Class In America

Is America the land of opportunity? Is the classic American dream tangible in the modern day journey to success? There are many factors that are detrimental to the ability to succeed; such as socioeconomic status and class standing, minority status, and gender. Over the years, America has become the land of economic disparity, not opportunity. The impact of class is a leading cause of American’s inability to not only succeed, but live their daily lives. Class can affect anything from health, education, and the environment. The discrepancy amongst classes also leads to a large income gap. With sixty percent of Americans only owning four percent of the wealth, the difference between classes grows more evident each day (Mantsios 285). The …show more content…
The lower class are at a disadvantage in this field because they do not have equal opportunities for healthcare than those that are wealthy. Being sick frequently means the incapacity to maintain high grades, hold a job, be promoted, or fulfill any requirements for achievement. Being in a lower class means sacrificing paying for decent healthcare in exchange for making ends meet. Whereas some Americans have the ability to see a doctor every time they get the sniffles, those in the lower class have to consider the costs of doctor visits. This creates a cycle of being ill, not treating it properly, getting worse, and reaching a point where they cannot attend school or work anymore. Mantsios has found a correlation between lower class standing and higher rates of everything from infant mortality, arthritis, mental disease, and even heart disease (292). Between poor initial health and poor treatment, low class citizens have no way to rise above this issue and be successful. This is a limiting factor that is constantly holding people back. You could work very hard and be the best in your field, but if you are constantly missing work or school due to illness, it will be near impossible to thrive in contemporary …show more content…
More popular figures, such as our president, politicians, pop culture figures, and scholars, pertain to minority groups. Additionally, with the amount of media coverage on riots and powerful trends such as “#blacklivesmatter”, it is clear that America as a nation are constantly evolving to become more accepting. Charles Murray touches on the subject of success being independent of ethnicity in his article, “The New American Divide”. He states that, “cultural inequality is not grounded in race or ethnicity,” (349). The lack of common civic culture and income gap is not correlational to an individual’s race or gender. There are minorities in both the upper and lower classes. With America becoming more accepting, the gap between different races and genders is closing rapidly. However, the gap in economic disparity only widens; independent of minority