James McBride talks about
The Help, Hattie McDaniel, why black women are still winning awards for playing maids, how black culture is appropriated and represented, and whether marginalized groups in America all serve the purpose of "cultural maids".
[more inside]
posted by nakedmolerats
on Jan 30, 2012 -
58 comments
The Percentages: A Biography of Class. An autobiographical essay about growing up in the working class (as the author defines it) and then meeting the middle class (again, as the author defines it).
This is so far outside my experience that I can't even summarize it properly, but it's worth reading.
posted by d. z. wang
on Oct 16, 2011 -
123 comments
This week has seen a lot of discussion of the American criminal justice system and its failings, and a lot of concern about what can be done to fix it.
In 1947, a working class black man looked like he was about to have the full weight of the system brought down on him for taking justice into his own hands. But after Chicago leftists - including labor unions, religious leaders, artists, civil rights activists & others - launched a movement,
James Hickman was set free after an all-white jury, in a trial presided over by a white judge, failed to convict, and the DA chose not to re-try because of the magnitude of public support for Hickman.
According to a
review in The Nation,
a new book tells the story in a way that turns the typical right-wing biases of the true crime genre on their head.
[more inside]
posted by univac
on Sep 22, 2011 -
11 comments
Monica Potts on Louis CK and privilege: "For the most part, people of color are the ones who initiate serious discussions about race and privilege in the public sphere -- and in the world of comedy ... Some white comedians, like Sarah Silverman, tend to joke
about racism, making fun of white people and their ignorance in ways that shock and offend. ... But Louis' comedy is about being a white man -- and about how others view white men. He doesn't accept ignorance as a point of view. Moreover, this isn't the occasional stand-up bit; a significant number of his jokes are about race, class, and gender."
[more inside]
posted by l33tpolicywonk
on Oct 15, 2010 -
75 comments
"[Bank robber Peter Barry] Lawrence, 71, made his getaway in his wheelchair, with $2,000 in cash on his lap... he took a meandering route down Seventh Avenue until the police caught up with him five minutes later.
But that was all part of the plan." And an embedded reporter in Afghanistan notes that "
many young soldiers told me that they actually live better in the army, even when deployed, than they did in civilian life, where they couldn't make ends meet, especially when they were trying to pay for college or raise a family by working one or two low-wage jobs" (
p. 1). Meanwhile, "parents of means are now resorting to
buying franchise businesses to keep their adult children employed." Economic life in contemporary America.
posted by rkent
on Aug 3, 2010 -
48 comments
"Welcome to the simplicity movement, the ethos whose mantras are "cutting back," "focusing on the essentials," "reconnecting to the land" - and talking, talking, talking about how fulfilled it all makes you feel." Charlotte Allen of In Character about the Simplicity Movement, magazines, wild boars, virtue, and 350$ riding boots.
posted by The Whelk
on Apr 25, 2010 -
75 comments
In 1937, the London News Chronicle published a photograph of five boys at the gates of Lord's cricket ground; two stood aloof in top hats and tails, with their backs to a group of three working-class lads. The resulting photograph became famous as a metaphor for the class divide in Britain, appearing in newspaper stories about school reform, inequality and bourgeois guilt and on the
covers of books. The photograph appeared in the Getty Images archive as "
Toffs and Toughs", and even was printed on a jigsaw puzzle in 2004. The identities of the three working-class boys were unknown until a journalist tracked them down in 1998;
here is an article on the history of the photograph and the lives of the five boys in it.
posted by acb
on Mar 23, 2010 -
36 comments
The Costs of Becoming a Journalist: "Journalists born since 1970 predominantly come from middle class to upper middle class backgrounds. And Journalism ranks third in the list of the most socially exclusive professions, just behind doctors and lawyers." One reason: "a prerequisite for entrance into a career in journalism is at least one internship experience, and ... many, if not most, are unpaid." For some of the problems with unpaid internship:
Take This Internship and Shove It
posted by shetterly
on Sep 28, 2009 -
70 comments
Privileges:
Gender: 10 things only men can do (Askmen.com),
male privilege (wiki),
21 Things Women Can Do That Guys Can't (Cosmo),
female privilege (2 3 4 5).
Race: white privilege (wiki).
Sexual orientation: straight privilege (2) (wiki),
cisgendered privilege.
Body: able-bodied privilege,
non-fat privilege.
Money: non-poor privilege (2),
class privilege (PDF).
Demographics: Christian privilege,
American privilege,
adult privilege,
black male privilege,
Muslim male privilege.
Combo: gamer privilege,
male programmer privilege.
Criticism and essays: victim privilege, "
Point of Privilege", "
We can't be equal while ... ", "
Where's My Extra Piece of the Pie?". And, lest this become too serious:
pirate privilege and
lolcat privilege (the latter via).
(Covered in smaller scope previously.)
posted by WCityMike
on Aug 15, 2008 -
156 comments
Social Class in the US and UK Lynne Murphy, a linguist from the US living in the UK, looks at the differences in class distinctions through the lens of the language we use to talk about them.
posted by mosessis
on Apr 30, 2008 -
51 comments
The Trap. Are you a young, college educated liberal who can't afford health care or a place to live? In his new
book,
Daniel Brook says you are getting screwed by being forced to choose between a job that you would actually like or selling out so you can have a middle class lifestyle.
posted by afu
on Sep 29, 2007 -
114 comments
Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace: "Hegemonic American teens (i.e. middle/upper class, college bound teens from upwards mobile or well off families) are all on or switching to
Facebook. Marginalized teens, teens from poorer or less educated backgrounds, subculturally-identified teens, and other non-hegemonic teens continue to be drawn to
MySpace. A class division has emerged and it is playing out in the aesthetics, the kinds of advertising, and the policy decisions being made." (
Related blog post)
posted by heatherann
on Jun 25, 2007 -
143 comments
