Quinones 1
Quiara Quinones
Dennis Stromback
Race and Poverty
March 9, 2015
Exam 1
In Guatemala the racial and class separation has to do primarily with the indigenous population and the Ladinos. The indigenous population focuses on the pure Mayan way of life, by speaking the Mayan language and following the traditional religion and village customs. The
Indigenous population suffered from discrimination and poverty, while being geographically isolated. Violence and repression not only affected the biological continuities of the indigenous lives but also the cultural. There were policies that had a sole purpose of destroying Mayan communities both physically and emotionally. The government tried to suppress their culture
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This is only a few of the issues that tribes have faced due to environmental racism, and it proves that Americans have experienced similar discrimination. For the indigenous people, in order to become a ladino one must adapt to the western clothing and speak spanish. For the Americans we must adapt to the governments
“way of life” in order to succeed, just as the indigenous people of Guatemala have to adapt to the ladino’s “way of life” in order to become successful and escape poverty. The only problem is that the indigenous and the Indian tribes are prideful people with beliefs of their own, and would not want to express the beliefs of others.
The indigenous’ fight through poverty began with colonization. Once the Spanish had conquered the indigenous people became slaves, and “capitalism cannot work without free labor” (Homeland video). The demand for wealth created barbaric ideas in order to gain power and money; which led to slavery and eventually poverty. The indigenous population do suffer
Quinones 3
from poverty on the governments end because not only is their country in debt but the income is unequal. The social class is based on wealth, education, and family prestige which operates as a sorting mechanism among both Indigenous and Ladinos. Race is also clearly a component, but may be less important than culture and
Overall, in society's class lifestyle also affects how children are raised for example, a working class person is more likely to raise their child to be working class and middle class children are more likely to be raised to be middle class. For example, including being a doctor or even being a criminal the status, then determines a set of behaviors and expectations for the individuals. Different profession, those in the upper middle class are restricted to live by a means which is considered by all else to never lower their prestige to that of the commoners and middle class go forth and fulfill their ambition of entering a life style that is structured around them in their occupations.
Within the Mayan empire was a highly religious culture. The religion of the Mayas was in everything. Even something as simple as a ball game, depicted in a stone carving, had deep religious meaning. Whichever team lost this game would be sacrificed to the gods.
Popular culture has shaped our understanding and perception of Native American culture. From Disney to literature has given the picture of the “blood thirsty savage” of the beginning colonialism in the new world to the “Noble Savage,” a trait painted by non-native the West (Landsman and Lewis 184) and this has influenced many non native perceptions. What many outsiders do not see is the struggle Native American have on day to day bases. Each generation of Native American is on a struggle to keep their traditions alive, but to function in school and ultimately graduate.
First of all ; “Social is a set of concepts in the social sciences and political theory cantered on models of social stratification in which people are grouped into a set of hierarchical social categories”.(Andrew, 2001) There are three common stratum model ; upper class , middle class and lower class. These classes divided according to little concepts: upper class(wealthy and powerful) owns and controls production; a middle class is small business owners, and low-level directors and a lower class having low-paying wage jobs and rarely getting money but also having enough money to live . The upper class is the social class contains people who are rich or wellborn or both. The middle class also named Bourgeoisie is group of people in society who stay socio-economically between the lower and upper classes. However lower class are those people who employed in low-paying wage jobs also persons with low income.
In reality class always matters and it shapes our interests in life. We all come from different background and ethnicity. I believe that class is shaped mainly by income and occupation. However, many people think if a person is wealthy, therefore, he belongs in the upper class. But there are other factors that define class and it is more than just how much money you have. It can be the network of people that surrounds, traditions, and academic status that can also define class. Many of it has to do in which family you have been born and network that creates it. All of my family members have been born and raised in Russia; they completed universities, got jobs, and had enough income to support a family. “Each of us is born into a family with a particular class identity and class history—sometimes it is a mixed or hybrid identity—but almost always it is part of a network of other relationships—to other families in a community, to work and jobs, and to institutions” (Zandy 112).
Although both the Cherokees and the Mayans experience of colonialism occurred in different time periods, their use of adaptation was used as a source of defense against their invaders. An example of this would be the way Cherokee women reacted to the building of mission schools on Cherokee land. They first viewed it as a threat to their role as Cherokee mothers. Once they began to understand the expectations and goals the missionaries had, they maneuvered their children around these white standards to keep their security while still having them in school. (Smith, 404). They found the benefit if they conformed to this idea of civilized behavior the Europeans had. However, the Mayans didn’t encounter the use of schools on their land rather they encountered the use of labor. The use of forced labor was often applied, but the Cakchiquel (a certain group of Mayans) found a way around it by using the tacagual and peyobal methods. The tacagual method was where one Indian would pay another to do his work, while the peyobal method was where an Indian would pay his town justices to
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.
Society is set up into a hierarchical triangle that essentially determines social class. A social class is any person or group of people with the same educational, social or economical status. Social class can be broken down into many different categories such as race, age, gender, economic status, educational status and many more. Social class can be measured in many different ways such as financial status, family values, appearance, and demeanor. In America there are six main economical social classes which are the: Very poor, Poor, Working class, Middle class, Upper middle class, and the ruling class.
W.E.B Du Bois once stated “to be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships” (qtd. in Rodgers 1). The Native American culture is often overlooked by many people in the United States today. What many people do not realize is that about twenty-five percent of Native Americans are living in poverty (Rodgers 1). A majority of the poverty among Native Americans is due to the United States breaking treaties that promised funds for their tribes. When non-Native Americans first began migrating to North America, the Indians were slowly having their land stripped away from them, and being pushed to live on small, poorly kept reservations. As well as taking
Social class describes the different "layers" that exist in society. These "layers," or classes in society, are a division that civilization has been running on ever since the beginning of mankind. In most modern societies, our system of social class division is one of opportunity. We experience a good deal of social mobility, where people through generations or in their own lifetime can move up or down the social scale. By examining the many different perceptions of social class along with S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders, it is illustrated that social class has an impact on people while they are growing up, and will usually deny them from rising above adversity.
Second Slide: The ways in which Indigenous Women tried to resist, but were ultimately victims of colonization, and how heteropatriarchy has affected them.
A significant correlation between race and poverty exists, with Black and Hispanic Americans three times more likely to be impoverished than White Americans (Proctor and Dalaker 2002). The cycle of poverty and low-literacy functioning is well documented, as is the achievement gap between White students and students of color. Race is a persistent factor in employment statistics, educational attainment, and the acquisition of literacy skills, with significantly higher unemployment rates and lower educational attainment rates among Black and Hispanic Americans than among White Americans. The literature on learner attrition and on resistance to participation in adult literacy programs suggests that the
Social class is defined as 'people having the same social or economic status' (Wordnet). In contemporary American society, social class is based on the amount of money and property you have and also prestige. Prestige is given to a person through the line of work or the family that they come from. For example, upper-upper class member Jennifer Lopez reeks of prestige not only because she has millions of dollars in her bank account, but she has very expensive luxuries, cars, and houses.
Out of almost all of the other cultures, Native Americans are the most exploited. Not only was their culture subverted and their people forced to move, but also the Native Americans still today are trying to regain their cultural identity. It was only during the late 20's that the effects of this cultural genocide became apparent. With the Meriam Report, published in 1928, the inhumane treatment of Native Americans was brought to the public eye, and this made way for the establishment of progressive day schools where Native Americans could integrate their culture. Ever since, Native Americans have struggled to regain an identity of their culture.
Each individual makes up the society as it is, and various characteristics and beliefs makes up an individual. Although, individual lives together with a variety of personal ideologies, emotions, cultures, and rituals, they all differentiate one person from the other making up one’s own identity. This identity makes up who one is inside and out, their behaviour, actions, and words comes from their own practices and values. However, the profound history of Indigenous people raises question in the present about their identities. Who are they really? Do we as the non-native people judge them from the outside or the inside? Regardless of whether the society or the government were involved in their lives, they faced discrimination in every