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Obviously in our society there are relative advantages to be upper middle class and there are in general relative advantages to being white. But, which would you consider to be more of an advantage in contemporary US society.
Who would generally have more advantages in life:
1) An upper middle class African-American 2-parent family with advanced degrees
or
2) A working class single mother with a HS diploma.
The white child would have less material advantages, but would have less issues with racial discrimination/negative stereotyping.
Basically which is more important white privilege or class privilege?
I'm a Muslim and a South Asian, so I'm definitely a minority. But my life is great because I come from an upper-middle class family. I'm much happier like this than I would be if I were a white Christian who isn't financially privileged.
Sure, it would be nice not to get stopped at the airport randomly, not to have to drive half an hour away just to get to the nearest place of worship, or not to have to worry about whether your existence makes others uncomfortable, but you know what's really nice? Getting sent to a great school and not having to work because your parents have money.
White privilege has NOTHING on class privilege, in my experience. This is why I have to consistently remind myself just how lucky I am.
In the United States with our modern protection laws, "class" is by far the most important factor. Certain races have huge disadvantages and must deal with stereotypes, but that is trumped by class. An educated, semi-wealthy, polite, and well-spoken black guy would have a much better reception in, say, a traffic stop, than an uneducated, poor, aggressive, and cursing white guy.
Also, to be clear, class is more than just wealth. Wealth is a factor, but class is more about education, demeanor, and respectability. Someone can be quite poor but still have high class. An aunt of mine is a world traveler; she collected silver, knickknacks, and stories from all over the world. She's well read, educated, polite, well-spoken, very well-respected, and now has very little money (she did her traveling for work, and is now retired). I consider to be of a much higher class than many people with much more money.
Finally, one of the great things about this country is the ability to change class. In other countries, the class you are born in is the class you will die in. I personally was born into a lower-middle-class blue-collar family. I ran barefoot down dirt roads, swam in ponds and rivers, and my family spent at least a few years during the '80's recession living off what we could grow in our garden and shoot off our land. Mostly high-school educations in my family, if that. I was lucky and received a good education (up to master's degree) and was able to work my way up to upper-middle-class.
Last edited by An Einnseanair; 05-13-2016 at 06:50 AM..
In a documentary about George H. Bush, his campaign manager "Leroy" Atwater was looked up on as someone whose class prevented him from really being part of the Kennebunkport eastern conservative circle that G H was part of. Despite his brilliance as a strategist and importance to the upper-class of the party, the Georgia born, blues guitar playing Conservative was not one of them who depended on him for his guidance.
Obviously in our society there are relative advantages to be upper middle class and there are in general relative advantages to being white. But, which would you consider to be more of an advantage in contemporary US society.
Who would generally have more advantages in life:
1) An upper middle class African-American 2-parent family with advanced degrees
or
2) A working class single mother with a HS diploma.
The white child would have less material advantages, but would have less issues with racial discrimination/negative stereotyping.
Basically which is more important white privilege or class privilege?
Is the working class single mother black or white?
Either way I would think the upper middle class AA 2 parent family would have more advantages. Education is the ticket to a better life in most cases.
Class by and far. Despite anecdotal rags-to-riches stories it is very difficult to move out of the class you were born in. Being born into a middle class or above family is a huge boost to your potential success as an adult.
Class. No questions asked, as far as I'm concerned.
However, it is hard to separate race and class. White people make up the most of the upper class. Minorities tend to be poor, and as a result, stereotypes are made about them. I do think that racism when it comes to things like employment discrimination do come down to assumptions of class. An Asian American by the name of Steven Wong is not really any less likely (in most cases) to not get an interview than a white man name Michael Scott. Interestingly enough, a study showed that a black woman with the name Tyresha Jones is less likely to be hired than a black woman named Amanda Smith (those weren't the actual names, but the black person with the "white" name had the advantage).
No, I don't think this is some systematic racist system that requires a revolution. It's that we don't teach the concept of racism properly. Most examples of racism we talk about are systematic, which is why those examples are less and less common. Everyone has a problem with those. But making assumptions about a poor black person isn't really talked about, but people do it all the time, intentionally or not. I do it. I don't just do it for minorities, as is the case for most, and I wish I didn't, but by the time I was old enough to really comprehend what I was doing, a habit was formed. I try to keep myself from doing it, but habits are habits. I know a lot of my friends have said similar things. However, if it's a black person who 'acts white' then I don't even think about the fact that they're black. It's not relevant. To me, the issue is pretty clearly more class based than race based.
Being poor is something that you can hide or overcome so the disadvantages may only be temporary. On the other hand being black is not something that you can hide or overcome so what ever the disadvantages are they are permanent.
Class by and far. Despite anecdotal rags-to-riches stories it is very difficult to move out of the class you were born in. Being born into a middle class or above family is a huge boost to your potential success as an adult.
I disagree. It's true that it is impossible to go from being a welfare child to an "old money" adult. The top "old money" class requires at least 2-3 generations of wealth, top schools, and top contacts for entry.
But moving one or two classes (up or down) is quite easy, if you have the skillsets required. Moving up 3-4 classes is much harder, but possible. Specifically some form of intelligence and level of ambition. My childhood was a mix of middle-class to working poor (recession in the '80's hit us hard). Now I'm upper middle-class, and no one cares that I ate free school lunches as a child.
I personally consider the "classes" in the United States to be:
- Completely homeless/street person
- Total dependence welfare poor
- Working poor (minimum wage part-time job)
- Lower middle-class (service jobs)
- Middle class (respectable blue-collar factory jobs)
- Upper middle class (managers or professionals such as lawyers, doctors, engineers)
- Wealthy (successful small business owners, entrepreneurs)
- Rich (lottery winners, ultra-successful business owners, CEOs)
- Old Money Rich (requires multiple generations at Rich level)
And again, it isn't all about money. Education level, demeanor, and connections are also requirements. Plenty of skilled blue-collar workers will earn more than engineers or managers, but would still be in a different class. In this country, anyone can go to school, study, and easily move up 1 or 2 classes.
Last edited by An Einnseanair; 05-13-2016 at 10:06 AM..
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