Courteney Healey
English 1050
Sue Briggs
4/25/2015
Essay Two Diversity Issue
In our society today we see many diverse issues based on class. We see much of the
majority with power and the minority without. The issue we see today, and what we have read in
our readings, is the unfair treatment of such classes to one another. The requirements for the
classes do not necessarily have to be based on income, but also include race, gender, and
ethnicity. At times we are classified due to these requirements; however it is possible for us to
change our class. We have every opportunity to rise above and grow, or to do nothing about it,
and even to lose everything and lower ourselves in society.
Steven Greenhouse wrote Worked Over and Overworked, in his piece he mentions many
situations where the income for the labor is low in jobs here in the United States. He even says
“Economic studies show that income inequality in the United States is so great that it more
closely resembles the inequality of a third world country than that of an advanced industrial
nation.” (pg 406) One might question if this is so, why and how do we have an Upper, Middle
and Lower class? He uses many examples of families where parents are taking on second jobs,
mothers with young children at home are working to help her husband provide for the family,
and yet that still only puts them at Middle Class. (pg 406) Greenhouse opened my eyes to just
how difficult it is to live comfortably today. I was impacted to hear how not only workers lack
money but benefits as well. It is nearly impossible to have one income per household today.
Jamie Banks, a student, has chosen a career in nursing, where the pay that she receives is well
enough to provide for her family. However like she said, not many are able to achieve as such,
and people “deserve a basic wage high enough to sustain their families”. (Week 12)
Slum tours have become more popular due to urban populations developing. Kennedy Odede said
it is where people in Upper classes would go to see “how the other half lives” (pg 519). Today we hear
about all different types of tours and service trips to go and see other cultures. And Odede made it
perfectly clear that it was something to experience, that “no matter how well intentioned, [no one] could
ever understand” (pg 519) He explains that people come to understand the poverty and leave with a better
idea of the conditions of others. He talks about the visitors who come to see this example of Lower Class,
he says “Slum tourism is a one-way street: They get photos; we lose a piece of our dignity.” (pg 519) I
was strongly impacted by Odede and the expressions he shared towards slum tours and the class that he is
in.
Gloria Anzaldúa wrote How To Tame a Wild Tongue, she explains how her ethnicity classifies
her, and more importantly her language identifies her. She says “I am my language. Until I can take pride
in my language, I cannot take pride in myself.” (pg 525) Here in the US, the English language is the
majority; however we are seeing more minority languages becoming more common. I do agree that it is
good to learn more than one language; however English should be a language that everyone can use to
communicate. In week 4, Monica Bhatia said from her personal life, “I was born and raised here in
Utah and English was my first language but, I still had to take a English as a second language
and was kind of offended. But, it makes sense to me how she felt and Language is a big deal and
you don't really know how big of deal it is until you are in the situation.” Different ethnicities are
a way to group or class a society. Not only depending on language, but music, food, and culture.
In Marjane Satrapi The Veil, women in Iran during “The Islamic Revolution” it became a
rule to wear a veil in school. They were put into a class based off of where they lived and their
culture. She spoke of the confusion and the separation that this classification brought. Satrapi
helps us to understand that even though you can change your class, there are still physical and
visual appearances for any cultures. (pg. 362) However the European culture tried hard to change
that by banning burqas and headscarves in France. This class “calls for a complete separation of
church and state and they are meant to integrate Muslim women as citizens of a secular
republic.” (pg 544) This is an example of a higher class trying to demolish a minority and by so
doing, “violates their human rights by hiding their face and, by extension, their identity as a
person.” (pg 545)
These have all been examples of how different classes have been discriminated against.
Another group that we have talked about in class is that of gender. Delilah Montoya wrote
Women Boxers: The New Warriors. Here she describes a generation of women when the roles
didn’t necessarily change between a man and a woman, but the woman became malcriadas. A
definition used for malcriadas is “a woman who will not behave and is determined to do what
she wants, regardless of what society rules or even good sense dictates.” (pg 211) Instead of
classifying women as taking on many feminine qualities or talents, they are now taking on some
masculine roles. More women today are working instead of staying at home, more are passionate
about their education instead of relying on a working husband, and like the malcriadas some are
stopping the social understanding of a woman and challenging it. There are women who are
cops, boxers, electricians, and governors. Breaking the social norm and classifying themselves as
capable women. Today I enjoy seeing women taking on challenging roles and changing the way
society views women. I do feel strongly about the family as well. I believe that this strength can
help children, especially daughters to be and do more for our society.
The way an individual is classified in other countries most of the time matters to which
family you are born into. In many parts of Europe you can be born into a noble family, or a
family of commoners. Here in the United States, class depends on these categories of race,
ethnicity or gender. This class opened my eyes to just how diverse the society we live in can be. I
believe that to an extent there is still racism, sexism, and closed minded judgment. However I do
believe that we are a country that can grow and change. Though change is done individually, we
have to start somewhere if we want to see a change in our society.
Frederick Douglass spoke about our young nation, and how he has hope for it. (pg461)
Though at the time he was speaking about slavery, we can apply it to today and have hope for the
discrimination and the oppression that we see. These readings and the input from classmates has
opened my eyes to different viewpoints of the different classes in our society. The approach that
the authors and my classmates used that impacted me the most was their personal experiences.
Experiences help us to grow and become more aware of our surroundings. Whether it is our own
experiences or hearing from others, they are ways we can change the discrimination towards
classes. Like I had previously mentioned, class is something that we are capable of changing.
The readings for this class has introduced many ways our culture has effected other cultures, and
learning of these experiences has helped me to critically evaluate my own beliefs towards them. I
have the power to change my class if I choose to, and I also have the power to be more cultured
and accepting of others around me. I, like Frederick Douglass, have hope for our young nation. I
have learned valuable lessons in this class that will help me to be more aware of diversity around
me, and what I can do as an individual to stop discrimination towards classes.
Works Cited
George, Diana, John Trimbur, Reading Culture Eighth Edition. “Worked Over and Over Worked”. Pg. 408418.
Written by Steven Greenhouse
Jamie Banks, Week 12
Odede, Kennedy. "Slumdog Tourism." George, Diana and John Trimbur. Reading Culture. New Jersey:
Pearson, 2012. 519.
Anzaldua, Gloria. “How to Tame a Wild Tongue.” Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical Reading and
Writing. Diana George and John Trimbur. New York: Longman, 2012. 521-529. Print.
Monica Bhatia, Week 4
George, Diana, and John Trimbur. Reading Culture Eighth Edition. “The Veil” p. 361. Print. Written by
Marjane Satrapi.
George, Diana, and John Trimbur. "Banning Burqas and Headscarves in France." Reading Culture:
Contexts for Critical Reading and Writing. 8th ed. New York: Longman, 2001. 544-46. Print.
George, Diana, and John Trimbur. Reading Culture Eighth Edition. "Women Boxers: The New Warriors."
Pg 211-214 Print
George, Diana, and John Trimbur. “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" Speech by Frederick
Douglass. Pages: 477-491. Reading Culture. 7th ed. White Plains, N.Y.: Longman, 2010. Print.