Chapter 7 Summary: The Land of Opportunity
One of the quotes at the beginning of the chapter: “Ten men in our country could buy the whole world
and ten million can’t buy enough to eat”.-Will Rogers
Loewen argues that because of history textbooks and the lesson students by the time they leave high
school, students “know little about how the American class structure works”(pg 195). He says they do
not, or not able, to look at the big picture and adequately explain why opportunity and success is
unequal in America. Textbooks, because of their representations are a major influence on this. Loewen
holds that the books do not discuss labor history in terms of social class. Social class is one of the most
important parts in a society and textbooks do mention the most important ones: Bacons Rebellion and
Shay’s. I’m not sure I completely agree with this picture. I understand that this is one person’s
experience, and the book was written almost 16 years ago, but my high school history class was quite
different. I remember learning about those rebellions, about discussion class structure.
He continues with an analysis of how classrooms and schools operate and how that affects students’
views on the American social class. He talks about the social class of students and the fact that the lower
the class the lower their opportunity to learn about the history of social class. Loewen sites research,
“teachers are often surprised and even distressed when poor children excel”(pg198). He discusses the
chain reaction this causes in attending good schools and colleges. In my experience I have seen that
students who do not have as much support at home, either because of their family income or other
variables, actually get more help in the school. I believe that this is something that is changing since
Loewen did his research. I believe schools and teachers are trying to equalize the quality of education
and opportunity more and more. I personally feel that after a certain point or age, it is up to the
students how much they equalize their own opportunities and education. Even in Graduate education
we choose how much we get out of it, and how well we succeed, not matter what social class we are in,
and I come from a lower social class. Loewen finishes the chapter by stating that our system of
analyzing American social class history is “rigged against the working class”.
Loewen makes some very interesting and valid arguments and his theme throughout the text that
education avoids the more difficult topics is very true. I like that he returns to this and forces the
reader, and teachers to really reflect on this when considering your own teaching methods.