Social Class In Today's Society

1649 Words7 Pages
In today’s society, there are many topics, such as immigration, race, and socioeconomic class, that are often not addressed because they could cause disputes. American citizens do not discuss often enough the truth behind these problematic issues. It is much easier for citizens to simply admit that immigration and racism is an issue, than it is to really learn the struggle of immigrants that lie beneath the myths. Similarly, it is easy for citizens to assume that America is a middle-class nation, but in reality, America is far from it. All of these ideas stem from the central idea that Americans are narrow-minded or ignorant towards such issues. Although some may deny that immigration, racism, and economic class make an impact in today’s society,…show more content…
Majority of Americans would typically label America as a middle-class nation; however, America is far from that and although people are aware of the classes in our country, they are still not often discussed. The phrase “middle class” is often used to refer to the nation as a whole without causing conflict, essentially glossing over and sugar coating the fact that America is far from a middle-class nation. In reality, there are many sharp contrasts between the rich and the poor; there are many unequal opportunities for students in lower class neighborhoods compared to students in upper-class neighborhoods: “The higher the student’s social status, the higher the probability that he or she will get higher grades… College Board surveys reveal data that test scores still correlate with family income” (Mantsios 390). Studies have shown that students in lower class neighborhoods typically have lower test scores, while students in higher class neighborhoods normally have higher test scores; the odds of getting into college and furthering education also have these same correlations. These are just a few examples of the contrasts between wealthy and poor and their impact on society and the children of our nation. Social classes have a very sharp contrast, but so does race in America. Many people are ignorant towards the fact that “race is constructed socially, culturally, politically, and economically” (Holtzman and Sharpe 603). This shows that there is a lot more that goes into race than just the color of one's skin, and not a lot of people are aware of that. Additionally, many schools do not go in depth and teach children about the racial history in America and the painful parts of our past. While talking about our country's painful history regarding race may be difficult, it must be done. By educating children, we can hope that they will learn to not repeat the past and to accept everyone no matter what the
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