Analysis Of The Documentary People Like Us: Social Class In America

In Class Matters, Bill Keller examines the meaning of the word class and how it plays on the life of the US citizens.According to Class Matters, a class is represented as four cards, one from each suit: education, income, occupation, and wealth. Based on your cards you are put into a class. Most people end up with the same cards as their parents. Keller explains how a class can be predetermined by a person’s upbringing or how they were raised. In this book, Bill Keller suggests that it is quite difficult to move into other social classes than the one we were born in, or a class we have been associated with for a long time. Based on the reading of this book along with other resources, moving into other social classes is exceptionally

Mantsios believes that people in the United States do not like to talk about classes, whether it is upper class, middle class, or lower class. He outlines four beliefs that are widely held about class in the United States, and then thoroughly refutes them with statistical evidence. He argues that the class

Last class we watched an informative documentary named “People like Us, Social Class in America”. America is known to be a country defined by class. Throughout the movie it showed different opinions on what class was based on by different people and the answers varied from looks, house size, career choice, race, manners, upbringing, and education. As we move through life, most times we remove ourselves from different people not in our class to then live amongst those who share similar backgrounds and who we are most comfortable with. As stated, “if there is class, there is an inequality one cannot explain and it perpetuates itself”. Revealing class can expose hope, fears, prejudice and a myriad of different emotions that we may not all be comfortable speaking about. I feel as if part two and part three were most applicable to myself because they are something that I have experienced both directly and indirectly.

Classism is a second issue that is shown throughout the novel. Classism is the attack on a person or people, based on their social ranking. On the other end, classism could also be the favor of a person or people based on their social ranking as well. Examples of classism show up many

The concept of social class has been around for ages and is still a part of today’s society. Social class is not only based on the individual’s wealth but also on their social standing such as; monarchs, priests, nobles, merchants, and peasant class. The peasant class was practically ignored, which means that the higher classes would only pay attention to each other. This can be the case in society today, there are some people who feel that their career makes them higher than a janitor. Even though humans have been around for centuries, social class is still a big issue.

So what exactly is class? Class is a ordering in society based on perceived social or economic status. An example is like on an airplane. There's classes right? First is for the really rich and want special, better service. Second class is like middle class, it's in between the people that can afford first class and the people in third class. “He thought he’d be a hero, but all he got for his pain was...okay, we’ll convict this Negro but get back to your dump (Doc. A).” “won’t answer a word you say as long as you

In Chapter 10 of Newman and the article “Making Class Invisible” by Gregory Mantsios both work to explain class structures and the effects of stratification. Newman defines stratification as the ranking of entire groups of people that perpetuates unequal rewards and life chances in society (p. 281). While Newman expresses how social forces and institutions influence social class, Mantsios explains in his article how mass media perpetuates class stratification.

Class is an apparent feature of any society, especially in the United States. Americans tend to overlook at times that there

An inequality in society, economy, wealth distribution, and political corruption and the influence in cooperation of government led to

Classism is a term that has been present for many years in American history. Some like to believe that classism does not exist anymore because times have changed. Unfortunately, classism does still exist, and it will likely always be an issue in America. Classism is a used to describe when a person is treated differently based on their perceived social class. Classism has manifested as a valid theory in American history for many years, and it has separated Americans in many ways, because classism has been racialized throughout the years, classism separates the rich from the poor, and classism inhibits cultural awareness. Classism will always exist in America because it has been a way of since the beginning of time.

Concept 1: I come to realize that classism is degree of difference based on social perceived class, which is all teetering on one paycheck. I also come to understand, from the movie American Winter, that middle class people are finding themselves, laid off, foreclosed, and unable to pay their utility bills causing so many people in our own community to be one paycheck from poverty, eviction and homelessness. The middle class is working hard one day and the next day going to homeless shelters, food banks and even selling their own plasma just to put food on the table (Gantz 2013). Homeless shelters are quickly

Classism is a prejudice where stereotypes, intolerance, and judgments are placed upon people due to their rank in a class system. When you think about it, classism is much like racism. However, instead of race being the issue, the socioeconomic class is the primary target of abhorrence and bias. Lauren, being our protagonist and heroine, is very much capable of exemplifying the ideology of classism. In the beginning of the novel we are introduced to Lauren as a teenager who is growing up in a gated, or walled, community outside of Los Angeles. Her community is literally

In today’s society people are viewed as being in different classes depending on how much money they bring in. The categorization of people is known as classism. Classism is simply the prejudice or in favor of people belonging to a particular social class. Classism is known as one of the largest social problems plaguing the world today. Classes are formed according to how the rules of the following institutions; government regulations and economic status. It is held in place by a system of beliefs and cultural attitudes that ranks people according to their; economic status, family lineage, job status, and level of education. There are three major classifications to which people are titled. They include upper or high class which includes the

Classism is the systematic oppression of subordinated class groups to advantage and strengthen the dominant class groups. It’s the systematic assignment of characteristics of worth and ability based on social class. ….Classism is held in place by a system of beliefs and cultural attitudes that ranks people according to economic status, family lineage, job status, level of education, and other divisions. Middle-class and owning- or ruling-class people (dominant group members) are seen as smarter and more articulate than working-class and poor people (subordinated groups)…(What is Classism, p. 1).

Being class conscious is not simply an ability to identify which class one belongs to. To genuinely be deemed as an individual who is class conscious, that individual must have the capacity to acknowledge and distinguish through the functions of three things: the relationship between classes, the structure of our society/system, and the function of power in corporations/agencies. In addition to understanding and recognizing these three things, one must also understand the possible political actions that can bring about social changes. Many people may assert that only the lower or middle class individuals are class conscious because they are the ones who crave for social changes more than the upper class individuals. However, Howard Zinn, from his passage, “Growing Up Class-Conscious”, has repudiated that emphasis. Instead, he acknowledges: