Classism at Its Current State
How Does Classism Look Like Today?
As a society, no matter what your stance on ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation, most would agree that we are making progress and admit that these are important issues to resolve. Interestingly, awareness of class issues have become far less recognized and people often don’t think about class at all.
Many Americans seem to believe that the post industrial society we live in is a place where everyone has equal opportunities to make forward progress in reaching the American Dream. The harsh reality is that most Americans are still identified as the working class. Class is still very much about power. If anything, the divide between the have and have not is growing larger. Capitalist can also be seen as the power and they very much control the working class. Today, many careers that were once considered careers of power, are becoming more working class jobs and have less and less power. A great example of this is the fact that many teachers have lost the power to create their own curriculum and many other aspects of their classrooms. Teachers are also at the mercy of often unrealistic measurements which further removes teachers from a place of power. This has decreased the level teachers we need in our schools. In higher education, the idea of tenure is loosing its distinction as well. Higher Education Systems are becoming extremely corporate and supply and demand is drastically changes work loads for professors and the entire structure of the academic community. This is leading to a rise in interest in unions as there has been in the past. Source: Zweig, M. (2000). The working class majority: America's best kept secret. Ithaca: ILR Press |
Why is it Important to Address Classism?
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How the Past Affects the Present
- Slavery ===> According to 2010 US Census Data, the highest poverty rate by race is found among Blacks (27.4%), with Hispanics (of any race) having the second highest poverty rate (26.6%). Whites had a poverty rate of 13.0%, while Asians had the lowest poverty rate at 12.1%.
- Sexism ===> The earnings of women who worked full time, year-round were only 77% of that for men working full time, year-round.
Class Concepts
Powerlessness: Standardized Test as a Case.
Offering standardized test to students is a form of oppression. A recent issue of the MAP tests shows that teachers and students do not have a voice when it comes to this issue. Standardized test have been used to put some students on the path to success and others on the fast track to not being invested in, giving up and often the prison pipeline. Teachers have no incentive and often no choice in offering kids an equal opportunity at academic success. Standardized tests advocates ignore the fact that POVERTY and RACISM block achievement.
Source: (http://creativitynotcontrol.wordpress.com/articleslinks/) Sobering Facts!!
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/poverty-in-america-2012-9?op=1#ixzz2Mdtdy87Z |
Testimonio
Test
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Exploring White Privilege Through Service Learning Practice
( Dunlap, 2007) Denial of ones own privilege can lead to disengagement in a diverse community. To avoid this from occurring, a group of white students from a stable socioeconomic family explored their privilege and the guilt accompanied with that. They accomplished this through service learning experience in a homeless shelter. As a result, some of the students might become activists as a result of exposing their privilege and the disparities in their community.
The Socioeconomic and White Privilege Awareness Process: Stage 1–Trigger Event(s): Trigger event(s) stimulates service-learner awareness of their own socioeconomic status and/or white privilege in contrast to community partners’, resulting in “cognitive disequilibrium.” Stage 2–Grappling: Service-learner grapples with socioeconomic, white privilege, racial issues, and/or emotions. The meaning-making process begins. Stage 3–Personalization: Service-learner listens to and communicates more intimately with community partners, and attempts to make greater meaning of what they are learning. The “self” continues to be challenged. Stage 4–The “Divided Self”: Service-learner experiences a conflict between the intellectual and experiential self, and emotions such as “white guilt” as they continue their work in their service-learning environment, and further grapple to make meaning of the situation(s). Stage 5–Disequilibrium Resolution: Service-learner reconciles/resolves the emotional confusion by cognitive either “accommodation:”
Or "assimilation:” • Service-learner dismisses trigger events using merito- and/or cratic explanations. • Little or no change occurs in service-learner attitudes. • Negative and inaccurate stereotypes and prejudices are maintained or reinforced. • Denial of one’s own privilege and prejudices continue, while reflection and engagement beyond the superficial are avoided. • May be associated with Helm’s (1990) lower stages of Racial Identity Development and the tendency to initially flee the service-learning environment. Source:
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