Unit Four Ethnographic Notes B & D

Ethnographic Notes B

Socio-economic class is a form of hierarchic status in that a person or a group is classified based upon their economic success or wealthiness. Especially in the US, the gaps amongst social classes are apparent that negatively segregate people and categorize them into particular levels. In reality, most Americans are dependent on credit cards and work constantly to pay for their debts. Some people are not really the owners of their houses, their cars because they use money from the bank loan to afford it. Also in American society, if you are in lower social class, you also have fewer chances to approach successes because social relationships and life backgrounds are crucial factors to determine your opportunity to successes. In fact, people could acquire a great amount of opportunities brought from family’s supports and social relationships that highly guarantees and enhances a chance of being successful.

On BC campus, socio-economic class is diverse with students from different social backgrounds integrated in one class.

 Students in middle class driving used cars to school.

Some students riding bikes to school to save some gas and maintenance fees.

Some students taking bus to school...

while the upper class' students driving super cars and living in premium housings.

Ethnographic Notes D – Discussion Topics
 
2c) Critically review and discuss the contents of the following site on class in America Class in America: The Unspoken Divide http://www.wksu.org/news/features/classinamerica/class-meaning/index.html

  

In modern American society, the gap amongst social classes is clear more than ever. “Class” is the segregation based upon economic statuses and educational levels. In compare to educational levels, classes divided by economic statuses seems more obvious and popular in capitalist society. In that, people in lower social class are mostly seen as lazy, deceitful, self-contempt, greedy and willing to do whatever it takes to meet their material needs. In reality, when talking about the lower social class, instead of using the “poor” word, the intellectuals and most people use “underclass” or “economically disenfranchised” to imply the poverty. That is definitely a problem when poverty is avoided to be mentioned directly as it becomes an ambiguous implication by society. Also, it is understandable that not anyone who is hard working could make enough money to serve their basic needs and putting food on the table for their family. In addition, in people’s belief, there is no way for the economically disadvantage people to have a rich and meaningful life. It means that poor people have nothing and have to wallow in a painful, valueless and lack of happiness life. To most people, living a value life is synonymous with having successes and material achievements. Nonetheless, the poverty is a culture in that the dignity and integrity not money define a person’s value. According to the society, the poor class is a lazy class, the reason they are poor because they are not hardworking enough. In fact, it is not the laziness made poor people not to work, it is because of the lack of humanity towards them in the jobs offered. 

Rich Vs. Poor

The lower class Americans

The upper class Americans

Also, an element that contributes to the segregation of human beings in society is education. Indeed, a well-educated person is always perceived as the one who could obtain a sustainable life, amend society and even sometime change the world with their devotion and ambition. Certainly, in social perceptions, a person with a good outcome of schooling becomes an educated person and vice versa, you would be called under-educated if you do not have a good life after completing school. In the United States where an education is on top of the world, it is clear to conceive that education is not equal due to the differences of public and private schools. Even though an entrance exam does not exist here when you get into college or university like most other countries, there is still a large number of Americans are high school graduates. In reality, adult education is not free and the most common choice is public school. Nonetheless, government supplies money for public school then it leads to an unequal quality in facilities, instructors between poor areas and rich areas. It does reflect the gap amongst social classes’ differences in America’s society. 

Public school students

Private school students