by guest blogger Jenni
There is now a huge gap in educational achievement and enrollment of colleges due to income and class of parents. If kids come from a lower earning home then they are more apt to not finish college or even attend college due in part to lack of funds and lack of assistance such as Pell Grants. Kids who come from higher earning homes tend to go to college and finish college in a timely manner. They are more apt to go to more prestigious colleges than kids from lower income homes. This is an issue for politicians and how taxing colleges could create a financial barrier, and make it harder for all people to attend college. Would this be considered oppression to the lower class and their children?
http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/12/the-reproduction-of-privilege/
I think that class oppression is one of the most overlooked forms of oppression. Capitalism has managed to obsfucate these forms of classism by suggesting that the middle and lower class are given what they deserve and that the rich earn their massive wealth. As your article suggests, there is a lot more too class than hard word and boot straps. Also, I think that class oppression is directly tied into racism and sexism as they are simply methodologies of continuing economic dominance.
ReplyDeleteMike S
Dear Mike,
DeleteFirst and foremost, congratulations on the post. I can only imagine how tedious it must be to articulate a thoughtful and cogent position when constrained by the stone aged machinery otherwise known as the i-pad 1. Your capitalistic disadvantage provides a real vantage point. : )
Second, I just Google searched "most overlooked forms of oppression" and, though I would contend the most overlooked form of oppression doesn't yet have a name, it turns out, you're absolutely right. I'm sorry for doubting you. Have yourself a laugh, and duplicate my Google search. : )
Jenni,
Your post was insightful. Nice work. Class status also correlates with primary and secondary educational outcomes. So, in addition to having a difficult time collecting the resources necessary to succeed in college, individuals hampered by an underfunded school district come in a bit behind. And, let's not forget the ways in which we linguistically socialize students to behave and achieve in accordance to their identity. Anyway, again, thoughtful post.
Courtney
p.s.
Mike, please accept the colon + back parentheses as the universally accepted way of saying, just joshin' witchja. Hope you're well!
You are right Mike in stating that classism is an overlooked form of oppression. But if people really looked at everyday life, there are signs of it everywhere - in fact, my artifact article is about classism. But I digress... in regards to the article at had, to a degree, yes, persons from lower classes have more difficulty financing college if they do not qualify for scholarships, and if for some reason, they do not qualify for pell grants.
ReplyDeleteI came from a working class background and I got a few grants and small scholarships from here and there, but the majority of my college financing, 80%, come from LOANS. I did not want to struggle like my parents did, so I knew what I had to do in order to go to college. It's bad enough that class oppression hold back a lot of dreams, but it also takes the individual to jump over class obstacles and make their dreams a reality, so that they can elevate themselves into a higher class level.
Coming from a working/lower class family my mom found it imperative that I fill out scholarships and other means of going to school in order to have a fulfilling education. I myself graduated from undergrad in 4 years and my mother only made it to high school graduation. So I think that there are exceptions that can be made due to class depending on how bad you want it you can make a way as I did with getting a full ride to EMU. But I do think most literature and rhetoric that exists out there will lead people to believe that those who are lower class do not encourage their children to go to college which is very far from the truth in some cases. The oppression exists when people are forced to play into the roles that have been written into existence for them. It is often written that lower class students don't desire an education when a lot of them do, I personally think more literature on helping these students go to college should be made available.
ReplyDeleteClassism has always been around. The privileged will stay privileged, while everyone else will be told they aren't working hard enough, or they're lazy.
ReplyDeleteBunny: He's a nihilist. He doesn't care about anything.
DeleteDude: Must be exhausting.
"Do what your parents did, get a job sir." That's exactly my point...
Delete