Class In America Gregory Mantsios Summary

American history is built on affairs regarding freedom and equality, but negative issues thought to be conquered in the past have also become present day problems. When confronting controversial social, economic, and political topics in America today, the line between fact and opinion blurs. People across the country develop their own views on national issues, based only on personal experience and what the media tells them. Whether it be intention or ignorance, Americans are not supplied with enough information to accurately confront the major, national problems that lie just inside this country’s borders. Americans are unaware of slavery and socioeconomic issues that exist around them, which in turn presents a concern when trying to combat

They are ignorant to the fact that this system hinders the socioeconomic success of most citizens, unless they are lucky enough to be considered upper class. But what is upper class? We were always told that America wasn’t like other countries in the fact that it isn’t divided into classes. That people have equal opportunities to create their own economic futures and conquer whatever obstacles they encounter. This, indeed, is false and such classes do exist. 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

citizen would probably guess or argue that slavery doesn't exist today and that it ended once the thirteenth amendment was added to the Constitution. This misconception, again, is false, and slavery does in fact remain a prevalent issue in this country. Americans are unaware to these issues of slavery in different forms like trafficking because the media does not fully inform its audience on topics like these. News outlets would rather spend their broadcast time discussing possible international threats rather than focusing on the ones lying within our own borders. One example of current slavery in the United States is addressed in “Slavery in the Land of the Free” when readers are introduced to a young girl named Maria. A texan woman, named Sandra Bearden was looking for a maid to complete housework and look after her son, so she traveled into a poor village in Mexico and met Maria. Maria, being only twelve years old, saw this as an opportunity to move to the U.S. and receive better education which produced a better life. Sadly, Maria’s dreams were crushed because Sandra began to take advantage of her both physically and mentally. Her punishments for not working included: pepper spray in the eyes, a bottle broken against her head, jamming garden tools up her private areas,