Discussions of race and ethnicity must go hand in hand with discussions of class. The social dilemmas of race/ethnicity often intersect with the dilemmas of class. To address the issues separately is short-sighted. The trick is to give sufficient attention to both. Also, it is much easier to move policy when it is framed for helping the working-class. Race or ethnicity-based aid has little support among the mass public, only (financial) need-based aid can gain widespread public support.

Statistically, there is a higher percentage of poor black than white. In short, if you see somebody that is considered poor, there is a higher chance that that person is black. Why is is so then? Well, there is always that whole story of racism, of lack of access to facilities or of poor kids having less chance to get into Ivy League Universities.
I have come across a term: Oreo. That is not the delicious Oreo cookies sold for $4.00 at Target, but it is a term describing people with skin color as black but with an education and a life as a white. Those are the black kids in high income families. I don't know if this would be an exception to the trend mentioned above or not.
I also found it interesting when Benn-Micheals theorized that the discussion of race was just a cover up for a discussion of class. I guess that race, as a history of America, is easier for people to talk abou than class because class and class-based inequality go against the spirit, the democracy of the supposedly "free" axiom of America.

Race and class influence each other. They go hand in hand. We see people's race as their class. This is unfortunate. As Khoa mentioned the term oreo, its a shame that a persons class can be decided by their race. There really isn't a defined class system in america. The is the land of the american dream. A nobody can become a somebody. But since statistics show that other races have a higher poor percentage than others, they are deemed lower which makes diversity troubled.

I find discussions of race and class as a good point of departure to talk about theory and the everyday, specifically in terms of Judith Butler's, Gender Trouble. The everyday reality is that race, class, and gender are all intertwined. What matters is NOT any essence of these, but how identity is constructed from them and our performance regarding these identities.

In everyday language, often disparagingly used terms like WT and "ghetto" imply a class system, but one with ill-defined boundaries. The spectacle that is Jerry Springer takes a stab at both of these. This clip of a faux Springer show (with Jerry) from Domino lampoons the entire enterprise, as does much of the film.

So in this late-modern era (or whatever we're in these days) we have on one hand affluent White suburban kids consuming and identifying with a constructed rap/hip-hop urban "bling" culture that is marketed towards them by the corporate media behemoth. On the other hand, you still have others who are forced into categories based on race/class/gender.

This, in my opinion, explains our tendency as a society to be able to compartmentalize our perceptions. Different people will have different perceptions based on race/class/gender. On the interpersonal level, an individual may "see beyond" race due to (for example) a common shared identity, yet still harbor general prejudices towards that group.

That is an interesting view of the differences in society and our approaches to them. To start I think that a stronger focus on realizing identity opposed to class differences is true. This is something that can be argued on both accounts, realizing identity goes hand in hand with realizing class levels and structure. Or does it...? Race, historically speaking, played a major role in identity and the life chances for an individual to excel. Now I feel the life chances for an individual fall under the control of the individual for todays society, with thought of our generation, is rapidly moving away from racially depicting humans into categories such as blacks wont do well and whites will. Individual motivation is the essential key to promoting and succeeding. All the stories of individuals from poor neighborhoods finding a way to go to school and succeed should be proof that no matter your surroundings, the drive lies with the individual. Though communities do play a role in the actions and thought processes of these individuals as far as what is acceptable and correct actions. This is in some cases a sad state of beliefs. So many factors play into the affects of peoples actions in a society. We do focus on group acceptance at the expense of class-based concerns. We can do both instead of our current position of one over the other. We dont because of the issues lying with poverty and the majority of the cultures and races it affects... accept for a few, we fear bringing these issues to the table. Though change in this case would be for the better people fear change in most cases. Also ignorance to the real issues is playing as a barrier to fixing these problems. Many people simply dont realize or understand the things going on in society like this, or choose not to see it, both closely related. Lastly we most definitely should address these issues and emphasize both.

I believe that race and class are inseparable. In American society we tend to group class and race together. I personally believe that this is a wrong outlook for the people, but it’s hard not to in the places we live. The majority of the lower class jobs belong to minorities which our minds subconsciously link to race and class. This can greatly affect individuals in American society because they will be looked down upon by others that are in the “high class section” of society. With the way things are conducted now emphasizing group acceptance will be unsuccessful because each class has its own personal agenda that needs to be met. Until people can get by the class and race mix we will not be able to solve other obligation that people should be concerned about.

Our society is one that focuses entirely on race and pays little attention to class. With the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States and other minority men and women who hold great amounts of authority and power we see that race doesn't play affect life experiences as much as class. Race is a socially constructed idea and we allow it to affect our identities much more than it should, if we truly are all equal. Class however will truly affect a life and is why we are all different and why we all go through different experiences. Due to the history of our nation minorities are not proportionally represented in upper class areas so we will try and tie race into it. We express group acceptance as race based rather than class based which is something we should change because our race is a socially constructed idea that has a wide variety of people we should focus more on class to help us identify with who we are.

I agree most people that in the U.S race and class go together. The way most americans look at class is through the lens of race. We relate this too things. most people see a black or latino person and assume that they belong to the lower class. The same for whites, everyone sees them as the rich class. most people in lower uneducated believe that all whites are rich and that all minorites are always going to be apart of the lower class. for america race is part of us. so the easiest way to classify our slaves is by our race. this just so happen to be related to class. Class and race go hand in hand cause the trend that most black and latinos are poor and most whites are rich has been here though our history. i believe its wrong but this is how our society see one another.

I think that society has this idea that race and class go together. For example just because someone is mexican society will automatically asume that that person is lower or middle class. Where as whites are typically seen as upper class citizens. But when it comes done to it a persons race alwasy out shines there financial class. I believe that people are first looked at by there race n then their class. The emphasize that is put on race is outragous. this is a huge problem because people shouldnt be judged based on either of the two and because they are we as a society is suffering. We need to find an alternative way to. The system we have now is setting up minoritys for fail. Because stats show that the lower american class is made of of minorities it prevents these people from equal oppurtunity and we dont even realize it.If anything i think class should be looked at first then race. Race is sumthing we cant control if your going to judge sumone at least judge them by what they have done to better there lives. Race can only tell us so much about a person. But what that person does to strive for an upper class life style is what really tells what kind of person he or she is. Is it right probably not but this all our society knows and its how the government tells us to judge one another we need a new system and fast.

Most Americans seem to judge people based off of their race and assume they are from a certain class. However, this is a bias many people still believe because of how race and class has been viewed in the past. Whites have always been considered upper-class whereas blacks are usually catagorized as poor. The reality is, many blacks are high-income and extremely successful and many whites are homeless or lower-income. Times have changed and race is much less a factor that affects class. Of course there are still racial differences, but minorities are at much more of an advantage than they have been in the past.

I regret to admit that in the town that I come from judging class and race is basically the same thing. In my home town we had your upper class and your lower class, not much in between. I also come from a highly populated hispanic town. It is common to see many hispanic people biking or walking around town. Naturally ones thought would be to think that they are poor if they have to walk or ride to the place they are going. If someone in my town saw a white person riding a bike or walking around town Im positive their first thought would be "oh their just getting some exercise". I believe this outlook of race and class also has a pre-concieved notion. Somewhere along the line we were either taught to think like that, whether it be something we saw on tv or something we experienced ourselves, I believe Americans have a very unwanted judmental attitude that can only hold our nation back from fully becoming that post-racial, diverse culture we are striving for.

Race is a more broadcast subject than class so it is more widely publically discussed because it is not as sensitive a subject as class. It is easier to celebrate race and culture rather than expose race, either prosperity or lack of it.
polarization may most likely be the result of race rather than class. Race is more easily exposed than class which can be hidden. On a more restricted area people do come together based on class because for example in a suburb most in a crowd will be affluent than not. Here race may be secondary in polarization.
It is easiest to announce race in a larger group because it is a less touchy subject.

It's almost immediately obvious to whoever stops and ponders the issue that race and class are highly-related components of life in the US. By this point it doesn't seem to be any kind of controversial, multi-sided issue. We've covered a dizzying amount of statistics that show this reality through wage gaps, wealth gaps, participation in higher education, and many more areas. The evidence is all over in support of this race-class connection.

Espousing the benefits of diversity is full of rhetorical candy but does it get society anywhere? Alot of it is symbolic: one can laud diversity and tolerance, do the symbolic gestures that are required for such movements, but walk away from the situation without leaving a dent in the inequality gap between races. It's certainly is a lot easier to eat ethnic food and celebrate holiday XYZ than it is to push for legislation or start community campaigns to overcome the class aspect of this problem. The culture part is simple--the class part, the part that really still segregates in our post-racial world, is the real antagonizer.

As a society, we ought to disseminate the knowledge that class issues are the strings that currently hold race back. The more people realize that class is epicenter of tumultuous race relations, the more motivation will grow to fight this problem through direct action in legislative matters. Without the government taking action to overturn the de facto class segregation of races, the class-race gap will continue to persist. It's the same situation that greeted officials in the 50's and 60's with de facto school segregation. Those in power constitute those who have power to make the immense paradigm shift required to help equalize race-class inequalities.

I think that because of your race people automatically put you in a certain class. I don't agree with it, but that is how society is. It is kind of linked with stereotypes and who we perceive as a better race. People put certain races above others depending on class. Most people think that white people are the upper class, and blacks and latinos are lower class. Not everyone agrees with this, but that is what people think and what is shown also in the media. We don't show poor people on television, only the upper class. There are a mix of races on television, but it is mostly white people. So then we justify this by having a channel called BET (Black Entertainment Television)? We tell ourselves that we aren't racist, so then why do we have a separate channel just for one race? I could never imagine having a channel called White Entertainment Television. That would be so wrong. But all in all, race and class go together. You are in a certain class because of your race, but race is how you look, not how much you make. We need to stop stereotyping in order for us to get rid of this.

I think that race and class are looked at completely different in our society. I think class is ignored when it comes to integrating diversity. Most people think of diversity as a race issue. I think diversity should include class. The gap between the rich and the poor is getting larger and larger. I feel class is ignored and that needs to change if we want to improve the class struggle and narrow the gap between the upper and lower. For instance, when Barack Obama was running for president, all we heard about was that he was the going to be the first Black president. We have never heard anything during campaigns about the first poor president or a president from an impoverished upbringing. I think the class struggle is equally as important as the race struggle and we need to recognize this more.

It is strange that while we are growing more “racially equal” class is becoming more polarized. Race and class is definitely not the same thing but there is a strong correlation between the two. As we know, there are some minorities in the upper-class but the majority fall below the income of whites. I don’t know if we say that we are completely un-bias to race and live in such an economic polarized country. Like Khoa said, when a black person is or becomes economically advantage s/he is made fun of and called an “oreo” as if they are trying to strive to be white. In this tense, white and wealthy have become synonymous .

Just as most people said above, I too agree that race and class go hand in hand for the most part. It is easy to see those of minorities of a lower class--they often don't have as much access to nicer schools, communities, jobs, etc. However, this is not always the case. Blacks or Hispanics may be of the same class as a white person, or a white person may be of a lower class. Even so, I think it's hard to separate the two. I think this inclination to group people into class based on race is almost built into individual's minds just due to the media or society as a whole. I think race is discussed more often because it's an easier topic or not quite as touchy. We are taught in school to embrace those of different ethnicities and to celebrate diversity. However, you don't often hear people discussing their class because it's a sensitive or private issue for the most part. I think if anything, people just arise to their own conclusions about people's class based on their clothing or how they present themselves or just based on race. Our society also promotes to some degree the idea of getting ahead at any cost or just thinking of yourself as better than those around you. I think this attitude may be more true of whites because they have been seen as the superior race all throughout history so this "I'm better than you" attitude may just have been passed on through generations. I know this is definitely not true of everyone, but I know a lot of people who do think this way. On election day, one woman in the line to vote said, "So I see Obama is up in the polls. Well, the only reason that is is because all the educated people haven't got off work yet." I think a lot of people might not realize that they hold this dominant perspective of themselves or their race, but I think it might be there even in the slightest sense, whether people are aware of it or not. Just as Tyler S. was saying, I think it's common thought for people to look at a hispanic person riding a bike and think they are of a lower class and then see a white person riding a bike and think they are just getting some exercise...

The issue of race, identity, and class are all subjects that need to be looked at individually. You can not compare the three without breaking them down into individual situations. Class has typically been looked at by color as well as income but now with times changing and the world evolving it would not be fair to say that the upper class is formed by purly whites when there are more minorities working to gain wealth within this class. It would also be unfair to say that the lower class is made of purly minorities. The class and race issue needs to be looked at on an individual basis and not a stereotypical basis.

I feel as though to get the best view on society you need to discard race and class as individual categories and realize that they can intersect. It is almost impossible now a days to classify people in one category, especially today when anyone can be anything. I think that you need to stop classifying people into groups by stereotypes and take people at face value.

Benn Michael makes an interesting argument stating that colleges focus on cultural differences, involving the culture’s food and holidays. But there should be more things taken into consideration than just those factors alone. “We love race-we love identity-because we don’t love class”, is an ironic statement because race and class now in our generation tie hand and hand. People so easily prejudge people not only by their race but also by their class. One’s first thought when they think of an African American person or a Hispanic person is that they are in the lower or middle class. But due to the fact that based on statistics the majority of individuals that get a higher level education come from the White race; as a result, we simply make the conclusion that Whites are usually of the upper class. Race now a days, is the factor that leads people to determine one’s stand in the hierarchy pyramid. These prejudgments do affect individuals in the American society because they can only do so much and get so far with those first impressions they give off because of their race. I do believe we emphasize group acceptance at the expense of class-based concerns. This can be seen by the acceptance of the society to a person of the higher class and then to a person of the lower class. Of course the person from the higher class is going to get better accepted than the person from the lower class. I believe for our society to move on, first we have to be able to work from the bottom up and give less attention to the higher class. The lower class is the one that needs more resources and needs the help, so we can solve poverty and reduce the gap between the rich and the poor.

History never goes away because it is remembered by each generation that reads books and perceives the world around them. We see privileges and we notice social stereotypes. It is obvious to see what class is more elite and one can be a witness to it from watching the WE channel. For instance, the couples on the show Bridezillas are more often black than white and the couples on Platinum Weddings are all white except for the occasional Indian couples and on that note, the one only black couple I have seen on that show. Due to these reality images that we see on T.V., race and class are being distinguished as two things that coincide with one another. If this is how we perceive different races, as whites being elite and non-whites as non-elite, then this will have a huge affect on one’s own life chances in America. Judging a person’s class by their race certainly demonstrates inequalities. And because we do that, it is obvious that we truly do emphasize our appreciation for culture and racial differences because we are reluctant to recognize or acknowledge class differences. Since class is where we lack in our colorblindness, it is important that in order to truly see another individual as equal, the flame of class differences needs to be extinguished from society.

Today, I think that many people are not able to look beyond the color barrier to see the greater picture of class issues. Schools are able to teach students about cultural differences on a more simple level because they are trying to communicate with a younger generation. I think that it is important for schools to focus on the positive cultural differences between races because it enables children to understand the benefits to a diverse society. However, we must be color blind when dealing with class issues on a more mature level. This is important because society should be able to look at classes based on need, not based on race. I do not think that society ia able distinguise between class status and color blindness because different races continue to be linked to certain classes. In order for us to help lower-income classes and establish equal opportunity for all people we must first look at these issues through a colorblind eye.

Class and race both have a meaning in todays society. The lower the class, the more likely it is that someone knows and is influenced by race. The sterotypes that the construct of race are built on are part of a class system.

While race and class have an obvious tie in today's society, the tie is definitely not concrete. There are plenty of poor whites in America, just as there are wealthy, successful minority members. While race determined class in earlier years, that unwritten rule is still maintained for certain people because of the lack of education from America's race-oriented society of the past. However, as we move towards a more colorblind nation, minorities now have just as many opportunities to work hard and live the dream as any other group, and the tie is wearing thin.

I think in today’s society, race and class are viewed as having no correlation whatsoever. Like the Walter Benn Michaels article points out; diversity is connected with race, not class. When you look up diversity statistics, class is rarely mentioned. “A world where some of us don’t have enough money is a world where the differences between us present a problem: the need to get rid of inequality or to justify it.” If society has differences in race however, it presents a solution: appreciating diversity. We would rather talk about forms of diversity we can appreciate (race) versus ones that aren't appreciated (class).

Speaking in generalities, I believe that race and class are tied together in todays society. The images young people get of minorities such as blacks and hispanics is that they are generally a poor, crime commiting race. While innacurate, that is the belief that many U.S. citizens have in there mind. I believe that as we continue to progress towards being a post racial society, class will be the next classification Americans will use in seperating those from the "in" and the "out" group. I can see it already happening today. While being a racist is becoming more and more distasteful in society, judging people based on class is pretty widely accepted.

Race and class go hand in hand. The majority of minorities in this country are also in the lower class. This is not just because they are minorities. There are plenty of rich minorities and poor whites in America. We need to help these people by seeing them with colorblind eyes.

Economic disadvantage is just as hard to overcome if not harder than race, but it is hard to look at the two of these separately. It is very common that minority groups are the ones that have the lowest paying jobs and live in low income housing. Growing up in a low class family automatically makes it harder to get higher in life. When a child’s parents went to college it is much more likely that they will got to college than someone whose parents did not go to college. If the generations before you dropped out of school or never went to higher education then it won’t be encouraged to either. It might be necessary that a person must drop out of school to take care of their siblings or to make extra money to help pay the rent for the family.
Because historically people of minority races have been more likely to be in poverty and children follow in their parent’s footsteps, the gap between class and race will not go away anytime soon. I think that class and race should be looked at separately but because they are in most cases they go hand in hand that is not an easy thing to do. I don’t think that people should assume what class a person is in based on their race.

I definitely agree that there is an overall American attitude that by accepting diversity and other cultures uniqueness, we overshadow the class issues of race. As a society, by accepting other cultures' distinct foods and customs, we are alleviating or sidetracking ourselves from the real issue of class differences. However, America was founded on the basis of opportunity and while most acknowledge that some have better opportunities for success than others, Americans still believe that hard work pays off. Most Americans feel that those less privileged (aka other races as part of out-groups) can overcome these shortcomings in the flawed American economic system through hard work and determination. They believe in those few and far between success stories of professional athletes and music artists and Hollywood actors and don't hear, much less want to know, about the other side of the coin. I watch American Gangster on BET and I believe this series shows the sad, destructive nature of those trying to achieve economic success in America through any means possible (such as drug dealing) because of the lack of opportunities for them to succeed.

I'm not sure that this stereotypical American attitude towards ignoring class differences by focusing on menial and less important differences such as food and customs will change anytime soon. Most attempts in the past to try to create a more equal "economic" system have ended futilely simply due to characterizations of socialism (aka communism). I think to bypass this comparison and for the economic inequality in America to improve, we have to focus on the foundation for economic success- education! As long as educational opportunities still remain unequal among race, economic inequality will not improve.

The way we approach societal differences, such as “celebrating” race, aka masking the real issues, could possibly be beneficial because it puts class divisions aside. Cultural differences, from a historical point of view, makes or breaks an individual’s life course, whether we admit it to ourselves or not. Not until we all emerge as individuals, straying from stereotypes and discrimination can we all have an equal chance at excelling. It is the duty of our generation to deviate from racial categorization and gravitate towards community promotion, which will lead to higher social capital, and thus a more equal society. We shouldn’t fear poverty, we should attack the issue head on and change what’s holding us back from reaching our potential. People fear more competition, but it’s that fierce tension that allows people to strive to be their best. Simply said, check your judgments at the door, it’s the twenty-first century, we have just reached a milestone with our president-elect and I believe its time to focus on what matters.

The class differences in this country are becoming more and more significant. The fact that races are not coming together to help their own is a sign that we might not know exactly what is going on. I remember when I used to visit my grandparents way back when, and one day they would drive me and my sister through the inner-city, low-income neighborhoods of Kansas City. I would always wonder why they would take us on these trips, and maybe I was too young to understand. Now, I can appreciate the lessons that my grandparents would try to instill in us; social awareness. It's way too easy for rich people to stay in their rich suburban lifestyles and ignore the poverty and injustice that is sometimes just miles from them. I think that if our country was truly aware and truly concerned with the situation of this class-gap, we might be more willing to pitch in a hand.

I think if we are ever going to close the gap between rich and poor we need to start focusing on fixing race differences. There shouldn't be a stereotype that African Americans and Latinos are less likely to be properly educated. Instead of using affirmative action to help a black person get to college, we should be helping minority regions get better education in elementary school through highschool, so that when they go to apply for colleges they are not at a disadvantage because of where they grew up or got their education. I'm not sure how we would accomplish this, but I think America should at least try.

I think that race and class and definitely tied together. It is just a fact that most minorities in this country are in the low to poor class. I am not racist but when I see a rich black/latino man I automatically think rapper or basketball player. Because you just don't see rich minorities around all the time and I think that is mainly because of the disadvantages they have had to over come throughout the past and still today. I think that in the future the connection of race and class will get severed and there will be a greater diversity of races in each class.

I think that we are different from Euorpe in that respect. We as a nation have kind of thrown class out the window and chose not to focus on that part our society. Instead of focusing on class we have turned our focus to race and the roles it can play in our society. i think that it would be a good idea to bring back the problem of class. I think that if we focused on the problems of class it could help to clear up some of our problems with race. Now it won't solve it entirely but i think that it would help in facing that problem.

I think there is some group acceptance between certain races and certain classes, but not between all. I think that before my generation, there was a lot more diversity and judgement but now, people in my generation don't see race or class as a reason to see someone differently. Race forms the class hierarchy and as we move forward, race and class will hopefully disappear. Minorities are getting more opportunities than they had before and people are becoming more accepting, with the understanding that everyone needs to put food on the table, or putting their kid in day care, etc. To close the space between class, we need to close the space between races and we need to be accepting and open to each other and change.

Last class we talked about affirmative action and how it effects everyone. Some colleges use to have a point system and if you were a different race than you would get an extra amount of points. Now I can understand that an argument to this would be that the university needed to have a diverse incoming class, but I don't think acceptance should be based upon the point system. I think that it is discriminating any race when the university gave extra points to another race. That is why I believe it didn't hold up in the courts. I think that race can have an impact depending on the area where you live as well. we also talked in class about having certain groups or clubs on campus such as the BSU, the all Male club, and the all women club. I think that it is fine to have these certain groups but they have to be accepting of other people of different gender and race. It doesn't mean they are required to have a person of a different race or gender in their group, but if someone wanted to participate then they could. Being of different race can affect the chances in life. Some examples of that would be, working in a diverse workplace, having a diverse community at a university, and the fact of simply bringing different cultures together.

In the minds of Americans, there is no doubt that race overshadows class. Race is easier to identify at a glance, and people can easily hide their class. I think we do emphasize group acceptance at the expense of class concerns. Affirmative action should be aimed towards helping people of low-income families, and not just members of minority groups. It is not fair to people like Tammy form the video we say, who in desperate need of help but overlooked because they are white and "privileged". Our considerations should be a fair mix of the two- consider race and class when looking at who needs help. We need to focus on closing the gap between classes as well as races.

Society readily associates race with class. Race is a socially constructed category that can exist only when members of a society determine which physical traits are acceptable. Unlike race, class is determined by the individual. It's based on achievement and therefore, allowing the individual to directly influence their positions in the stratification system. Ironically people in the U.S. place more emphasis on race, an uncontrolled characteristic, than class, an ever changing economic and poltical standing. For instance, people assume that most minorities make up the lower class. This is because race is more noticeable and easier to determine. Class can be hidden or disguised. However, in order to move toward a post-racial nation, people need to address the way they lable others' identities.

I feel that it is stereotypical to say that race and class always go hand-in-hand, but I do believe the two are correlated to a certain degree. Most would assume whites make up the majority of the high class, although this is true does not mean that people of racial minorities do not hold a position in the high class as well. Same goes for the low class, which whites are part of as well. People make judgments based on race, when in fact that should not be the way to go about it nowadays. The only reason people do this is because race is out in the open while is not. Another factor people might want to consider is that class can change, but race cannot.

I think that it is very possible to do both, deal with class based concerns and accept others regardless of their race. This is not to say that it will be easy or that it will happen soon. Right now I think that we do emphasize accepting everyone over solving class issues. I think that we don't do both because society can only move so fast, and so well. Society is like a machine, if you try and over work it, have it accept everyone and solve the issue, without building up to doing so then the machine is going to break, but if you test both and gradually build into it then the machine will stress but not break. I definitely think that we should do both. To provide an argument for why, because everyone deserves to have opportunities, and be treated fairly. It is basic human instinct to want to be treated well, and want to be able to enjoy life/what you are doing. College is a key place where most people attempt to accept everyone equally, most people qualify as the 'poor broke college student' who is surviving on what they can scavenge out of the couch. outside of college people can tell what class someone came from and decide if they want to hang out with them accordingly, not everyone does that, but when people do it ruins the chance for them to meet some of the most interesting people who live in their area.

I feel that race is more of an issue then class because race is the first thing people look at and after that those people judge them before they can get to know them from everything we see on TV and in the media. I would say class would have a little part in acceptance for example in the tammy video we saw in class and how the son has all his friends in a higher class than him but he also said he wouldn't want them to go over to his house because he didn't want them to see what it looked like and everything. I feel like we should do both because it need to happen so we wont have all this racism and judging anymore it getting old.

It seems to me that whenever we talk about inequality in class it always seems to have some sort of connection to class. When we discuss education, jobs, housing and residential segregation, incarceration rates, or really any other topic that we've focused on this year, the conversation always somehow touches on class. Because of the history this country has had in terms of race and race relations, there is an enormous economic gap between the races which is undeniable. It is this gap which causes much of the prejudice we encounter in the world today.

By trying to "fix" inequality by focusing on less controversial issues of cultural differences such as food and holidays, we are avoiding the greater issues at hand. We need to be forced to face the history of economic disparity and poverty as it relates to inequality in order to address the real issues we encounter today.

It seems that people tend to look down upon lower classes, and want to be completely disassociated with those who belong to them. As a culture, we tend to group race and class status together somewhat. Class and status are very important. Many upper class people would not want to associate with or be seen with someone from a lower class or socioeconomic standing. But while class is very important to people, I think that race still matters to most people more. Although there is not really any research done on it, i think that there are many people would prefer to be around someone of their own racial "ingroup" even if they are in a lower class rather than someone from their racial "outgroup" who may be in the same class as them. Also, it can be hard sometimes to look at someone and know what class they are, however it is usually always clear by looking to see what race someone is.

I dont believe that the gap between rich and poor will ever be able to be fixed completley. It may become narrower, but as sad as it sounds, i beieve that there is always going to be a race that recieves better social status. I do agree that to help narrow the gap, there cannot be the stereotype of certain racial groups living in less fortunate areas with less opportunity. How are we going to fix this is the question, and only time will tell.

We dont always realize it but race and ethnicity has a lot to do with class at the same time. Class is an important factor that walks hand in hand with race and ethnicity. We have seen in class that the on a wealth chart, the blacks are down below while the whites percentage is higher. It has been proven, whites income is higher than any other groups. We have also seen and concluded that the gap between them is the result of a lot of factors. For instance, history, education, generations etc.
We however tend to ignore class and focus on race discrimination without realizing that one is the results of the other and vice versa. We love diversity, we promote diversity. Maybe thats why the society doesnt see that we are ignoring race and focusing on race discrimination just because they are trying to make things for the better. nothing will be perfect and as long as we ignore those other factors (class), discrimination will exist for a long period of time.

I believe people are looked at from all angles now. I believe that back in the day you would see color and categorize people. I even hear stories from my dad when he got back from Vietnam and tried to become a firefighter and black people would get hired before him because they had to meet like a quota. (Affirmative action)

But now I believe you see people from different views. Careers, social-standing, clothes, people you are with, views, etc etc. I believe we still see race, but that is not all we see now - and I think that is although small - but is definitely a improvement.