Certain aspects of a person’s identity, such as a person’s race or class, that is out of their control, are almost always the very first factors that are used to determine their respect. There is a very common belief that Americans are very forward thinking and progressive, not allowing the aforementioned aspects get in the way of their perception of a person is formed. Even though this feel good mindset has been engrained within the nation, its not usually put to practice. Race, and class are two of the few factors that largely shape how we perceive another identity. Character, perseverance, motivations and talents are subconsciously viewed as secondary traits that people factor in after deciding how much of the stereotypes attached to one’s
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Class is seen as temporary in America; anyone can move up the economic ladder at anytime with a hard work and motivation. This fallacy of being able to “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” is is explained in the article, “It Is Expensive to Be Poor”. Barbara Ehrenreich demonstrates how the belief that the poor negative and from mainly just conservative intellectuals and politicians, to an overwhelming majority of the country. Harsh criticism came with the start of the War on Poverty to put more funding into better healthcare, education and job training, but it was only stemming from a a small group of conservatives. When Reagan came to administration, the idea that the government programs that had been created in the 1960’s could help the poor, was no longer upheld by very many citizens. People began to believe that poverty stemmed from bad attitudes and laziness, rather than lack of access to jobs and better education. More politicians began to imply that the poor are irresponsible and lack the ability to motivate themselves to take of care of the children that they bore while unmarried. Upper and middle classes now believed that the poor had no one to blame but themselves for their tribulations and daily struggles. This led to an attack on welfare in the 1990s, which also very …show more content…
In Walter Benn Michaels’ piece, The Trouble With Diversity, he focuses on the importance of paying attention economic inequality and how that should be our focus, instead of attempting to be diverse. He argues that “our identity is the least important thing about us” (9) , that we pretend that “our real problem is cultural difference, rather than economic difference” and that “we’re urged to be more respectful of poor people and stop thinking of them as victims”(10). It seems as though Michaels is getting at that we put too much focus on how our identity shapes the perception of others and ourselves, which distracts from the more crucial problems such as economic diversity. While this idea may be prove to be valid because of the fact that economic gap is continuously growing, Michael’s fails to take into consideration how a person’s racial and class identity affect how much help they are given in order to become more financially stable. For example, in an area that is predominantly low income with a large amount African Americans, it will be harder for them to apply for loans to start small businesses and have access to quality education and apply to better jobs. This connects back into the little amount of respect given to to those who are a minority and poor; they aren 't usually even given
Class is seen as temporary in America; anyone can move up the economic ladder at anytime with a hard work and motivation. This fallacy of being able to “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” is is explained in the article, “It Is Expensive to Be Poor”. Barbara Ehrenreich demonstrates how the belief that the poor negative and from mainly just conservative intellectuals and politicians, to an overwhelming majority of the country. Harsh criticism came with the start of the War on Poverty to put more funding into better healthcare, education and job training, but it was only stemming from a a small group of conservatives. When Reagan came to administration, the idea that the government programs that had been created in the 1960’s could help the poor, was no longer upheld by very many citizens. People began to believe that poverty stemmed from bad attitudes and laziness, rather than lack of access to jobs and better education. More politicians began to imply that the poor are irresponsible and lack the ability to motivate themselves to take of care of the children that they bore while unmarried. Upper and middle classes now believed that the poor had no one to blame but themselves for their tribulations and daily struggles. This led to an attack on welfare in the 1990s, which also very …show more content…
In Walter Benn Michaels’ piece, The Trouble With Diversity, he focuses on the importance of paying attention economic inequality and how that should be our focus, instead of attempting to be diverse. He argues that “our identity is the least important thing about us” (9) , that we pretend that “our real problem is cultural difference, rather than economic difference” and that “we’re urged to be more respectful of poor people and stop thinking of them as victims”(10). It seems as though Michaels is getting at that we put too much focus on how our identity shapes the perception of others and ourselves, which distracts from the more crucial problems such as economic diversity. While this idea may be prove to be valid because of the fact that economic gap is continuously growing, Michael’s fails to take into consideration how a person’s racial and class identity affect how much help they are given in order to become more financially stable. For example, in an area that is predominantly low income with a large amount African Americans, it will be harder for them to apply for loans to start small businesses and have access to quality education and apply to better jobs. This connects back into the little amount of respect given to to those who are a minority and poor; they aren 't usually even given