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Andrew Snavely
Professor Hamlett
English 101
4 December 2014
Social Equality: Americas Challenge to Move Forward
The United States is the place where we citizens strive not to discriminate no
matter the race, gender, sexual orientation, or social status. Throughout our history, the
improvements of issues such as racial discrimination and gender discrimination have made great
strides, but the one movement that hasnt made any strides is classism in America. Classism is
differential treatment based on social class or perceived social class. Classism is the systematic
oppression of subordinated class groups to advantage and strengthen the dominant class groups.
Its the systematic assignment of characteristics of worth and ability based on social class
(Bobo). Americas class structure is broken into three different classes. The upper class
incredibly only makes up one percent of the U.S. population and has the power to control the
lower class and middle class. Chances are you have never thought about this enough to analyze
your earliest recognition of class differences, especially if you were not living in poverty. You
may have believed the myth: we are all taught in the United States that there is no class
stratification or that we are all "equal," and that caste or class systems exist only in other places,
"third world" societies, places such as India or Pakistan, for instance(Garrity). The lack of
recognizing this problem may contribute to why the movement hasnt started a snowball effect,
but recently, movies and novels have provided greater evidence of why this is a growing issue in
the United States. One novel that displays this societal discrimination is He, She, and It by
Marge Piercy. In the novel, there is unmistakable evidence that there is class discrimination. The

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novel is a futuristic idea from Marge Piercy of what the United States will look like in the near
future, and if the discrimination is happening there, then it is likely that it can happen in the real
world, and unlike the novel, the time table for which this can happen could arrive sooner than
people think. The disparity of classism in America is a paradox of the foundations this country
was found upon. According to Thomas Jefferson everyone has the equal right to life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness. Due to the ideals and philosophies that makes America a first world
country are that citizens shouldnt either be millionaires or homeless on the street. There needs to
be a better system where everyone is living lives ideal for a balanced society. The argument has
come across whether wealth should be distributed equally or the concept of determining ones
success. In addition, do other aspects within these classes need to be adjusted to make class
discrimination disappear entirely? Understanding these aspects of classism and the history of
other social movements can hopefully create a movement to stop class discrimination which is
evident in Americas social culture and media.
The novel, He, She, and It provide a couple examples of classism throughout the novel.
The biggest evidences of class discrimination had to be the conflicts between Yakamura-Stichen
(Y-S) and Tikva. Y-S, which is a corporation that strives off technological advances that is on
top of class chain, tries to take control of the free town of Tikva for their cyborg Yod. Tikva,
which is nothing like Y-S in any form is being threaten and harassed to give up what is theirs is
classism. The corporation and the free town of Tikva werent the only evidence of class
discrimination; classism was presented at the individual level as well. Josh, who is Shiras
husband, was in a custody battle with Shira for their child Ari. The legal system of Y-S granted
full custody ownership to Josh based on the fact that Josh was a higher rank than Shira. Y-S
didnt even look at which parent was the better fit for Ari or which parent was less abusive to

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Ari, but to give custody to a child to the parent that is in higher social class is unfair. Marge
Piercy use of class discrimination may or may not have been intentional, but whatever the
intentions were, problems with classism went unnoticed in the novel. This is normal for
Americans for a number of reasons.
There are there three phases to which America denies that there is such a problem as in
classism. People brush off the idea of classism because they are in denial that there even such
thing as classism. The first phase or problem of why there is not a movement is because no one is
speaking up on the problem. People that see classism as a problem are tempted to speak up is
because the public does not see classism as a problem and do not care for someone that is telling
them that there is a problem. Recent studies show that there are problems with classism such as
distribution of wealth. By one measure, U.S. income inequality is the highest its been since
1928. The U.S is more unequal than most of its developed-world peers. The black-white income
gap in the gap in the U.S. has persisted. Americans are relatively unconcerned about the wide
income gap between rich and poor. Wealth inequality is even greater than income inequality
(Desilver). As the gap in wealth distributions continue to grow, more and more people will be
affected and people will take action for their rights. The second phase is that the people that are
actually causing the discrimination are in denial that they are committing a crime. These people
consist of people in the upper class that needs people in middle class or lower class to do what
the upper class wants. For example, someone in the city council strongly suggests that project
homes must be destroyed and in place to build a shopping center to increase revenue for the city.
In contrary, the council member that suggest the idea might solve the problem of financial
shortage for the city, but the member fails to recognize that by destroying the project homes,
he/she has destroyed the homes for all the citizens living in that project structure. These people

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are also unaware that they can cause more harm than good. The third phase is that when people
are made aware of classism, then they are unwilling to do anything about it is because they are in
a frenzy to accept it. The mindset of these people wants to do too much and want to change
everything to fix the problem. In the case of the council, citizens want to change the whole
system of how the government is run. The problem is that restarting the government from scratch
can be simplified by making decisions that will make all the people happy, and not excluding
citizens such as the lower class. These three phases should not discourage people to speak up on
something that arent right. The same rules apply to issues such as sexism and racism, so why
shouldnt it apply to classism?
Social movements in some people eyes could be what make America great. The land for
the free and the land for opportunity is also the land for the people to be equal. It is also the great
privilege that all people have right to free speech. People like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. used
that right to make differences in what it means to be equal. The history of racism has been
bloody, chaotic, and heartless. At the start of unionization of the United States, African
Americans had absolutely no rights and were slaves that worked themselves to death without free
will. It wasnt until Abraham Lincoln who started to change the race equality. Lincoln was the
person who ended slavery for African Americans as well as other minorities. When slavery
ended, it didnt eliminate the discrimination of races. For more than a hundred years, African
Americans in particular have been the subject to hate crimes. It went to the point to where
schools allowed segregation between whites and blacks. It finally reached a boiling point where
the African Americans needed to make a change. A mass movement of peaceful protests
throughout the United States and Dr. King was the leader of it all. The movement created so
much impact to where race segregation and discrimination is almost eliminated from America.

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There are still cases where racism still exists like the events that are happening in Ferguson,
Missouri where there are still movements in demand for equality. The same type of events and
movements can happen for classism. For the most part, racism movements have been generally
successful, so why cant classism have the same type of results. Unlike racism, classism
generates little noise because there isnt as much cases where class discriminations make media
headlines. People cannot do anything if they are not aware of the issue. It is important for people
to know the characteristics that classify for class discrimination.
Classism has small categories for why certain citizens are classified in certain classes.
Categories such as race, culture, and education can effect where a certain citizen is placed on a
social class system, but this is not cemented in place. There are certainly exceptions. Social class
is formally known from what type of success and what type of education one citizen has. Success
comes with education for the most part, and class is reflected through it. The higher the
education a person has, the more likely the higher social class that one person is classified in and
vice versa. So why doesnt everyone get an education so everyone can be in the same social
class? Unfortunately, its not always that easy. There are always cases where people do not make
the right decisions, but there are some cases where there are children that want an education, but
the children dont have many privileges to help them get that education. For example, there is
plenty of case where there are young adults that have promising futures where they can further
their education after high school, but the lack of money in poverty homes forces the young adults
living in these homes to sacrifice their education. There is no more a single culture of womanness or of African American-ness. And yet, some of us who would be immediately critical of a
book or workshop on how to teach to all women or all African Americans-as if all women or
African Americans learn in the same way-tend to apply such a narrow lens when it comes to

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economically disadvantaged students (Gorski). Also, what effects how much of an education
someone achieves is culture. Culture for many people is the backbone to someones mindset. A
familys culture can certainly pave the blueprint of how much an education future generations
will achieve. One familys culture could be that no one in the family had ever attended college,
then is more likely that future generations will also not attend college where as a family that has
common theme for attending college. Another category that belongs in classism is race. Like
culture, race is obliviously family oriented and can represent what a specific class may look like.
There is one strong viewpoint that can very alarming and awaken a growing concern is that
classism is an alter form of racism. The fact that most of the lower class being minorities and that
the majority of the upper class being white can put out the theory. Are white Americans finding
more efficient ways to discriminate minorities through social class or are the two issues
completely unrelated? There are studies too complex to generate a positive answer, but one study
conducted by David W. Allen shows that African American were getting blamed because they
help cause a greater increase of toxic pollution in poverty areas. The studies show that as African
Americans increased in poverty areas, the pollution also increased. The complexity of the study
cannot show how one race can cause so much harm to the environment, and to eliminate several
other variables from the study is criminal. Paul Gorski analyzed the connections with culture,
education, and race and what effects it has on poverty. His founding provide evidence that the
lower class are certainly at a disadvantage and are set up to lose. The characteristics of classism
are being more present more than ever, and people are showing the signs through media.
The evidence for which classism is increasing through the media is something that
shouldnt be ignored. Media outlets such as films are showing growing signs that classism is a
growing issue. Films such as Gattaca and The Island are based on social classes and how one

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class is being discriminated. Gattaca, directed by Andrew Niccol and released in 1997, was
based on elite class where only the best of the best were selected to work for. The people were
selected by their genetics. Vincent, the main character of the film, was discriminated from
Gattaca because he wasnt born with the right genes to be approved, but he loved astronomy and
did whatever was necessary to get into Gattaca. Even though Vincent didnt have the right genes
for Gattaca, he found a way into Gattaca and he was the top prospect in the class. Vincent was
certainly at a disadvantage from his genes but proved that gene selection shouldnt be the method
of acceptance and discriminating him on his status. Another element in the film is that in
Gattaca, the members of Gattaca thought of people from outside of Gattaca as unworthy and
would challenge them as a class. Anton who is Vincents genetically advanced brother which
could be accepted into Gattaca always looked down on Vincent as weak and unworthy. Anton
always would challenge Vincent in swimming competitions to see which one was the superior
class. The movie The Island, directed by Michael Bay and released in 2005, was like Gattaca,
but the upper class citizens paid large sums of money to have their DNA cloned to create another
person. These clones were created to use in case of an organ failure to the upper class citizen.
The clones were their own class in a way. This class was stripped of all their rights and had no
privileges. The corporation that ran the cloning operation did give these clones life, but that
doesnt mean they can be controlled by like pets. Also, the upper class citizens that were able to
pay for this technology were given unfair privileges. How about the citizens from the middle
class and lower class? This technology can help increase the average human life and should not
be limited to one class that can pay for it. This is clear form of discrimination and regulations
through the government should have been made. These two films are just a small sample of the
growing increase of evidence in classism through media and are certainly growing as the years

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pass along, but it doesnt have to be this way. For classism to end, it will take the people to come
together and fight for their rights.
For classism to end in America, it will take some effort from the citizens as well the
United States government to reestablish new standards to fix a growing issue. It will take
cooperation between the two to make any real strides. Strides like making a difference in the
economy can help reshape America. The government needs to recognize the income gaps and or
find a way where the lower class can catch up to where they are not at a disadvantage. Telling
the truth about wealth is risky and unpopular. We are silenced, denigrated, labeled, and even
criminalized if we say these things too loudly or often. If enough of us were to join together and
keep telling the truth we could win concessions; we could help many others to know the truth.
We could help many others to realize that it is not the lack of character, ingenuity, or worthiness
that keeps them poor. They could know that it is the deliberate acts and policies of the wealthy
classes that keeps privilege and adequate resources from them and stigmatizes them for needing
anything (Garrity). One solution to help the unprivileged is to help the communication between
the upper class and lower class. According to Kathryn Newton, classism silences healthy
dialogue, and takes responsibility for introducing and exploring social class issues. People need
to embrace that everyone is different and something like individual status shouldnt separate the
people into groups. The people must also look at the history of the United States and the people
who help shaped it. The movements for racial equality have made tremendous strides, as well as
womens rights. These movements were more apparent in Americans minds, but it does not
mean that classism cannot do that as well. Americans will find emotion toward classism because
there are plenty of people that are affected by it. There are relatives or close friends that may
live in a low income home and is directly impacted by poverty. It could also be you that is

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affected by classism. We care because it is the only way we can affirm our shared humanity and
our connections to each other and to the entire universe. We care because we know that there is
plenty to meet everyones needs if no one is allowed to hoard and exploit wealth for themselves.
We care because we all deserve to live with adequate food, shelter, and comfort. We care
because if we all had what we deserve, the world would be infinitely safer, and warmer. We care
because we ALL benefit if the truth prevails (Garrity). We can choose to do nothing and accept
that there are people in the United States that are struggling to get by in life and on top of it all,
they are being taken advantaged by people that are more privileged than them. In my eyes, I see
that as a crime and action needs to take place. There are people in the United States that feel the
same way such as Marge Piercy which certainly see the path that the United States is headed
toward and is expressing her image of what the class system will look like in her novel.

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Works Cited
Allen, David W. "Social Class, Race, And Toxic Releases In American Counties, 1995." Social
Science Journal 38.1 (2001): 13. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Nov. 2014
Bobo, Kim. "What Is Classism." Class Action. Chuck Collins, Jennifer Ladd, Maynard Seider,
and Felice Yeskel, n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2014.
Desilver, Drew. "5 Facts about Economic Inequality." Pew Research Center RSS. N.p., 7 Jan.
2014. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.
Garrity, Rose. "Classism: Why Should We Care?." Off Our Backs 35.1/2 (2005): 2223. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.
Gattaca. Dir. Andrew Niccol. By Andrew Niccol. Perf. Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman.
Columbia Pictures, 1997. Film.
Gorski, Paul C. "The Question Of Class." Education Digest 73.2 (2007): 30-33. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.
Newton, Kathryn. "A Two-Fold Unveiling: Unmasking Classism In Group Work." Journal For
Specialists In Group Work 35.3 (2010): 212-219. Education Research Complete. Web. 22
Nov. 2014.
Piercy, Marge. He, She, and It: A Novel. New York: Knopf, 1991. Print.
The Island. Dir. Michael Bay. Perf. Scarlett Johansson and Ewan McGregor. Dreamworks
Pictures, 2005. Film.

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