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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?
Well, it also depends on the child. I have met some who seem to have been born to be great even with major obstacles. Look at the white guy with no arms or legs...Every time he goes to the can someone has to help him, but he's got such a great personality.
Obama became president even though his parents were polar color opposites.
I'd say your debate is flawed due to selecting only limited criteria and thinking that what's inside a person is not helpful....
Well, it also depends on the child. I have met some who seem to have been born to be great even with major obstacles. Look at the white guy with no arms or legs...Every time he goes to the can someone has to help him, but he's got such a great personality.
Obama became president even though his parents were polar color opposites.
I'd say your debate is flawed due to selecting only limited criteria and thinking that what's inside a person is not helpful....
Obama had some specific advantages. One is that he was raised in Hawaii, which has a dramatically different racial dynamic from the US mainland. Essentially, Obama was "mixed race" in a state where "mixed race" is the demographic majority.
Second, Obama's white grandfather (the most important man in Obama's upbringing) was a long-time personal friend of one of the most powerful politicians in the state. This gave Obama an opening into the top private schools that most kids didn't have (I was unable to get my own son into the school Obama attended)--he essentially was in the Hawaii elite. If you look at the statistics of the elementary and high schools Obama attended, his ending up at Harvard was predictable from grade school.
Obama had some specific advantages. One is that he was raised in Hawaii, which has a dramatically different racial dynamic from the US mainland. Essentially, Obama was "mixed race" in a state where "mixed race" is the demographic majority.
Second, Obama's white grandfather (the most important man in Obama's upbringing) was a long-time personal friend of one of the most powerful politicians in the state. This gave Obama an opening into the top private schools that most kids didn't have (I was unable to get my own son into the school Obama attended)--he essentially was in the Hawaii elite. If you look at the statistics of the elementary and high schools Obama attended, his ending up at Harvard was predictable from grade school.
True, although not having your father in your life and the kind of identity crisis he went through would have been hard for any kid. But yeah, he went to the best schools Hawaii had to offer.
True, although not having your father in your life and the kind of identity crisis he went through would have been hard for any kid. But yeah, he went to the best schools Hawaii had to offer.
And even then, after having enjoyed the trappings of the elite, Obama could never be accepted as one of their members...which he probably discovered at Harvard at the latest.
And even then, after having enjoyed the trappings of the elite, Obama could never be accepted as one of their members...which he probably discovered at Harvard at the latest.
He couldn't? I seem to recall from his memoirs that he turned down high paying Wall Street jobs in the 1980s after Columbia. Instead he went to go work as a community organizer/social worker in Chicago which he well knew was a "move down" for him, but it was part of the "finding himself" process.
He was president of the Harvard Law Review which is an elected position isn't it?
In theory, a person can go from the one of the lowest classes to one of the highest, and sometimes they do. Many times they do. The fact that some do is what drives us in a lot of ways.
Unfortunately, the data tell a different story. The odds of making it from the bottom to the top are incredibly small. You do have decent odds of your moving up to one rung above - ie from poverty to the working class. About 30%. There are better than 2/3 odds you will stay where you were born, however.
People who say it is impossible to move up due to race/class barriers are technically wrong. It is not impossible, but it is quite difficult.
The odds of making it from anywhere to the top are infinitesimally small because the top is a very small place. But no one needs to make it to the top to be a resounding success. And yes, all such movement takes hard work. A day of hard work pursuing a higher life is IN ITSELF a measure of resounding success. In fact, success is in the journey, not the arrival. I don't need any external measurement to know and feel my success. Neither does anyone else. How I spend each 16 hours of being awake on a daily basis tells me all I need to know. Did I make myself proud by being productive and not wasting the time I had? That determines if I am a success. The rest of the world can kiss my azz because my standards for myself are all that matter. That attitude and that execution are available to anyone, no matter what race, religion, or income level. All it takes is a decision, and getting organized.
He couldn't? I seem to recall from his memoirs that he turned down high paying Wall Street jobs in the 1980s after Columbia. Instead he went to go work as a community organizer/social worker in Chicago which he well knew was a "move down" for him, but it was part of the "finding himself" process.
He was president of the Harvard Law Review which is an elected position isn't it?
As I said:
Quote:
And even then, after having enjoyed the trappings of the elite, Obama could never be accepted as one of their members...which he probably discovered at Harvard at the latest.
I'll bet there is something equivalent to the Scull and Bones at Harvard, and I'll bet Obama was not invited to join.
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.
Come to San Francisco, you'd be the majority
Totally agree.
Race wars are nothing more than illusions that the "elite" class put in place to keep the lower classes divided and bickering among themselves.
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