Social Class- a Matter of Status or Something More?

     By now (hopefully), you watched the smart and funny documentary "People Like Us". The documentary discusses class in the United States and looks at it from various points of view. I don't want to discuss the documentary too much because it's your job to discuss the documentary this week on your blog. I do want to discuss the key point of the documentary.  What does social class mean in the United States?
     Based on the discussions that we had in class, it seems that class means a lot of things to different people.  For some, class is represented in what we can afford to buy, irrespective of our income or occupation. For others, class represents how we carry ourselves, our education, occupation, the family we belong to, etc.
    This question was key to both Weber and Marx's theoretical frameworks. Weber believed that class is comprised of wealth, power, and prestige (please refer to your text for details), while Marx believed that class was represented by two groups who owned the means of production and those who worked for wages for their survival.  Additionally, Marx believed that the owning class and workers were in constant conflict as the owning class continues to suppress the wages of workers in an effort to increase their own profits.  Both theorists wrote about class during the onset of the Industrial Revolution as they witnessed the growth of capitalism. However, their writings are relevant to today's society and the world economy.
     Today, we still face an economic crisis worldwide. We see the gains of workers being retracted on a daily basis in the form of loss wages, benefits, and in many cases layoffs and unemployment. We've seen in the last two decades American jobs and workers replaced by workers overseas who are willing to work at lower wages to survive.  In the last year, we've witnessed a call to action by the Occupy Wall Street Movement to reduce the advantages of the One Percent. At the same time, we see politicians (and average workers) defending the earnings of the One Percent, as they believe this group creates jobs and opportunities for advancement for the other 99%.  Yet and still, we are constantly bombarded with images of living the glamorous life through luxury cars, jewels, homes and clothing. What is going on? What is class and what does it look like today? Who truly benefits from the glamorous lifestyles that we as Americans try to create for ourselves and who loses?   Check out this link on two issues: The Buffet Rule: http://www.npr.org/2011/09/20/140627334/millionaires-in-congress-weigh-new-tax-on-wealthy
and the New Poor: http://www.npr.org/2012/04/22/151166529/poverty-in-america-defining-the-new-poor
and then you decide.  Whatever you think, class affects all of us in the United States and worldwide. I also added some links to podcasts that discuss poverty in the United States.  Until next week...

New Measure Shows Higher Poverty Rate In US 
http://www.npr.org/2011/11/07/142105558/new-measure-shows-higher-poverty-rate-in-u-s
Poverty Spiked to 15%
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/09/13/140428940/poverty-rate-spiked-to-15-1-percent-last-year-highest-since-1993

To be Deviant or not to be Deviant, You Decide.

    A couple of weeks ago, I was stopped on the street, not once but twice, by police officers in my neighborhood within the space of five minutes. It was early in the evening at around 5 pm. The funny thing about it was that I was stopped on my way out of the grocery store a few blocks up the street from my apartment.  I was expecting some friends and family over and went to the grocery to pick up some last minute items for the event.  As I walked out of the grocery, three police officers stopped me and asked me about a stabbing.  I told them that I didn't know what they were referring to and asked why I was stopped. One of the officers said that I fit the description, which sounded like a cliche from a bad cops and robbers tv show.  I asked them to describe the person that they were looking for and how I "fit" the description. Another officer said that the perpetrator had dreadlocks. I laughed to myself even though I was furious. I couldn't let my outrage show or else I would be down at the tombs for the evening while my friends and family waited around for me at my apartment.  I asked the officers in what other ways did I "fit"the description. The officer told me to listen to the profile and I would see how I fit the description. At that moment, the radio buzzed with the description. The perp had on a blue short sleeve shirt with blue jeans. I had on a pair of gray sweatpants with a velcro blue sweat jacket. Somewhat flippant, I said to the officer that the only thing that I had in common with the perp was that I had dreads. The officer told me to calm down that they were just doing their job. I told him that I didn't need to calm down and that I was being harassed. I said that I clearly did not "fit" the description and that I was leaving. At this point, I had to be careful because anything I said or did would trigger the cops to escalate the situation even though I wasn't the person they were looking for at the moment. The officers let me go with no apology or acknowledgement that a mistake had been made.
    I started walking to the Duane Reade located one block away to get some cash. As I walked out of the Duane Reade two officers stopped me and asked me to stop and that they needed to talk to me. At this point, I was really hot under the collar. I explained that I was stopped literally one block away five minutes ago and that I wasn't the person that they were looking for. One of the officers, a black man, told me that they needed to search me. I asked him why. He explained that he was doing his job and that he needed to see my ID. I told him that he was racially profiling me. At this point I didn't give a damn about being taken into custody, I wasn't going to have my rights violated. He asked me what I was talking about and explained that he was doing his job. He then proceeded to write down my name and identification information. I asked him why he needed to do that and he said that it was the procedure that all officers had to do when they stopped someone. What he didn't realize was that I had just been stopped and the officers never collected any of my personal information.
    How does this relate to deviance you may ask? Well let's review some of the themes we discussed throughout the semester. I was stopped because I fit the description, but what does this mean? Because I have dreads? Because I am male? Black? It could be all of these things or just one. Clearly, the officers believed that they are doing their job. On the other hand, it seems that as a member of a sub-culture, men like me are stopped constantly because we "fit" the description. Oftentimes, because we are black and male. At that moment, it doesn't matter if I am a professor, a resident of the neighborhood and an owner, I'm just a black man. The deviant behavior or role that I carry isn't something that I earned but is something that was ascribed to me simply because I was born black. While some of you may argue that the officers had a legitimate reason to stop me, you would be outraged if you were stopped for whatever attributes you possess, especially if you have no say over being a part of the group that is being characterized as deviant.
    The other thing to remember is that deviance is often the result of the rules/norms that the dominant culture decides as appropriate for the society. These rules are enacted through policies such as "stop and frisk", where the minority group has little if anything to say on the rules, even if they are wrong or unfair. Data shows that stop and frisk policies show no difference in crimes committed by blacks and Latinos compared to their white and Asian counterparts. The question becomes, why have the policy if it doesn't result in any difference in the people who are stopped or who is actually committing crimes. This is a question you have to ask yourself. 
     I want you to think of instances where you are labeled deviant. Is it because of something you did or some other reason? Does it  have to do with you violating a social rule or society deeming norms that don't fit with the status that you have been assigned? Until next week...