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kidwithknife -> RE: Invisability of 'whiteness' (12/6/2008 4:12:57 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: RealityLicks
And if class is so problematic, why do working class girls do so much better than their brothers? Could it be that the macho, working class essentialism embodied everywhere from rap culture to the football terrace - while being invaluable in imbuing confidence - works against boys acquiring the skills they'll need to progress?
Although middle class males do better then working class girls.
I think that's a dangerous road to go down anyway. While I'm sure this isn't your intention, it's getting a bit close to "undeserving poor" theories for comfort. You also see a very similar argument sometimes made about race- that the reason for the higher unemployment level among black Britons is cultural.
On top of that, it ignores the question of the unconscious rewarding of middle class cultural values, at the expense of working class ones, by the educational system itself.
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The overall picture isn't simply about educational achievement and careers. If you look at how graduates of all backgrounds fare in later life, it's pretty clear which ones are least likely to be employed, promoted etc.
Yes, but by that point the issue of racism has already come into play I think. As I mentioned before, I'd see racism as the factor that means that a higher perecentage of areas with a large ethnic minority population are poor. Therefore, if you only look at it just in terms of graduates, you're actually missing out the experience of a large proportion of non-whites in the first place. (If you're stating that white graduates from a working class background are more likely to be promoted/employed then middle class ethnic minority graduates, I'd want to see some evidence of that before responding. I don't have the statistics myself, so I could be wrong. But I'm dubious about that being the case).
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But the OP is more thought-provoking when it touches on wider issues of social comfort and outsider status. To do that, let's compare like with like, let's consider the experiences of middle class people of different races. Who is more likely to be upgraded to first class at the check-in, or to be asked for a second form of ID by an official, or to be automatically considered to be in the right if in conflict with someone of another race?
Ah, certainly. If we take that approach I think we're broadly in agreement. Because my argument is not that racism does not exist, or that there is no privilege in being white at all. My argument is that racism largely takes place within the advantages or disadvantages provided by socio-economic class, it doesn't transcend it. If it's necessary to only compare whites and non-whites within a single class, that would seem to be to be de facto acceptance of that point.
To clarify my position, I'd actually see it as very similar to that of Bobby Seale of the Black Panthers. (This quote may well be of use/interest to the OP in her studies I think).
Those who want to obscure the struggle with ethnic differences are the ones who are aiding and maintaining the exploitation of the masses of the people: poor whites, poor blacks, browns, red Indians, poor Chinese and Japanese, and the workers at large.
Racism and ethnic differences allow the power structure to exploit the masses of workers in this country, because that's the key by which they maintain their control. To divide the people and conquer them is the objective of the power structure. It's the ruling class, the very small minority, the few avaricious, demagogic hogs and rats who control and infest the government. The ruling class and their running dogs, their lackeys, their bootlickers, their Toms and their black racists, their cultural nationalists - they're all the running dogs of the ruling class. These are the ones who help to maintain and aid the power structure by perpetuating their racist attitudes and using racism as a means to divide the people. But it's really the small, minority ruling class that is dominating, exploiting, and oppressing the working and laboring people.
All of us are laboring-class people, employed or unemployed, and our unity has got to be based on the practical necessities of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, if that means anything to anybody. It's got to be based on the practical things like the survival of people and people's right to self-determination, to iron out the problems that exist. So in essence it is not at all a race struggle. We're rapidly educating people to this. In our view it is a class struggle between the massive proletarian working class and the small, minority ruling class. Working-class people of all colors must unite against the exploitative, oppressive ruling class. So let me emphasize again - we believe our fight is a class struggle and not a race struggle.
(From Seize the Time)
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