Class and Race

In our society, especially now, the issue of whether or not there is a difference in class and race stands prominent. With the election of our 44th president, Barack Obama, it seems to be ever more prevalent now. So what is class you ask; according to dictionary.com class is a social stratum sharing basic economic, political, or cultural characteristics, and having the same social position. The definition for race on the other hand is a group of persons related by common descent or heredity. So if you think about it, the two go hand in hand with one another to a certain extent. Being a young adult in this day and age, class and race are seen a great deal in music, movies, books and most of all television. Television is one of the most highly influenced objects in our society today, and both class and race appear heavily in it. In commonly watched television shows, such as Keeping Up with the Kardashians, My Sweet 16 and The Girls Next Door, their lifestyles are depicted with luxurious things. In our society the higher the class you are, usually the wealthier you are, not to mention they are typically of the Anglo Saxon race. In the media, the view on class typically fades to one color as you continue increase the status of someone’s class. In an article found on http://www.avam.org/exhibitions/race.html these ideas were expressed on race:

1. Race is a modern idea
Ancient societies, like the Greeks, did not divide people according to physical distinctions, but according to religion, status, and class, even language. The English language didn't even have the word "race" until it turns up in a 1508 poem by William Dunbar referring to a line of kings.
2. Race has no genetic basis

Not one characteristic, trait, or even gene distinguishes all the members of one so-called race from all the members of another so-called race.
3. Human subspecies don't exist

Unlike many animals, modern humans simply haven't been around long enough or isolated enough to evolve into separate subspecies or races. Despite surface appearances, we are one of the most genetically similar of all species.

4. Skin color really is only skin deep

Most traits are inherited independently from one another. The genes influencing skin color have nothing to do with the genes influencing hair form, eye shape, blood type, musical talent, athletic ability or forms of intelligence. Knowing someone's skin color doesn't necessarily tell you anything else about him or her.



5. Most variation is within, not between, "races"

Of the small amount of total human variation, 85% exists within any local population, be they Italians, Kurds, Koreans or Cherokees. About 94% can be found within any continent. That means two random Koreans may be as genetically different as a Korean and an Italian.

6. Slavery predates race

Throughout much of human history, societies have enslaved others, often as a result of conquest or war, even debt, but not because of physical characteristics or a belief in natural inferiority. Due to a unique set of historical circumstances, ours was the first slave system where all the slaves shared similar physical characteristics.



7. Race and freedom evolved together

The U.S. was founded on the radical new principle that "All men are created equal." But our early economy was based largely on slavery. How could this anomaly be rationalized? The new idea of race helped explain why some people could be denied the rights and freedoms that others took for granted.

8. Race justified social inequalities as natural

As the race idea evolved, white superiority became "common sense" in America. It justified not only slavery but also the extermination of Indians, exclusion of Asian immigrants, and the taking of Mexican lands by a nation that professed a belief in democracy. Racial practices were institutionalized within American government, laws, and society.

9. Race isn't biological, but racism is still real

Race is a powerful social idea that gives people different access to opportunities and resources. Our government and social institutions have created advantages that disproportionately channel wealth, power, and resources to white people. This affects everyone, whether we are aware of it or not.

10. Colorblindness will not end racism

Pretending race doesn't exist is not the same as creating equality. Race is more than stereotypes and individual prejudice. To combat racism, we need to identify and remedy social policies and institutional practices that advantage some groups at the expense of others. “

When it came to class however, these ideas were found in the same article:
“In another, more popular, usage of the term "class," there are surely individual poor persons whose dignity and character rank them high above their far materially wealthier counterparts. Having class, or being "a class act," has everything to do with the choices each of us make and the kind of person we can be counted on being, "especially when nobody's looking." Booker T. Washington put it simply: "Character, not circumstance, makes the person."

Media has a great influence on how race and class are portrayed. Because of how it influences us, it depicts race by skin color and class by wealth. In the famous novel Absalom Absalom by William Faulkner, race is what classifies class. The lighter your skin the higher a class you were. Class was not depicted so much by wealthy, as it is now. And race for that matter was a direct and absolute connect factor for class. The two have always walked hand in hand, so it appears, from slave days till today. Although it has slowly yet surely began to turn loose from one another, as far as how we define each one, the two are two peas in a pod. Does it affect us, yes! Can we change it, yes! The human race will always find ways to isolate one another because that is what we've been doing for centuries. The human race in general loves having power and having power over others. This is and will forever be a part of human culture. But how does the idea of race and class transfer to the American way of life and culture?

Race and Class in American Life and Culture

Class and race have always been an issue in the United States well before the end of the Civil War. While Sutpen was able to hide his class and his race ties with Africans most people in the United States can’t. So why was Sutpen so dead set on making sure that everyone around him believed he had a lot of money and that his entire family came from a strictly white heritage? The answer is because he knew that people would judge him for what he had and from where he and his family came from. The same can be said about class and race today. In American society people are still looked down upon if they don’t have a certain amount of money or even if they’re a certain type of race other than white. In this portion of the essay I will mainly focus on race and class in our culture today. I will mostly focus on government institutions and how they don’t actual help the cause of making America truly equal and in fact are making it worse. This will also be tied into how prejudice and forms of segregation exist as near invisible but yet visible lines in America today.

Countless people have made an impact and in extreme situations have lost their lives just to destroy the invisible line that divides every group of people in the United States. This wasn’t more truthful than back in the nineteen-fifties and sixties where young people across the United States banded together to try to get rid of segregation which in itself at that time was a very visible barrier. Some people today would say that we live in a much more diversified culture with little prejudice towards class and race. This statement is true in many respects but the line between class and race is still very much alive.

While not totally visible there is still a lot of prejudice that exists in this country that goes below the radar. The government constantly tries to end biases with such acts as the Affirmative Action act that requires employers to hire a certain amount of each race of people every year. Is this really helping though? The goal should be to eliminate race and class stereotypes not try to even the playing field for those people that the United States society deems “different”. People should be hired based on their skills alone not because they’re a certain color. How would you feel if you were only hired to meet a certain quota and not based on your skills? The justice system claims that they’re helping end prejudice in the United States but if you want to see where a lot of injustice occurs then look no further than the American Justice System itself. According to the Bureau of Justice “At yearend 2007 there were 3,138 black male sentenced prisoners per 100,000 black males in the United States, compared to 1,259 Hispanic male sentenced prisoners per 100,000 Hispanic males and 481 white male sentenced prisoners per 100,000 white males.” The numbers are staggering for African Americans. 3,138 black male sentenced prisoners per 100,000 black males living in the United States compared to only 481 whites!


These problems not only rest with the government but there still is a lot of class and race segregation that happens in everyday life in the United States. Some people would disagree that segregation still exists but self segregation is the new segregation. Blacks will typically stay in more urban settings while whites will normally be found in a more suburban area. This isn’t the case in every city but for the most part this is a reality. Segregation even happens in the same race of people. For example whites that can’t afford to live in middle class which is almost expected if you’re white can’t afford to live in suburban areas. These people are often regarded as “trailer trash” or “white trash” by other whites just because they can’t afford the same materialistic items that middle class white families usually can afford. An example of this from Absalom Absalom! Would be when Sutpen was made to go in the rear of the house because he wasn’t a prominent white male like the other citizens. This is a great example of segregation within a certain race. What’s ironic is later in the book when Sutpen has finally made a name for himself he treats Wash Jones the same way as he use to be treated by other whites.

The problem of class segregation gets even worse when schools start separating the kids just because of their class. Wealthy suburban schools will typically prepare their kids for college while urban schools will prepare most of their kids to enter the workforce after high school. It is assumed in our culture that just because they live in the inner city that the kids attending that school don’t want to go to college or can’t find a way to get into college. So even though the government isn’t purposefully dividing race and class some of its institutions are doing just that. According to a study done by the Manhattan Institute which was paid to investigate the high school graduation rates of all backgrounds it was found that African American and Hispanic students had the lowest graduation rate both with barely fifty percent of their class graduating. Coincidentally enough most of these students come from urban or inner city schools. We can’t say that all of this is happening because of racism because its not. The fact of the matter is that these school districts don’t have the money to afford the materials and staff to help these students succeed. This is just one example of how class and race go together. More often than not these two factors are always found together due to the fact that they essentially go together. When people think of inner city schools they think of a school filled with hoodlums and people that don’t really want to be there. They never look to the fact that these schools are highly under funded by the government and that these types of schools hardly ever try to get their students to succeed because they believe that their class and race will cause them to fail at life anyway. The students who are fortunate enough to graduate will most likely end up at dead end jobs for the rest of their life because they came from these schools. This in itself is a cultural stereotype that basically states, “Hey, this person went to an inner city school so it must mean that they will never succeed in life.” These stereotypes are one of the main reasons why these class and race lines still exist in America today.



At the same time that diversity is at its highest in the United States where we’re seeing more community interaction and inner race marriages than ever before there are still dividing lines. Whether they come from government institutions or just social stereotypes doesn’t matter. The fact of the matter is that they exist and no matter what reforms or laws that are passed race and class will always be a factor in the United States culture whether we like it or not until the people of the United States and not the government decide to deal with it. Hope can always be seen on the horizon however especially with our first elected African American President Barack Obama. A lot of work is still needed to be done and the process to get to true equality will not be easy. America can only succeed in getting rid of racism and prejudice by eliminating these stereotypes from it’s culture.



Bibliography Section

http://www.avam.org/exhibitions/race.html
Referenced: Absalom Absalom, however did not use any direct quotes.


Bureau of Justice Statistics. Prison Statistics. Burea of Justice Statistics. 28 Jan. 2008 .

Dictionary.com. 1 Feb. 2009 .

Greene, Jay P. Public High School Graduation and College Readiness Rates in the United States. Sept. 2003. Manhattan Institute For Policy Research. Jan. 2009 .

Loflin, Lewis. "Lies surround racism in our public schools." Lies surround racism in our public schools. Apr. 2008. 28 Jan. 2009 .

Race,Class,Gender. Oct. 2005. American Visionary Art Museum. 1 Feb. 2009 .

By: Domique Sherrod(Principles of class and race) and Justin Church(Class and race in American Culture)