All Americans don’t have an equal opportunity to succeed; inheritance laws provide built in privileges to the offspring of the wealthy, which just adds to the likelihood of their success (Colombo 392). In Gregory Mantsios article “Class in America,” he states that the social class you are in affects how you will succeed in school, relating to test scores and the level of schooling that you receive; thus determining how the rest of your life will turn out. He highlights many other beliefs that are broadly held about social classes and rebuts them using statistical evidence. Mantsios believes that the class a person resides in will determine their future more than he or she is willing to admit. Mantsios communicates that social class is prevalent in America, however I believe that it doesn’t determine a person’s fate. …show more content…
Mantsios states that Americans don’t like to talk about different social classes for one of two reasons: class distinctions are irrelevant or they are uncertain that the reality of class difference makes an impact on their life. It has become culturally unacceptable to place people in different social classes for it causes too much diversity (Colombo 370).
Consequently, Gregory Mantsios is well qualified to write this article. For over 30 years he worked in higher education; mainly he established college degree programs for nontraditional students (“Gregory Mantsios”). Addition to being so well qualified, he also cited many reliable sources throughout his article. Mantsios is targeting the upper class in this article. He directly talks about how successful they’re likely to become, without mentioning how successful the lower class could be
In our world, what we learn shapes who we can become. The American dream has always been you can come to the United States and become whatever you would like to be. How true is this? As analyzing and communicating has sky rocketed with our technology and certain trends have become apparent to everyone. Some schools seem to test so poor while others seem to exceed expectations.
"Born the Hard Way" In 2017, Budweiser aired a commercial during the super bowl titled "Born the Hard Way". This commercial sent a powerful message regarding immigration and the hardships they went through while they were migrating to the United States of America. The commercial shows the story of how Anheuser-Busch came to be. It starts off in a bar with two men sitting there, one of the men looks to the other and says "You don 't look like you 're from around here. " The man looks up and it goes into a flashback.
This essay is solely based on the effects of Mantsios’ opinions and argument on the reader and his views on the growing class divide in america. The divide could be more noticeable once it is explained. “Class in America-2012” was originally printed in Race, Class, and Gender in the United States: An Integrated Study.
One could only face the reality they are stuck with rather than chase for what they want to succeed. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, the author gives certain descriptions of various people who live in specific areas that relate to realism throughout his writing. The novel makes a naturalism argument about not being able to attain certain goals no matter how hard they work, claiming that it is impossible to achieve the fullest possibilities because of the current state one might be born or stuck with. To begin with, the author inputs various locations geographically to identify citizens with certain descriptions who live and thrive around those areas.
There is lower, middle, and upper class, but there are also subcategories that fill the gaps in between, like the impoverished and the top one percenters. “Class in America”, written by Gregory Mantsios, addresses the myths and realities about socioeconomic class in America and how they affect American lives. His article highlights the unequal divide that has persisted over the course of history and will continue to manifest in the future. To introduce the existence of this issue, Mantsios states that this country’s citizens “don’t like to talk about class...or class privileges, or class oppression, or the class nature of society” (Mantsios 378). This is the case in America today because people are neglecting to acknowledge the existence of these elusive
After college, students entering the workforce will have no ties to the other social classes and may remain segregated. When colleges put different price tags on different rooms, students self-segregate unintentionally, allowing for the gap between social classes to broaden and adding to the segregation within the United
In James W. Loewen’s “The Land of Opportunity,” he states that social class affects the way children are raised. He discusses the inequality in today’s society and how the textbooks in high school do not give any social class information. The students in today’s time are not taught everything they should be taught. He states that your family’s wealth is what makes up your future. Loewen discusses that people with more money can study for the SATs more productively and get a better score than someone who has less money.
I had an opportunity to watch a movie “People like us” in my class last week. This movie has great impact, which reflects the images of different types of society. It focuses side by side on different social classes by describing their economical social status in society. In our society, most of we Americans do not think about how education, income, aspirations, family backgrounds, and the appearances distinguish someone as an individual of a certain class of society? A particular class is very difficult to mark than race or ethnicity difference.
In America we are facing a huge issue on whether the American dream is still alive many say no but I believe yes, the American dream is still possible through hard work determination and initiative. Although many obstacles may come your way through out your journey it’s still possible to excel in life. Being in America is a gateway to many opportunities. I believe that in order to be successful you have to work hard for what you want, great opportunities can surround you your entire life but if you don’t have that drive to go and get it then you will remind exactly where you are in life.
In “Education Is Not Great Equalizer for Black Americans” written by Seth Wessler, Wessler Claims that Gaps in wealth, not in education, between black and white families may be the most powerful force locking Americans in their social class. Wessler supports this claim my first stating that the American Dream should not be worried about having an education and a good job, which will define people in a class. Many high class people do not have a good education, but they are still up there. Richard would be depressed when reading this because while growing up, Richard loved to read and dreamed of having an education. Which today, could put him in the lower class.
In a world with an increasingly competitive society built on fame and the pressure to succeed, one of the major struggles would include social class. Though in my personal experience from the people I meet, not a lot of them give the topic much thought, in fact, they usually excuse it, yet you can see the anxiety in their eyes, considering what their social class means to their future. The mindset of people today evinces the fact that people think the class they are in will determine their future jobs and lifestyles. Countless people tell me that they do not think they will make it in whatever careers they strive to end up in because of their hauntingly unstable financial situation or the intimidating pressure of society. While getting lost
America is the land of opportunity with many different career choices and educational experiences for anyone despite their different social classes. Although defined by social classes, I believe people can choose to progress from the social class they are born into. In order to fulfill the “American Dream,” someone must work hard, have courage, and determination, then they can prosper and achieve success. Stated simply, Ben Carson said, “Through hard work, perseverance and a faith in God, you can live your dreams.” No matter what social class a person comes from, they can overcome any obstacle in their lives as long as they set their mind to
Hierarchy of Social Classes People are grouped into a set of hierarchical social categories, the most common being the upper, middle and lower classes. Each of these social categories is defined below. Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of the wealthiest members of society, who also wield the greatest political power, e.g. the President of South Africa. Features of the upper class •
SOCIAL CLASS AND POVERTY A. SOCIAL CLASS Social class is the class in the society. As the definition in Oxford dictionary, social class is a division of a society based on social and economic status. Besides being important in social theory, the concept of class as a collection of individuals sharing similar economic circumstances has been widely used in censuses and in studies of social mobility. The social and economic status becomes the indicator in set of hierarchical the social categories, upper, middle and lower classes, as the most common used.
Therefore, in a stratified society, the individual’s opportunities are always determined by his or her social class. In this essay, I will be arguing that even though mobility exists in the social class system, the opportunity to change status is relatively open for everyone but the distribution of opportunities among the members of a social class is not relatively equal to all. I will demonstrate this point by showing how participation of an individual in a specific social class will decide the opportunities in terms of attaining education and achieving a well-paid job. Education has a significant role in promoting social mobility; it enables people to acquire knowledge and certain skills in order to promote their social status. Nowadays, people believe that societies are based on meritocratic