis

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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. Harold Browning a child of a father that was a manufacturer/industrialist, and his mother, a prominent social figure in the community. The last profile shows how the lifestyle might be born into a less fortunate family. Cheryl Mitchell a child of a father that was …show more content…

Many might say with hard work and direction that you can’t go wrong, but I strongly disagree along with Mantsios. In Mantsios piece he includes the three profiles with lots of great details and some of those details can explain why one might be influenced to do well or do bad. Growing up Harold was put into great schools that nurtured creativity and academics while on the other end Cheryl Mitchell attend a large public school that taught basic skills and taught importance in good attendance, good manners, and good work habits. If you couldn’t catch the jest of that, Harold attended a school that taught skills that would fit a characteristics of a leader and for Cheryl its learning how to work and fall under another’s orders. I love to look at the world as one whole and it’s very hard to do that because of how messed up our system is, but there is always good people like Mantsios and myself that love to speak for the ones that can’t see the flaws in our system. One great topic that comes to mind when I think about is the steps a student has been told to take to become successful and that’s dumping lots of money into college. The cons of college and how a student like Cheryl is taught to obey and do things that their parents, advisors, and teachers say to do. I believe that going against the grain and doing …show more content…

When you take a look at Harold’s profile you see a vast list of opportunities and how strong of a work background his parents have. When it comes to life in America, you have to have great connections to become successful quick, like Harold did. On the opposite extreme when you take a look at Cheryl’s profile you see you see a struggle in life and not many opportunities to succeed in life how one might want to. I always like to think to myself and understand why hard work is really less likely to see in someone that is struggling because they are always dealing with something difficult. In the many stories of poor people coming from rags to riches, there’s always a decision that impacts your life in the long run and that ability choose what affects you is called opportunity cost. Everyone goes through opportunity cost every day in simple decision making, but that’s not what I’m speaking on. For example, Steve Jobs had a great idea and the idea only had a few risks to take if he was going to go with it. So Steve drops out of college at the cost of his opportunity to get a degree in college verses doing what he wanted to do or what he loved to

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All Americans don’t have an equal opportunity to succeed; inheritance laws provide built in privileges to the offspring of the wealthy, which just adds to the likelihood of their success (Colombo 392). In Gregory Mantsios article “Class in America,” he states that the social class you are in affects how you will succeed in school, relating to test scores and the level of schooling that you receive; thus determining how the rest of your life will turn out. He highlights many other beliefs that are broadly held about social classes and rebuts them using statistical evidence. Mantsios believes that the class a person resides in will determine their future more than he or she is willing to admit. Mantsios communicates that social class is prevalent in America, however I believe that it doesn’t determine a person’s fate.

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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.

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In James W. Loewen’s “The Land of Opportunity,” he states that social class affects the way children are raised. He discusses the inequality in today’s society and how the textbooks in high school do not give any social class information. The students in today’s time are not taught everything they should be taught. He states that your family’s wealth is what makes up your future. Loewen discusses that people with more money can study for the SATs more productively and get a better score than someone who has less money.

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Social classes represent the hidden structure of America, as well as in several other countries in the world. If one is unsatisfied with the social class they are born into, however, is it possible for them to change it? The answer is yes, they can, as per evidence from real life situations and from The Great Gatsby. Some might say that it is impossible to change the social class one is born into. In their opinion, if that person is born poor, consequently they will certainly die poor.

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(2016) cites several authors in what they define myths surrounding social class, such as, the concept of the United States modeling a collective social class and all individuals partaking in education, will have a level playing field to be successful (Ortner, 1998; Ostrove & Cole, 2003; Yeskel, 2008; Zandy, 1996). Yeskel (n.d.) points out barriers exists denying accessibility to individual with less privilege, (as cited in Patton, et al. 2016, p.246). For example, the myth of “if you work hard, you will be successful”, fostering the idea that only individuals who put in the effort are seen as determined, and those that fall less, are lazy (Patton, et al. 2016). Moi, (1991); Swartz, (1977) examine, education does not fall far from that ideology, Bourdieu’s Theory of Social Reproduction stem from the idea that education creates inequality and maintains hierarchies. Moi (1991) states,

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Have you ever wanted to chase the American dream? It might be more impossible than people realize. Gregory Mantsios writes “Class in America-2012” about the growing and obvious class divide in America, yet no one wants to talk about the situation and the effects on the people. I will be analyzing the text and explaining the effects it has on the reader. Throughout the article Mantsios stays consistent with his opinion by providing multiple charts and graphs to back his point.

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The way we view each other in terms of finance, education, and family aspects depends on a person’s social class. Students from lower backgrounds usually experience difficulty in the educational system. The educational standards of their family’s life differ from those in the higher classes because teachers teach according to the student. Meaning, not only does having a particular social class already separate you in terms of the educational system, but it also determines how and what you learn. From personal experience I’ve learned how to see from the perspective of a student who is of a lower social class than majority of his peers and teachers.

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You are more likely to see the upper class define themselves proudly rather than people of a lower class. The only thing that hasn’t been discussed is the fact that the opportunities given to the higher social classes use that to their advantage. David Brooks argues in his piece “How We Are Ruining America” that the upper-middle class parents’ hinder the same educational opportunities of children of a lower social class because upper-middle class parents make it their priority to invest in their children’s education. Upper-middle class parents want to make sure their kids maintain their status and do not fall

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Class is a social system of hierarchy based on economic wealth. Joseph O. Jewell, author of Race, Social Reform, and the Making of a Middle Class: The American Missionary Association and Black Atlanta, 1870-1900, explains class as to “exist in large part as cultures-shared set of rules, ideologies, or

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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

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The lower class works for their living and spends what money they have on things they need. Whereas the upper class, usually has a higher education and better paying jobs than the other classes in America. Thus, heritage plays a big part in reasons of social classes.

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The people who grew up in less affluent circumstances would likely just fit in or get assimilated into the crowd rather than make unique choices that would distinguish them apart from others. Social class settings drastically influence how we feel about our everyday choices. This basic psychological discrepancy

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