For me, class has always been the issue — race, never.
Racialicious has a “privilege” test of sorts (found via Rickshaw Diaries). If done in the physical world, you would take a step forward for each item that is in your experience. In the blogosphere, you simply bold the item.
Below’s my list, bolded to reflect my experience. Needless to say, I’m privileged now. I wasn’t growing up.
When you were in college:
If your father went to college, take a step forward.
If your father finished college
If your mother went to college
If your mother finished college
If you have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor.
If you were the same or higher class than your high school teachers
If you had a computer at home
If you had your own computer at home
If you had more than 50 books at home
If you had more than 500 books at home
If were read children’s books by a parent
If you ever had lessons of any kind
If you had more than two kinds of lessons
If the people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
If you had a credit card with your name on it
If you have less than $5000 in student loans
If you have no student loans
If you went to a private high school
If you went to summer camp
If you had a private tutor
If you have been to Europe
If your family vacations involved staying at hotels
If all of your clothing has been new and bought at the mall
If your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
If there was original art in your house
If you had a phone in your room
If you lived in a single family house
If your parent own their own house or apartment
If you had your own room
If you participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
If you had your own cell phone in High School
If you had your own TV in your room in High School
If you opened a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
If you have ever flown anywhere on a commercial airline
If you ever went on a cruise with your family
If your parents took you to museums and art galleries
If you were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family (yes, but only because we were in Saudi Arabia and it was HOT.)
Very interesting commentary on this privilege meme can be found here.
Contrary to some criticisms, I think this list is really insightfully put together. Class and privilege are as much about the kind of parents and family you get landed with than just money. Having liberal parents, having well educated parents — yeah, that makes a TON of difference, even if there isn’t too much money in the picture.
Americans take wealth, and to some degree, class (but wealth more) to be an indicator of one’s moral worth. It’s immoral to be poor in this country. You are not a good person if you don’t exhibit the “correct” class tendencies.
And sometimes, hard work and even intelligence are not enough to break through barriers — even in America (I’m thinking primarily of blacks and immigrants).
This society is much less class-based than Pakistan — but class still exists.
Update: I had forgotten a pretty significant point, which some of the comments have reminded me of. In the United States, transcending class barriers through education was more of an option twenty years ago than it is now. As some people in the comments have pointed out, higher education is becoming increasingly harder to access for those who come from a less class-privileged background, and in this case, class-privilege means money.
This is a failure of American society: college tuition is a scandal. What makes it worse is that more and more, a four-year college degree is an absolute must to get a job, especially a job in the corporate world (the only place where one can make significant amounts of money, acquire prestige, etc.). But it’s still only a minimum requirement. Now one must have a Master’s, a law degree, or something else to set oneself apart from the crowd.
Also, what does an unduly expensive college education (unless it’s in the sciences) really add to an American’s education-level, except on paper? In my experience, you now have to go through law school to be able to learn to spell — something that should be taught in middle school. Merely being college-educated doesn’t actually add anything to your knowledge base and it destroys you financially.
And yet it’s a prerequisite to “getting ahead” which is just another way of saying, “getting health care and minimum financial independence.”
When covering the bases gets so difficult, class becomes more significant because it’s a desirable and scarce shortcut.
We are in fact now a downwardly mobile nation.
Filed under: Miscellanea
I just came across this meme today. I’m hoping to bold all the things that apply to me (quite a few, apparently) and give my two cents on the topic, as soon as I get a break from life and studying.
[...] Apostate mentioned that “class and privilege are as much about the kind of parents and family you get landed with than just money. Having liberal parents, having well educated parents — yeah, that makes a TON of difference, even if there isn’t too much money in the picture,” and I couldn’t agree with her more. Despite my parents’ religious views, my parents are well educated and to this day continue their desire to gain more education. There wasn’t always a lot of money in the picture (ha, there isn’t all that much now!), but my mom always made sure that if we went to the bookstore, I was able to buy at least one book. I remember when I was younger my mom would take me and my sister to New York and we would walk around the museums, and grab hot dogs from the vendor for lunch. As I got older I realized that we didn’t have as much money as other people that I knew, and I remember wanting to live in a house so badly, but there’s no denying that my parents did everything they could with the money we had. [...]
[...] Has Class Trumped Race? « The Apostate (tags: class) [...]
Class always trumps everything. Class is the only thing that matters most of the time. If you have wealth, you are set, regardless of anything else. If you are poor, you are likely to stay poor, regardless of anything else. If you are born a poor, white male, the odds are almost 100% that you will never get ahead of someone born a rich woman of color.
But it is an interesting point you make that class isn’t just about wealth, it is about the values held by your parents. My parents came from dirt poor families but I think they had good values – they valued education, for instance, and I hope I do the same for my kids.
I had to do the physical version in grad school. 25 of those items apply to me. It’s useful, however, because it can extend cross-culturally.
The thing that’s always irritated me about this exercise is the assumption (on the part of the takers, if nothing else) that privilege is bad. Privilege is not bad; it’s whether or not one is aware of it and uses one’s upbringing as the standard by which to judge others. More importantly, it is crucial to recognize how that privilege can come at cost to others, and how there are barriers that exist on all sorts of levels.
The morality of class in America is tied up in its Puritan and Calvinist past. The “Protestant work ethic,” one of the more pernicious theological ideas to ever take root, makes this hard to surmount.
This is an interesting quiz. About half of those are true for me. Totally agree with you re class trumping race/gender/etc.
I think one thing missing on the quiz is whether parents are situated to help financially upon high school graduation. Some families, like mine, stretched to give cultural advantages but there would be no funds for college, or anything after, and no inheritance, and in fact the need to turn around quickly and help ones family financially. There’s a world of difference in terms of options with this scenario vs one in which the parents continue to help the children in teens and early 20s, and will be leaving them some money to help fund retirement. Museums are great, but they’re not going to get you out of a mountain of school debt. And professor parents are great, but many can’t help you get or save money.
I think the Rich Dad, Poor Dad book gets a lot right about the fact that in this world, Poor Culturally Sophisticated Dad (like mine) often doesn’t convey the class advantages that Rich, not-as-educated businessperson Dad does.
Great comments and insight. Our goal was to use privilege as a way to get awareness about class.
Yes class is much more than money, much more, and I thank the writings of Pierre Bourdieu (Forms of Capital) for starting that discussion.
Yes, the research indicates that class, however measured and defined, is pretty much better than gender and ethnicity in determining an individual’s life path in the US. That is in general. Many people move up in economic and career success mostly because of education. Some move down. The research shows that in general people stay at the level, however defined, of their parents.
The reasons for class movement and class stability are complicated as are the individual and social consequences of class movement and stability. The forces, systems, and institutions of movement and stability are complicated.
” It’s immoral to be poor in this country. You are not a good person if you don’t exhibit the “correct” class tendencies.”
Hmmm.
Not so fast. People are people and the criminal class is not stratified.
:)
[...] I am a Pakistani immigrant, from a poor background, who came to this country seeking a better life. I left my family and still don’t have the benefit of their support. I know what it’s like to have no rights and few options. I’ve been there. [If you’re interested, my privilege test is here.] [...]