Letter To My Nephew

Page 9-13: He first starts how he was privileged as a white by talking about how he his family was able to easily gain an apartment with the help of his grandfather, who was established way before because he was white. Also the complex was segregated at first and so even after the end of the “apartheid” it was still hard for the people of color to come in. He then talks about how he was able to gain a sweet job which would lead to his stardom as an antiracist activist. But the only way he ever got this job was because he knew two people. Two people he met a Tulane, his college. And the fact that he was able to go to Tulane was in itself because of white privilege. It was because he was white that his mother was able to easily gain a loan. And this loan was only gained because his mother’s family being white was able to have a house to use for collateral for the loan.

“The percentage of Americans who say they are in the lower-middle or lower class has risen from a quarter of the adult population to about a third in the past four years, according to a national survey of 2,508 adults by the Pew Research Center” (http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2012/09/10/a-third-of-americans-now-say-they-are-in-the-lower-classes/). Today’s adults stating that they are in the lower class are most likely to have had a rough life growing up, and can now not escape the lower class. Social class is the idea of “a division of a society based on social and economic status” (http://www.dictionary.com/browse/social-class). Social class has the greatest impact on who a person turns out to be and what decisions they make because those

Poverty has always been with us from beggars outside the gates of Jerusalem to the mentally ill homeless woman in the park. America is known for our huge difference in culture and class. This is due partly to the dynamics behind the political decisions of this country. The president himself admits that America is more unequal than it’s been since the great depression and many of his own supporters say he has failed. America now has, by many standards, the lowest social mobility of all of the high-end countries, meaning that a child born into poverty is likely to grow up as a poor adult. This is surprising for a country that not only prides itself as being a middle class society, but as the society where anyone can make it and where

In the 21st Century, during a period of racial discrimination, a political African American activist, Ta-Nehisi Coates, presents Letter to My Son to insist that the government system needs to be changed so that African Americans could be granted a chance in their community to not be abused and violated by the government. In an attempt to support his claim about injustice of African Americans, Coates reminds his readers that the government system and federal laws contributed to the abuse of a black person’s body and mind in their community. Thusly, Coate’s underlined purpose of comparing the body and mind of a white and black man’s power during the slavery period was to emphasize the change in the government system to give African Americans their rights to be able to live in a society without injustice or abuse. He later adopts a critical and sympathetic tone to simultaneously scare the government to change their laws for all people of African descent in their society.

Social class is a topic of discussion that is generally avoided, especially in America. In a country where all of one's dreams can allegedly come true; the notion of class highlights the jarring inequalities and social divisions between one American and another. In recent years, recognizing one's privilege is beginning to become a cultural value. However, it has always been something that people were aware of, as seen in the eye-opening documentary, People Like Us: Social Class is America (2001). The documentary strives to accurately portray how the contrasted people of America live, interact, and see themselves and others. Of the ideas the doc showcases the most important are, the higher classes influence over the poor, and the poor's poor self-image, as these ideas strike the core of why one should be conscientious of their class.

America in the 1960’s was a dark, despairing environment for African Americans, or Negroes. Conditions in all areas of life were poor, chances of success were slim to none, and appreciation or acceptance in the community was barely a dream. Negroes of this time were downtrodden, disrespected, and poorly treated. In his book, “Why We Can’t Wait,” Martin Luther King uses historical allusion, emotive imagery, rhetorical questions, and juxtaposition to convey the negative, daunting poor social conditions of Black Americans in the 1960’s.

In the first article titled “Class in America” by Gregory Mantsios the discussion on class affecting the United States negatively is brought up. Gregory talks about the fact that people do not choose to be poor but they are put into situations where they cannot move up in class. Due to the fact that class creates an immense gap in communities, there are many issues linked to being categorized as the lower class. In the article Gregory states that “class affects more than lifestyle and material well being. It has a significant impact on our physical and mental well-being as well.” CITE) The author connects the idea that if you are in the lower class than you will also deal with other issues include your mental and physical health declining. Alongside this idea, the author also states “All Americans do not have an equal opportunity to succeed, and class mobility in the United States is lower than that of the rest of the industrialized world. (CITE) This goes along with the idea that once your born into a class, breaking out of it is virtually impossible. The author is also making the point that in the United States class is more problematic than other developed nations and because of this not everyone is given the chance to break free from a poor lifestyle.

The social class one is born into, more often than not dictates the social class they will belong to as an adult. There have been studies done in regards to social mobility, which greatly supports the concept that social class further promotes inequality, for 40% of individuals, born into either the top or bottom as infants, will remain there throughout their adult life. The stagnant nature of economic mobility, is only further worsened by absolute mobility. Those who begin impoverished are disadvantaged from the start and even with an increase of income, they most likely will remain in their same social class, for most people with time have an increase in overall income, and yet the relative increase remains stagnant, for all

The different wage gap and social class is yet another aspect that will hinder the ability for good people be able to achieve what they want to do in life. Part of the reason that poverty is such a problem is the fact that it relates back to racism and the fact that only certain people and certain genders are able to hold jobs in business and communities. There is a huge pay gap between different races compared to the white income level. The mean black income is 60% less than the white pay. This causes a numerous amount of different problems that hold other races back. It makes it harder for them to raise a family and change their life. One of the ways that they could change their life is if they were to move to a different area and try to

The social class one is born into, more often than not dictates the social class they will belong to as an adult. There have been studies done in regards to social mobility, which greatly supports the concept that social class further promotes inequality, for 40% of individuals, born into either the top or bottom as infants, will remain there throughout their adult life. The stagnant nature of economic mobility, is only further worsened by absolute mobility. Those who begin impoverished are disadvantaged from the start and even with an increase of income, they most likely will remain in their same social class, for most people with time have an increase in overall income, and yet

Racial disparities are still a stain on American society, but they are no longer the main divider. Today the biggest threat to the American dream is class.

Race still predominantly plays a role in everyday classism. Discriminatory housing practices traps minorities in the lower class for generations. Moreover, America’s healthcare system unfair to people who have low income. Also, Public transportation does not properly serve the needs of those who use it; as well as, it makes it formidable to secure, and maintain a stable job. Additionally, education for the poor unequal in graduation rates; along with, a social polarization against lower class students. Classism in America is an old, yet consistent problem that, creates an unfair economic divide of

Even though having the “poor class” is a necessary evil needed for society to function, most Americans, at some point in time, will experience what it is like to live in poverty or live below the poverty line. One main reason for having a high percentage of people living in poverty is because the U.S. policy makers have ignored the poor and have given tax breaks to those with a much higher income. Funding for welfare was slashed and extended unemployment benefits were ended. With little success with the economic reform the United States has been going through for the past five years, about 14.5 percent of Americans are still living under the poverty line.

This week in class the focus has been on generational poverty. There are a lot of key factors that lead to poverty. Poverty does not exist because people want it to. Poverty is a way of life for those who don’t know another way and feel that they don’t have a way out. Every day in society people turn their heads or frown up their nose at people who they see living in poverty because they think they are better than them and will not lift a hand to help them out. The big question is why do we do this? In most cases, the poverty line or clash of the classes are based on wealth and there is certainly a variation in the wealth among the population. But classism exists from the beginning of education to death.

One of the social issues concerning power, status, and class in American society today is income inequality. The income gap between the social classes has increased drastically throughout the last few decades, creating a significant gap between the wealthy and the poor. This gap has become so large that the middle class has nearly diminished, creating a social class comprised of the rich and the poor. The significant gap between the two social classes is unhealthy for the economy because it provides too much power in the hands of those with high social status.