1. Class in America
Race, Class and Gender in the United States
Paula S. Rothenberg/ Gregory Mantsios
2. Key Terms
Class
Power
Wealth
Poverty
Society
Prosperity
Education
3.
4. Summary of Text
The middle class is used in politics
Wealthy and poor are words used to the
extreme
American vocabulary, certain words are
avoided. Words include “low class”
“working class”
Class identity has been stripped from
culture
Education attainment and financial
5. Myth
Myth 1: The United States is a class society; class
distinctions are large regardless of American s recieve
the same righ to health care and education
Myth 2: We are largely middle class society despite
variations in econimic status.
Myth 3: We are all getting richer; as a soceity
Americans are climbing the economic ladder; the
global economy is bringing most if not all American’s
prosperity.
Myth 4: Everyone has equal chances to succeed; success
in America only relies on hard work;
perserverance, and sacrifices.
6. Spectrum
The wealthiest 1% of American’s own 34% of the
national wealth or 1/3 of all financial assets.
The wealthiest 20% own 85% of the household
wealth
There are nearly 400 billionaires in teh US but it
would take the average American 298 lifetimes to a
mass $1 billion dollars
13% or 1/8 of Americans live below the calculated
poverty line
Between 1979 and 2003 the average income for the
top 1% increased by 20% while the middle saw an
increase of 9% for the same time frame.
7. Reality
Reality 1: There is an enormous
difference in the economic standing of
Americas. A large amount of
Americans occupy opposite ends of
the econimic spectrum
Reality 2: The middle class of
American actually holds a small share
of the wealth of our country and even
that share is steadily decreasing the
gab between the rich and poor.
8. Lifestyle of Americans
37 million people live in never-ending poverty
American poverty is described as the “best dressed” poverty in the world
because it is nearly impossible to distinguish class from outward appearance
Class affects both physical and mental health witch low class how increasing
rates of
Infantmortality
Diabetes
Respiratiory disease
Heart diesease
Nutritional defecien
Class differences in Americandictate:
Where one lives
Who their friends and peers are
What career they do for a living
What expectations they have on life.
9. Education
Family income directly correlates to SAT score and
grades
Students from upper class families are twice as likely
to obtain training beyond high school and four times
are likely to obtain a postgraduate degree
1 in 5 people surpass the economic status of their
parents
2/3 of people with incomes over $100,000 have
inherited family assets
10. Power and Oppression
Class dominations one force behind keeping
individuals from realizing their true potential
The classy stystem in America is due to its
economic system, which helps promote private
public ownership
Enterprises produce for the owners profits
instead of fulfilling societal needs
Class division between those who have
corporate control and those who do not.
