The United States of America is a classless and egalitarian society.

1
The United States of America is a classless and
egalitarian society.

• Do you agree or disagree with that statement?

2
How Much Do You Know About Wealth, Poverty, and
the American Dream?

• True or False?
• People no longer believe in the American Dream.

3
How Much Do You Know About Wealth, Poverty, and
the American Dream?

• False.
• The American Dream appears to be alive and well.
  U.S. culture places a strong emphasis on the goal
  of monetary success, and many people use legal or
  illegal means to attempt to achieve that goal.

4
Dimensions of Social Inequality in the United
States
5
How Much Do You Know About Wealth, Poverty, and
the American Dream?

• True or False?
• One in three U.S. children will be poor at some
  point of their childhood.

6
How Much Do You Know About Wealth, Poverty, and
the American Dream?

• True.
• According to recent data from the Childrens
  Defense Fund, one in three U.S. children will
  live in a family that is below the official
  poverty line at some point in their childhood.
• For some of these children, poverty will be a
  persistent problem throughout their childhood and
  youth.

7
What Is Social Stratification

• The hierarchical arrangement of large social
  groups based on their control over basic
  resources.
• Stratification involves patterns of structural
  inequality associated with membership in these
  groups.
• Resources are anything valued in a society
  (money, property, medical care, education).
• Life chances refers to the extent to which
  individuals have access to resources.

8
Social Mobility (family tree handout)

• The movement of individuals or groups from one
  level in a stratification system to another.
• Intergenerational mobility is the social movement
  experienced by family members from one generation
  to the next.
• Intragenerational mobility is the social movement
  of individuals within their own lifetime.

9
Class System

• The class system is a type of stratification
  based on the ownership and control of resources
  and on the type of work people do.
• What class of people are there in CB?
• What are the characteristics that tell you
  someones social class?

10
People in the US are stratified based on the
following

• Income Prestige
• Wealth Education
• Power

11
Income

• Wages or salaries from work and earnings from
  investments.

12
Income

• Wages or salaries from work and earnings from
  investments.
• Distribution of Income in the US
• Top 5th 47
• Next 5th 24
• Third 5th 16
• Fourth 5th 10
• Bottom 5th 4

13
Distribution of Pretax Income in the United States
14
Average After-Tax Family Income in the U.S.
15
Median Income by State
16
Wealth

• Total value of money and other assets, minus
  outstanding debts.
• Distribution of Wealth in the US
• Top 5th
• Next 5th
• Third 5th
• Fourth 5th
• Bottom 5th

17
Wealth

• Total value of money and other assets, minus
  outstanding debts.
• Distribution of Wealth in the US
• Top 5th 80
• Next 5th 15
• Third 5th 5
• Fourth 5th less than 1
• Bottom 5th less than 1

18
Significance of Wealth ..\..\Chapter Eight-
New\Wealthn statistics.docx ..\..\Chapter
Eight- New\wealth.pdf

• Wealth is the starting line for the next
  generation- helping finance children's education,
  helping them through hard times, or helping with
  the down payment on their own home.
• Economists estimate 50-80 of one's lifetime
  wealth accumulation can be traced to this head
  start.
• As wealth gets passed down from generation to
  generation, the legacy of past discrimination
  accumulates, giving different classes vastly
  different life chances.

19
Race and Wealth

• Today, the net worth of the average white family
  is Eight times as much as the average black
  family.
• Probably no one statistic better captures the
  cumulative disadvantage of past discrimination
  than wealth.
• Even at the same income levels, whites still
  have, on average, twice as much wealth as
  nonwhites.
• Much of this difference is due to the different
  rates of home ownership and the different values
  of homes in white and Black neighborhoods.

20
Household Income by Race/Ethnicity in the U.S.
21
Power

• The ability to get people to do what you want.

22
Schooling

• Affects both occupation and income.

23
Prestige

• Respect
• Primarily based on Occupation
• White Collar
• Blue Collar
• Pink Collar

24
Webers Multidimensional Approach to Social
Stratification
25
Prestige Ratings for Selected Occupations 1996
and 1963
Score Score
Occupation 1996 1963
Physician 86 93
Attorney 75 89
College professor 74 90
Dentist 72 88
Grade school teacher 64 82
26
Prestige Ratings for Selected Occupations 1996
and 1963
Score Score
Occupation 1996 1963
Police Officer 60 72
Mail Carrier 47 66
Garbage collector 28 39
Janitor 22 48
Shoe shiner 9 34
27
Webers model of class

• Upper Class - comprised of people who own
  substantial income-producing assets.
• Upper-Middle Class - based on university degrees,
  authority on the job, and high income.
• Middle Class - a minimum of a high school
  diploma or a community college degree.

28
Webers model of class

• Working Class - semiskilled workers, in routine,
  mechanized jobs, and workers in pink collar
  occupations.
• Working Poor - live just above to just below the
  poverty line.
• Underclass - people who are poor, seldom
  employed, and caught in long-term deprivation.

29
Income and Wealth

• Income - wages, salaries, government aid, and
  property
• Wealth - value of economic assets, including
  income and property.
• Socioeconomic status (SES) refers to a combined
  measure that attempts to classify individuals,
  families, or households in terms of factors such
  as income, occupation, and education to determine
  class location.

30
Stratification Based on Education, Occupation and
Income
31
Defining Poverty

• Sociologists distinguish between absolute and
  relative poverty.
• Absolute poverty exists when people do not have
  the means to secure the most basic necessities of
  life.
• Relative poverty exists when people may be able
  to afford basic necessities but are still unable
  to maintain an average standard of living.

32
Population without Health Insurance U.S.
33
Distribution of Poverty in the U.S.
Education All Races White African American Hispanic
No diploma 22.3 18.0 32.9 25.0
High School Graduate 9.6 7.4 19.6 14.7
Some college 6.6 5.5 11.0 9.7
College degree (or more) 3.3 2.6 5.3 6.5
34
Distribution of Poverty in the U.S.
Age All White African American Hispanic
Under 18 16.3 9.5 30.2 28.0
1824 16.3 12.3 26.8 21.0
25-44 9.8 6.7 17.5 17.9
45-64 8.7 6.9 17.2 15.8
65 and above 10.1 8.1 21.9 21.8
35
Feminization of Poverty

• The trend in which women are disproportionately
  represented among individuals living in poverty.
• Women single heads of households bear the major
  economic and emotional burdens of raising
  children but earn between 70 and 80 cents for
  every dollar a male worker earns.

36
Why do people tend to underestimate
stratification in the United States?

• In principle, the law gives equal standing to
  all.
• Our culture celebrates individual autonomy and
  achievement.
• We tend to interact with people like ourselves.
• The United States is an affluent society with and
  overall high standard of living.

37
What does it mean to feel invisible in our
society?
38
How do you explain this schools fascination with
the mullet?

• Is there a class issue?

39
Consider the following question

• To what extent does the United States have a
  class system and to what extent does the United
  States have a caste system?

40
Classes is the United States

• Upper-Class
• Upper-Uppers
• Lower-Uppers
• Middle Class
• Upper Middles
• Average Middles
• The Working Class
• The Lower Class

41
How should someones salary be determined?
42
Compare the information you researched about CEO
compensation.

• Compare the FIVE companies you each chose.
• What is your reaction to the information
  presented there?
• Do these CEOs deserve their pay?

43
Executive Pay around the World

• According to the Economist,
• in Japan a typical executive makes 11 times what
  a typical worker brings home.
• In Germany, 12 times.
• In Britain, 22 times.
• In Mexico, 47 Times.

44
Executive Pay around the World

• In America a typical executive makes 475 times
  what a typical worker brings home.
• Is this an issue for concern?

45
Executive Pay ..\..\Chapter Eight- New\Executive
Compensation.docx

• In 1968, the head of General Motors received
  about 4 million in today's dollars - and that
  was considered extravagant.
• In 2004, Scott Lee Jr., Wal-Mart's chief
  executive, was paid 17.5 million. That is, every
  two weeks Mr. Lee was paid about as much as his
  average employee will earn in a lifetime.

46
Poverty is the worst form of violence.

• - Mahatma Gandhi

47
Poverty Thresholds in the US for 2001 by Size of
Family

• One person 9,214
• Two persons 11,859
• Three persons 13,853
• Four persons 18,267
• Five persons 22,029
• Six persons 25,337

48
Who are the poor?

• Age
• Race and Ethnicity
• Gender and family patterns

49
Who are the poor?

• Age- children are most likely to be poor
• Race and Ethnicity- 2/3 of poor people are white
  but minorities are disproportionately more likely
  to be poor.
• Gender and family patterns- women and female
  headed households. Effects of divorce.

50
Poverty in the United States

• About 31.1 million people were poor in 2000.
• Blacks (22.1 percent) and female-householder
  families (24.7 percent) had their lowest measured
  poverty rates in 2000.
• In 1993, the Black poverty rate was 23.2
  percentage points higher than that for White
  non-Hispanics by 2000 this difference had fallen
  to 14.6 percentage points.

51
Poverty in the United States- Children Hunger
Facts.doc

• Americas children are almost twice as likely to
  live in poverty as Americans in any other age
  group.
• 37 percent of American children (27 million
  children) live in low-income families.
• 16 percent of children (over 11 million children)
  live in poverty.
• The United States child poverty rate is often
  two-to-three times higher than that of most other
  major Western industrialized nations.

52
The Working Poor in the United States

• In 1996 17.1 percent of the heads of poor
  families labored for fifty or more hours a week.
• Poor family members in 2000 were more likely to
  be living with at least one worker than they were
  at the most recent poverty rate peak in 1993.

53
Is it more accurate to blame society or blame the
poor for poverty in America?
54
The United States should initiate a class-based
affirmative action program for college admission
and company hiring.
Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree
Somewhat Disagree Somewhat Agree
55

• When I gave food to the poor, they called me a
  saint. When I asked why the poor were hungry,
  they called me a communist.
• - Dom H. Camara

56
Social Mobility- Myth vs. Reality

• Social Mobility, at least among men, has been
  fairly high.
• The long term trend in social mobility has been
  upward.
• Within a single generation, social mobility is
  usually incremental, not dramatic.
• The Short term trend has been stagnation with
  some polarization.

57
Is the American Dream still a reality?
58
Is the American Dream still a reality?

• For many workers, earnings have stalled.
• Multiple job-holding is up.
• More jobs offer little income.
• Young people are remaining at home.

59
The distribution of income has changed markedly
from 1977-99
60
(No Transcript)
61
Race and Ethnicity
62
Race and Racism

• The mind of a bigot is like the pupil of the eye
  the more light you pour on it, the more it will
  contract.
• - Oliver Wendell Holmes
• A great many people think they are thinking when
  they are merely rearranging their prejudices.
• - Edward R. Murrow
• Prejudices are what fools use for reason.
• - Voltaire

63
What race is this guy?
64
What race is this guy?

• Tiger Woods is one-eighth Native American,
  one-eighth African-American, one-quarter white,
  one-quarter Chinese and one-quarter Thai.
• So why isn't anyone excited about the first Thai
  player to win the Masters? And who has said a
  word about a Native American breaking the
  boundaries of exclusivity?

65
Social Meaning of Race and Ethnicity

• Race- category composed of people who share
  biological traits that members of society deem
  socially important.
• Race is a social construction.

66
Social Meaning of Race and Ethnicity

• Ethnicity- A shared cultural heritage.

67
Levels of Minority-Majority interaction

• Pluralism
• Assimilation
• Segregation
• Genocide

68
Levels of Minority-Majority interaction

• Pluralism- is a state in which racial and ethnic
  minorities are distinct but have social parity.
• Assimilation- is the process by which minorities
  gradually adopt patterns of the dominate culture.
• Segregation- physical and social separation of
  categories of people.
• Genocide- systematic annihilation of one category
  of people by another.

69
Do you go to a segregated school?
70
Do you go to a segregated school?

• De Jure segregation
• De Facto segregation

71
Do you believe that schools are more segregated
today than they were in 1954?

• Look at the study from Harvard University.

72
Race in the United States (2000)

• White 75.1
• Black 12.3
• American Indian 0.9
• Asian 3.6
• Hispanic (of any race) 12.5
• Two or more races 2.4

73
Stratification in Southeastern PA

• Use the census information to compare Bucks and
  Philadelphia counties.
• Identify THREE pieces of information that you
  find important or interesting.
• Formulate TWO questions you have about the data.
• Create ONE general statement that summarizes the
  information.

74
Poor People in Pennsylvania
75
Why arent we integrated?

• and is integration really what people want?

76
Barriers to integration

• Prejudice- rigid and irrational generalizations
  about an entire category of people.
• Discrimination- treating various categories of
  people differently.

77
Patterns of Discrimination and Prejudice

• Robert Merton
• Active Bigot
• Timid Bigot
• Fair-Weather Liberal
• All-Weather Liberal

78
Patterns of Discrimination and Prejudice
Discriminate Prejudiced Yes No
Yes Active Bigot Timid Bigot
No Fair-Weather Liberal All-Weather Liberal
79
Patterns of Discrimination and Prejudice
80
Stereotypes
81
Prejudice

• Stereotypes- prejudicial views about a category
  of people. Since they involve emotions, they are
  hard to change.
• Racism- belief that one racial category is
  innately superior or inferior to another.
• Theories of Prejudice
• Scapegoat Theory
• Authoritarian Personality Theory
• Cultural Theory
• Conflict Theory

82
Discrimination

• Examples of Discrimination?
• Institutional Discrimination
• Is it possible to have an institution that
  discriminates even if no one who works in the
  institution is prejudiced?

83
Are these Got Milk?ads racist?
84
Institutional Racism?

• Studies suggest that 70 percent of
  African-Americans, 50 percent of Hispanics, and
  90 percent of Asians have trouble digesting
  lactose, while only 15 percent of Caucasians do.
  In other words, milk makes them sick.
• Some say that the USDA's indifference to lactose
  intolerance is reflective of the federal
  government's lack of concern for the particular
  health needs of minorities.

85
White-skin privilege

• The slick thing about whiteness is that you can
  reap the benefits of a racist society without
  personally being a racist -John A.
  Powell
• Legal scholar

86
Examples of white-skin privilege

• Being able to turn on the television and see
  people of their race widely and accurately
  represented.
• Never being asked to speak on behalf of their
  entire race.
• Being able to buy "flesh" colored band-aids which
  closely match their skin.   
• Being pretty sure that if they go into a business
  to speak with the person in charge they will be
  facing a person of your race.
• Others?

87
Discuss your impressions of the race websites
with a partner.
88
Readings

• Evaluate the positions of Tim Wise and Bill Cosby
  on race in American and decide who has a more
  effective approach to increasing equality.

89
What questions do you have about race/racism?

• For example, questions about all black TV
  stations, use of the N word, interracial
  relationships, etc.

90
Consequences of RacismOn the minority or target
group

• Low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and
  physical illness.
• Internalized racism (Unquestioned acceptance of
  the myth of racial inferiority).
• Limited access to necessary and desired
  resources.
• Limited freedom and death.

91
On the majority or dominant group

• Continued ignorance of and isolation from others.
  
• A challenge to humanistic values, creating an
  impairment of moral development.
• Pressure to maintain the status quo.
• Perpetuation of group conformity, which limits
  individual and intellectual growth and undermines
  authentic relationships.

92
What can we do to help race relations in the US?
93
Some Possible Solutions Individual Level

• Individuals holding each other accountable for
  recognizing and countering racial beliefs and
  practices.
• Majority individuals engaging in diversity
  trainings and joining minority individuals in
  grass root efforts to combat racism.
• Individuals engaging in cross-cultural
  friendships and relationships.

94
Some Possible SolutionsInstitutional Level

• Insure minorities full participation in the
  political system.
• Inclusion of ethnically diverse contributions,
  values, and perspectives into the educational
  curriculum and practices.
• The implementation of a laws and strategies that
  aim to give those who for generations have been
  and continue to be denied the opportunity of a
  higher education.

95
Some Possible Solutions Cultural Level

• A media system that portrays minorities in a
  realistic rather than stereotypical and negative
  light.
• Celebration, education, and integration of
  different cultural traditions into society.

96
Some gender issues

• Sexism is the belief that one sex is innately
  superior to the other.
• Gender Stratification refers to a societys
  unequal distribution of wealth, power and
  privilege between men and women.

97
Use pp 326-333 to complete this graphic organizer
Men Women
Occupations
Housework
Income and Wealth
Educational attainment
Politics
98
Use pp 326-333 to complete this graphic organizer

• How do you account for the differences presented
  on your chart?

99
Are women a minority?
100
Womens websites

• How many of the women had you heard of on the
  Women Pioneers Trailblazers page?
• What did you learn from the information
  presented?
• What is the purpose and audience for the
  feminist.org/ and oxygen.com websites?
• What was your impression of all these sites?

101
Homophobia

• An irrational fear of gay people.

102
Are the elderly a minority?
103
illustration

• Review the information covered in this unit.
• Consider the extent and basis of stratification
  in the United States.
• Draw a political cartoon that illustrates the
  stratification system in the US.
• Demonstrate understanding of the concepts.
• Demonstrate a position on the topic.
• Demonstrate effort in your drawing.