Jen Mayer

I am taking a study break… to write on this article, “Look Out, Are You About to Join the White Underclass?” This article interested me for a number of reasons. First, my social background is one of bridging two social classes. Second, I am a nerd of sociology and topics of social class within the United States highly interest me.

Sociologists usually look at general trends within a population rather than individuals to gather data. Yet this topic hits close to home for me. I was born to parents living and working on a farm. Although at times throughout my childhood and adolescents I could present as middle class, I was more working class than anything else. As I go older, this class difference played itself out when I began to differentiate myself in the world. Living 2 ½ hours north of NYC, it became quite clear what was acceptable by the upper middle class “weekenders” and what was not. I learned that the ability to pass as middle class guaranteed certain benefits which unfortunately being viewed as working class did not. The main benefits are 1) being accepted and 2) the ability to make money. Though debatable if there is a difference between working class and underclass, Bageant tells it like it is:

“Another way we define underclass is as “losers.” People who cannot talk, think, or act like middle class professional and managerial workers, people who cannot even be posers. There is absolutely no excuse for these people. We’ve got television 24/7 to show’em how to behave.”

Although his argument is too simplistic at times by separating subjects into dichotomies of “this” or “that,” I appreciate the way Bageant sympathizes with the white underclass. He understands the way (white) middle class society functions and views the underclass. Another quote I enjoyed:

“In the end, race, gender or sexual preference are just moving parts of the class machine, with middle class perceptions setting the standard. You can indeed be black or queer, but with the properly buffed patina of white middle class mojo you can make it to the top, or near to the top of the heap (in America, proximity to the top of our cultural garbage heap is everything.”

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