Reflection on Class Discussion (May 4, 2010)

We've been examining artists and their work from many different points of view and cultural discourses. However, when a student remarked that being a middle class caucasian gave him no cultural community, whereas African Americans had, I had to stop and reflect on whether this was true. Whenever a person is in the smaller, non-dominant group that creates a sense of group, we can see how people naturally band together. It is the similarities which bring more people together than their differences, particularly if the groups has suffered at the hands of a dominant culture.

The only way I can perceive of caucasian Americans grouping together to form a cultural community is through class. The dominant cultural force will always be income in the average American household. The house that feverently purchases organic foods does not generally follow the same cultural beliefs as the family that needs food stamps. The family that views college education as mandatory does not purchase the same products, watch the same shows, vacation the same places, or have the same peers as the family who cannot afford 'Mommy and Me' classes for their toddlers. Of course, all families would like their children to go on to college but this is not the reality in America today. College can draw a child into another social level, and if that child continues to strive they can retain their position in that culture. Unlike other repressed minority groups who are held back through no fault of their own and may never even get the opportunity for higher education, the white lower class has the ability to bring themselves into the socially dominant group. Minorities have to battle the stereotypes of their people on an everyday basis, they have no choice in the preconceived notions others have about them. Everyday they must fight to present themselves accurately, as individuals with the same hopes and dreams as the dominant culture.