Thesis: Today’s way to success is deviated from the “traditional concept”; it is affected by many different factors, such as social class, education, and race.
I. Success
1. the dream for all: how people perceive the gateway to success
2. the real gateway to success: how social class, race, and education affect the pathway
II. education and social class
1. how different schooling method based on different social class
2. how people evaluate schooling and education from different social class
3. how schooling and education related and how they related to success
III. Race
1. negative: how opportunities are limited in different aspect
2. race and social class relation
3. cause of racism
IV. Success in different aspect and definition
1. material success: materialism and capitalism
2. spiritual success
Bibliography
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Cesari, Jocelyne. “When Islam and Democracy Meet: Muslims in Europe and in the
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Fredrickson, George M. “Racism, a short history”. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press.
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Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s Press, 2007. 153-159
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Mantsios, Gregory. “Class in America - 2003” Rereading American Ed. Gary Columbo.
7th edition. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s Press, 2007. 307-322
Parrillo, Vincent N. “Causes of Prejudice” Rereading America Ed. Gary Columbo. 7th
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Soto, Gary. “Looking for Work” Rereading American Ed. Gary Columbe. 7th edition.
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Terkel, Studs. “Stephen Cruz” Rereading American Ed. Gary Columbe. 7th edition.
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Works Cited
Anyon, Jean. “From Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work” Rereading
America Ed. Gary Columbo. 7th Edition. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s Press, 2007.
173-188
Applebaum, Barbara. "White Complicity and Social Justice Education: Can One Be
Culpable without Being Liable?." Educational Theory 57.4 (01 Nov. 2007): 453-
467. ERIC. EBSCO. University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, TX. 7 Apr.
2009.
Bonilla-Silva, “Eduardo. Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the
Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States”. New York: Roman &
Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 2003
Brown, M., Miles, R.” Racism”. 2nd Edition. New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis
Group. 2003
Cesari, Jocelyne. “When Islam and Democracy Meet: Muslims in Europe and in the
United States”. New York: Palgrave Macmillan Press, 2004
Cole, S. & Parker, A. Ed. “Beyond Black and White: Race Ethnicity, and Gender in the
U.S. South and Southwest” 1st Edition. College Station: Texas A&M University
Press, 2004
Craughwell, Thomas J. “The Book of Art” New York: Black Dog & Leventhal
Publishers. Inc., 2008
Gatto, John Taylor. “Against School” Rereading America Ed. Gary Columbo. 7th Edition.
Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s Press, 2007. 153-159
Gruener, J., Queen, S. “Social Pathology: Obstacles to Social Participation” Racism:
Essential Readings. Ed. Cashmore, E & Jennings, J. 1st Edition. London: SAGE
Publications, 2001. 18-26
Mantsios, Gregory. “Class in America - 2003” Rereading American Ed. Gary Columbo.
7th edition. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s Press, 2007. 307-322
Parrillo, Vincent N. “Causes of Prejudice” Rereading America Ed. Gary Columbo. 7th
Edition. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s Press, 2007 504-518
Smedley, Audrey, and Brian D. Smedley.. "Race as Biology Is Fiction, Racism as a
Social Problem Is Real: Anthropological and Historical Perspectives on the Social
Construction of Race." American Psychologist 60.1 (01 Jan. 2005): 16-26. ERIC.
EBSCO. University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, TX. 7 Apr. 2009
Soto, Gary. “Looking for Work” Rereading American Ed. Gary Columbe. 7th edition.
Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s Press, 2007. 26-31
Terkel, Studs. “Stephen Cruz” Rereading American Ed. Gary Columbe. 7th edition.
Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s Press, 2007. 353-358
Warren, Simon. "Migration, Race and Education: Evidence-Based Policy or Institutional
Racism?." Race, Ethnicity and Education 10.4 (01 Dec. 2007): 367-385. ERIC.
EBSCO. University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, TX.. 7 Apr. 2009
Article
We all have trying to achieve our dreams, our goals at least once in our lifetime. Some people succeed, some failed. Even we have failed, we will keep trying until we gave up. There are many reasons we give up our dreams. We often blame on other individuals who took the opportunities away from us, but sometimes we blame ourselves for not working hard enough. We believe working hard is the key to open the gate of success (Terkel.) Society and media have told us that the elements to attain success are education, opportunity, and hard working; however, according to what Cruz claimed to Terkel, “…the dream is being governed by a few people’s notion of what the dream is.” (357) Today’s way to success is deviated from the “traditional concept”; it is affected by many different factors, such as social class, education, and race.
According to Mantsios, “ the wealthiest 1 percent of the American population holds 38 percent of the total national wealth,” (310), and also that the gap in between the richest and the poorest are getting larger, the conclusion could be drawn as – the rich people own the most opportunity within their own class. In order to keep owning the opportunities to their social class, education, most in related to schooling, is one of the most important way to accomplish such goal, as it teaches the next generation how to preserve the opportunities and stay in the same social class.
The purpose of schooling is differing according to different social class. The executive elite school is trying to make the students educated and thoughtful. To stimulate student’s abilities to observe problem, analyze structure, and solve the problem. The people of next generation must have the abilities, practical or psychological skills such as variety of experience and critical thinking, to separate them from other class group and thus maintain in the upper division of the social class. Similar to the upper social class schooling, the purpose of schooling for the working class is also to maintain the social status. Although the school system provides a small opportunity for the working class to improve their life status, however, the main function is to keep the working class group within the same group. School for the working class are aiming for student’s critical thinking or exposes them to different opportunities to gain lie experience, rather, to train students to stop thinking ahead and not having interested in the knowledge (Applebaum.) The students from this class are not able to express their neither thoughts nor creativities freely. Not only is the school system training obedient students, but well-trained workers. Working class especially, is that schooling aiming for: to manipulate large labor force (Gatto.) The working class is a major component of today’s society; however, it is a class with the most limitation regarding to schooling (Applebaum.)
School is one way of receiving education, however, as the school system divided, the education volume and quality is differ depending on which social class category the school in under. The inequality is just what Warren mentioned that the education is not equal to schooling, it is equal to the social status. Therefore, the education the working class students receive is far different than the upper social class student. Schooling is not an essential element of success for the working class, even it is strongly recommended (Warren.) From what students have been learning, success is something needed to be earned through hard work even it is not always the case. Many people struggle for living but still blaming themselves that they are not working hard enough for their situation. Schooling is not often agreeable to the working class people, but it certainly is recognized by the executive class though its educational value as well as it’s function: maintaining the stability of the upper social class.
To the working class, schooling is not entirely useless or valueless, but depending on the attitude people have; since it proved people opportunity to enter a field of career, it is also an opportunity leads people to another social class. For example, an artist does not need a college diploma to enter the field. There are many great artists are considering as the masters of art such as van Gogh, Hilliard, or West. They are the masters from the past and their paintings are still often to be taught in art school (Craughwell.) However, in today’s world, a college diploma is essential for someone is going to have a stable career in the art field. Despite the free working artists, people who desire stable income and considered to be hired, a certificate or the same kind is always important. To some extent, working class does not need such if the position from the generation is being passed to the next, which is exact what the upper people wishes, the people in control. Therefore, it is easy to understand how the schooling and the education system is made and also how well the goal is being achieved. And for the middle class, which has not mentioned in the previous paragraphs, are not being considered in this big map, since the middle class is already disappearing (Smedley.) Slowly, the upper class is collecting all the resources and wealth as much as they can, thus the gap in between the rich and the poor increases.
People within the same group of the social class might not realize the differences between the upper class and the working class, however, there is another factor that people can see most likely in their own everyday lives that also is an element for people to succeed – race.
Racial discrimination is a long time issue people arguing even today. “Although Americans have traditionally treated race relations as a matter of black and white, race in this country is much more complex” (Cole, XI.) According to Mantsios, the chances of being poor in America: white male/female is 1 in 10, white female head is 1 in 5, Hispanic male/female is 1 in 5, Hispanic female head is 1 in 3, black male/female is 1 in 5, and black female head is 1 in 3. The data he provided has shown the inequality and also the racial status of the society that being the black or Hispanic are in the more disadvantage side of the balance. However, “most whites insist that minorities (especially blacks) are the ones responsible for whatever “race problem” we have in this country” says by Bonilla-Silva, “They publicly denounce blacks for “playing the race card,” for demanding the maintenance of unnecessary and divisive race-based programs, such as affirmative action, and for crying “racism” whenever they are criticized by whites” (1.) The reality is, blacks receive impolite treatments in public places, and in a host of many commercial transactions. Researchers have also documented that blacks pay more for goods such as cars and houses than the whites do. Finally, they are the target of racial profiling by the police that, combined with the highly racialized criminal court system, they are more likely to be overrepresentation among those arrested, prosecuted, incarcerated, and if charged for a capital crime, executed. (Bonilla-Silva 2)
Not only many people are not realize the inequality between different racial group still exist, they often refuse to recognize they are actually one of the people how create this inequality. Such that when “…whites enter the labor market, they feel entitled to vent their resentment in a relatively straightforward manner,” analyzed by Bonilla-Silva. “No need to sweeten the pill when [they] feel morally entitled to a job or promotion over all blacks, since [they] believe [the blacks] are “not qualified,” when [they] believe the taxes [they] pay are being largely wasted on “welfare-dependent blacks,” when [they] convinced that blacks use discrimination as an excuse to cover up for their own inadequacies” (71.) Similar to what Brown has mentioned in his book, “consequently, employers rank people present in the labour market. Where the resulting hierarchy is constructed in such a qay that the qualities of individuals are perceived as representative of a wider collectivity, and where the individual is deemed to possess the criteria that designate membership of that collectivity, the question of suitability may be determined by reference to the perceived qualities of the collectivity rather than to those of the individual applicant” (132.) In a more simple way to revise Brown’s claim is that: when the white people are viewing a colored person, instead of seeing how he or she is, but seeing as his or her color and the racial group of that person belongs to. Just as what Brown has tried to clarify later in the paragraph, “… the recruitment of labour is racialized. That is, the labour market is perceived to include members of different “races”, each of which is seen to possess a range of different skills and abilities which distinguish that group as a supposed “race”” (132.) Further more, “most whites believe that if blacks and other minorities would just stop thinking about the past, work hard, and complain less (particularly about racial discrimination), then Americans of all hues could “all get along”” ( Bonilla-Silva, 1.) Although the inequality and the racial conflict are the issue still presenting everyday, even now, most white people still believe it is something already occurred, and no longer exist. The concept Bonilla-Silva mentioned above is one of the factor that the black and the Hispanic people are having harder time to achieve their goal, their dream, and to be considering as a successful person. The society refuse to give equal opportunity to the colored people as the society believes the white people are having greater professional skill and ability over the colored people (Cesari.) Not only it is harder for the colored people to success, but also it makes the colored people often fall into the lower social class.
However, just as not all the whites recognized the racial conflict nowadays, but also the colored people. They are not likely to try to change their living status, probably due to lack of hope, or lack of opportunity. Queen and Gruener have observed, “[the black and Hispanic people] appear to accept their situation without feeling, or at least without expectation of change.” In addition, as they continue, “whether they are really apathetic or merely inarticulate is hard to tell. At all events, they make little if any effort to alter their conditions of life. This general group of reactions seems to involve recognition of white superiority. Sometimes it includes imitation of the white people. The urge to be like white folk manifests itself variously, in the seeking of a mate who is lighter colored than oneself, dreaming of being white, and , in some cases, attempting to pass as white” (25.)
One of the examples that is an evident to Queen and Gruener’s observation is from Soto’s story of his childhood. As a little Mexican boy lived on an ordinary block of mostly working class people, knew the difference between the rich and the poor, and also the relationships between the people in different race. He had a sense of the white people are more success than the people in his race. He saw white families on TV as he describes “there were no beatings, no rifts in the family,” he continues, “they wore bright clothes; toys tumbled from their closets…they hurried through the day making friends and gobs of money, returning home to a warmly lit living room, and then dinner” (29.) The image of such a wonderful family left Soto an impression of the social differences between upper class and lower class, and in order to be happy, he must be one of the people in the upper class (Soto.); the definition of happiness thus becomes the definition of success as well as what a person should be pursuing. Further more, Soto tried to convince his family to change in order to make the upper social class families accept his family when he mentioned, “I tried to convince them that if we improved the way we looked we might get along better in life. White people…might not hat us so much.” (30) He not only understood the differences of social classes, but also understood that the most important element was to make the upper class people accept his family in order to achieve his dream – to be successful and to be happy.
Reason for the racism is clear and easy according to Brown, “… it was natural for people to prefer to live among “their own kind”, and therefore to discriminate against those not considered pat of that community.” (61) In our natural beings, we are likely to grouping ourselves and discriminate other group in order to survive back in the old days. Even such jungle grouping method of living style is no longer apply to most of the society today, especially U.S., the nature is still within all of us. However, there more reasons people can study into. One of the reasons is due to the dissatisfaction of people’s lives.
Recall to what Parrillo claimed and similar to what Smedley has analyzed, that frustration is the result of the lack of resources, rewards, in one’s standing of living in comparison with those of others in the society. In another words, people are frustrated when they are dissatisfied. “Frustrated people may easily strike out against the perceived cause of their frustration. However, this reaction may not be possible because the true source of the frustration is often too nebulous to be identified or too powerful to act against” (Parrillo, 511.) As a result, people release this frustration on the colored people by discriminating against them. Whites often blame colored people as a way out of their negative feelings (Warren.) They think they are dissatisfied with their lives due to the presence of the colored people. Thus, the conflict between whites and the colored people, especially blacks, deepens.
Conflicts in society are often hard problems to solve because of the negative concepts, which are often passed down to the other generations from parents (Warren.) In such an example of the socialization process, individuals acquire the values, attitudes beliefs, and perceptions of their culture or subculture (Parrillo.) This includes religion, nationality, and social class (Cesari.) The conflicts with races in society are culturally based instead of individually based. If a person developed negative attitudes about colored people from his or her parents, when he or she becomes an adult, they will take actions against colored people. But they might not realize the reason for these actions and feelings, because they were instilled at a young age (Parrillo, 515.)
Many people have the tendency to put other people down in order to lift up themselves, the upper class, will keep a low profile and enclose the resources that exist until they decide someone from the outside circle is allowed to join (Terkel.) Eventually, the colored people are often the target for such inequality. Not only they are more likely to be exclude from the group they are in, such as job or social group, also more likely to be pressed downward regarding to the bottom of the rank. However, what if the colored individual is one of the upper social classman? The situation will not change dramatically. Many minorities plays against within the individual of their own group, according to Cesari, that even the people from the same country also plays against each other. The competition is even harsher when the two individual’s benefit conflict, which in another words, if two are against each other for resources and wealth, they will be against each other regardless of the background or which racial group the individual is coming from. Such conflict is certainly not a desirable issue to occur when our goal is to create an utopian society. However, as long as people discriminate each other, such issue is difficult to avoid and solve.
The definition of success of society today is more inclined to material and career success instead of spiritual happiness. Regarding material success, reality is much crueler than people expect. Materialism and capitalism lead people to not caring of others; such that people will try to get whatever they want without of thinking others since the wealth they gain is what they believe they “deserve.” However, such social system and ideology of materialism and capitalism are the core issue of how the society shape today: gap or rich and poor, discrimination, social class structure. The line in between “materialism” and “greedy” is very blurry when comes to define it. Not only both are trying to gather all the wealth and material as one’s best, but also both are perusing something that is physically presenting. For example, open a fashion magazine, over half of the volume is about the advertisements of some expensive brands and what is their newest products. Also, through media, people are falling into the replacement marketing trap the businesspeople create to let the consumers to buy their product. However, the effect replacement marketing is wider than superficial effect and it plants into people’s hearts. People believe the material they are going to consume is going to make them to be who they want to be. They become more confident and feel better about themselves. However, in order for them to enjoy the grace the material bring to them, they have to work harder to preserve their resources as well to take over other people’s resources in order to gain their own wealth. Thus, people become materialism, and further more, they become greedy.
Many people are not rich, but they are happy. This is a myth that many upper social class people do not understand. How can one be poor but happy? This statement seems to be contradiction but it is not. “Poor” is a word of how the individual’s economy or monetary mean; it means without money when it is under the monetary situation. Happiness is a state or mind: satisfaction, and enjoyment. One of course can be poor and happy, since it means two different states. Success in a spiritual way is a path to satisfaction. One can be success or fail, but it is not depend on other people nor the society, but how one is going to learn, and how he or she is grow though every day lives. One doesn’t need to be rich to be happy, but satisfied what he or she has, and the enjoyment he or she receive and create from the environment and one self. The happiness is what the most important thing, people often ignore the importance of the state of mind. The mind gives people courage to face every day challenge, it makes people laugh and cry; it is what makes people feel alive. One can achieve the spiritual success only if he or she wants to from the depth of his or her heart.
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