CLASS, NOT RACE

 [This essay is the concluding section to a longer piece I am currently writing but is too long to include in my blog. The longer essay is entitled “The (Not So) Great Society and the Fighting Marlows” which reviews the history of my family from 1871- 1971 and concurrently reviews the societal and political events of these 100 years. While in high school I fell in love with history because I felt that a study of our shared past could provide clues to my family’s overall state of health. It did that but never before have I written a comprehensive paper detailing my examination of the process and the conclusion to which I came. And I am confident that this conclusion is a stand-alone piece that is worthy of publication.]

 

My historical study of my family beginning with my great grandfather’s birth in 1871 to my marriage in 1971 and the concurrent cultural and political forces shaping my family that it is social class, not race, that is the key factor determining one’s success in contemporary American society.

Before I proceed, however, I want to note that I detest racism in all forms, manifestations, and points of origin and the particular form of American slavery which thankfully ended six years before my great grandfather’s birth was horrific first to the slave, then to the slave holder, and finally to the entire nation. The notion that the American South would engage in a civil war to keep their “particular institution” is amazingly difficult for me to digest even in 2022. The morphing of slavery into Jim Crow laws is also hard for me to understand why people would subject other people to such inhumanity. During the 1960s I watched on television the end of Jim Crow play out in Birmingham, at Ole Miss, and with the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I also desire to note that many African Americans found success in Jim Crow America. For example, in my home state of Oklahoma the black folks living around Greenwood Avenue in Tulsa were so commercially successful that this area was often called “Little Wall Street.” I believe that it was a combination of white racism and white fear of black success that caused the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, perhaps the worst in our national history. Since 1921 we have had a black president, black supreme court justices, black members of Congress, and black artists, entertainers, and athletes excel in their fields of endeavor alongside with whites and cheered on by white spectators. Therefore, in closing, I warn all Americans, regardless of race, to stay away from the race baiters and false prophets who speak of “1619,” “Jim Crow 2.0,” “BLM- the organization,” “defund the police,” and other nonsense.

 

Being successful in the United States today is not a result of “white privilege” (another piece of propaganda) but rather a concept known as “decision privilege”- the idea that our success springs forth primarily from our individual decisions. For years three decisions have stood down for persons from all races to be successful and these three decisions must be fulfilled in order-

1.     Graduate from high school

2.     Get a job

3.     Get married before having children

 

To these three I will several more decision points for all American to fulfill their dreams and they are in no particular order of importance-

·       Find a higher purpose for your life than mere self-fulfillment

·       Discover and cultivate a core set of values for your life

·       Develop your own educational attainment plan beyond high school

·       If all possible, stay married to your first spouse

·       Plan your retirement finances early, even in your twenties

·       Work up the job ladder until you reach the level for you

 

If one does not follow the nine decisions points faithfully one could readily enter a spiral of failure. John McWhorter in Losing the Race: Self-Sabotage In Black America describes three cultural biases that destroy the confidence of his fellow African Americans to be successful: victimology, separatism, and anti-intellectualism. And Tyler Cowen warns all Americans that the future will be bleak for those in the future who can not add value to technology- they will exist on cheap food and cheap entertainment.

 

The recent debates about “critical race theory” (yet another off-the-shelf nonsense promoted by racial hustlers) should be replaced by discussions over what I call “critical class theory” without the Marxist baggage. One’s social class is usually defined in terms of economics or income with three distinct classes- upper class, middle class, and lower class. That typology, however, is too limiting for contemporary realities. Therefore, I am presenting a more nuanced approach to social class with eight groupings-

 

·       Guardian Class- Like Plato’s “philosopher-kings”, Guardians consider themselves  to be protectors of the American Ideal as they perceive it to be. These folks are career politicians and civil servants as well as business, non-profit, and foundation leaders who circle in and out of political power depending on which political party has the presidency. An example is Susan Rice, who has served under three Democratic presidents in various capacities.

·       Monied Class- Members of this class have money and will donate generously to philanthropic causes congruent to their beliefs. While primarily business leaders, they will occasionally heed a call to public service for a time. Donald Trump is one example of this class.

·       Elitist Class- Elitists are persons who have excelled in their fields of endeavor, some even achieving celebrity status. They differ from the Monied Class because they are usually first generation money and they differ from the Guardian Class because they rarely are interested in government service although they will donate money and publicly endorse political candidates. Some elitists feel they are culturally and morally superior to those in the Middle and Artisan Classes, and do not mind saying so. Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates are notable examples of this class.

·       Middle Class- Members of this class are what Peter Drucker called “knowledge workers.” Their primary work comes from their minds and includes educators, managers, military officers, and writers among others. I was a member of this class.

·       Artisan Class- Members of this class make things with their hands or do their primary work with their hands. Artists, farmers, carpenters, plumbers,  electricians, soldiers, forest rangers, and food servers among others are included in this class. Skill levels, compensation, and working hours among these workers vary. In the traditional three-class typology many of these people would be included in the Lower or Working Class while some would be in the Middle Class. My great grandfather Oscar (farmer), grandfather Bert (ship builder and tavern owner), and father Delbert (carpenter and construction worker) would have been in the Artisan Class.

·       Working Poor Class- The working poor work very hard, often at two or even three entry level jobs in a day. Their compensation is minimum wage or below with no fringe benefits. They are struck as poor because they lack the education, skills, and opportunities to enter the Artisan or Middle Classes, yet they are motivated to work.

·       Dependent Class- For various reasons, these folks receive their primary means of support from government or private assistance with little or no incentives, opportunity or motivation to work.

·       Leisure Class- Members of this class are primarily retirees. Their income sources are derived from pensions, savings, Social Security, and occasionally from parttime Artisan Class or Middle Class work. They are very open to volunteering in causes matching both their beliefs and skill sets. I am now a member of this class.

 

The above list of my social classes and descriptions is not hierarchical in terms of which is “best” nor in terms of one’s aspirations. The only classes one should avoid or rise out of as soon as possible are the Dependent and Working Poor Classes. The reality of our lives are so nuanced and complex so one go back and forth between two or even three classes during one’s lifetime depending upon one’s situation.

 

Not only are there benefits to being in one of the six “desired” social classes but also possible dangers or traps of which to be aware:

 

1.     The Guardian Class feels itself to be special. After all, its members are generally born in affluent circumstances, attend the “right” schools. go to Ivy League or similar colleges, marry the “right” spouses, and are usually mentored by Guardians. The danger of this class is that its members often feel entitled to govern the rest of us while not always following the rules they make for the rest of us. In both foreign and domestic affairs, Guardians tend to look out for themselves and may be condescending to those of the other classes.

2.     Members of the Dependent Class can also feel entitled, not for governing, but rather to the receipt of entitlements mandated by the Guardian Class for the Middle and Artisan Classes to pay in taxes for massive government programs and what they can get out of the Monied Class in its largesse. About 50 percent of all Americans do not pay federal incomes taxes and many of these folks are in this class.

3.     The Working Poor are in a maze almost impossible to escape once entered. These folks need to get a minimum of a real high school education with reading, writing,  and thinking skills and perhaps specific job training at a community college or apprenticeship even before fulltime work. Parttime jobs which develop one’s work ethic can also help.

4.     Middle & Artisan Classes:

·       Members of these classes need to decide on the appropriate education one needs after high school. For example, it was for some time that every high school graduate needs a degree from a traditional university to be successful. For some, it is necessary to enter certain professions. For others, it is not and they have options, either post-high school apprenticeship, community college, technical school, or a superb online education program in combination with any or all options. The key for the student is to be able to read, write, and think across the academic disciplines to be prepared for any job changes or employment disruptions. Consider the fictional Sergeant Leonard Borth as descripted in John Hersey’s novel A Bell for Adano, set in World War II. Before the age of 30 Borth had been a pre-medical student, a news correspondent, a travel agent, a personal secretary, a newspaper reporter, and radio salesman in cities across Europe and the United States.

·       Keep debt as low as possible. Pay off credit cards and loans, including house, car, and college, as soon as possible. Being enslaved to high debt limits one’s option, choices, and opportunities in life.

5.     Members of the Monied Class need to accumulate wealth not for its own sake but to use one’s personal wealth to invest in ventures and enterprises to uplift their fellow citizens.

6.     Elitists too often come across as even despising people in the Middle and Artisan Classes, especially in the South and Midwest (which is considered “flyover” country between the coastal elites).

7.     Those folks fortunate to enter retirement and the Leisure Class should see this as an opportunity to serve their communities

There must also be some public policy goals for our social class structure in the United States. Briefly, they include:

 

·       The Guardian Class must be held in check to prevent it from leading us into needless wars and other short-sighted foreign and domestic schemes. (David Halberstam ironically labeled them “The Best and the Brightest”- in his book with the same title-for their misjudgments and miscalculations for getting us involved in Vietnam).

·       Elitists must be challenged about their attitudes towards others.

·       The Middle and Artisan Classes must be grown.

·       The Dependent and Working Poor Classes must be shrunk.

·       The Monied Class must consider its wealth as stewardship for themselves and a trust for others.

·       The Leisure Class must be given opportunities to serve others.

 

In closing, social class is a complex phenomenon, much more than noting one’s skin color. Yet, one can successfully navigate the complexity of social class by at least being subconsciously aware of it, finding one’s preferred class, and seeking assistance along the way.

 

-----Coda-----

 

To illustrate social class in the United States I offer examples of two men who both have had either a best-selling biography or a best-selling autobiography (along with a movie based on the book) dealing their struggles of social class.

 

My first example is Cedric Jennings of Washington, DC. Jennings was the son of a Working Poor mother. His father was incarcerated in jail for most of his childhood. Jennings and his mother had high hopes for his future but he had several challenges to overcome. His high school was considered one of the worst in the nation and his best friend was a drug dealer. Jennings’s first college choice- MIT- rejected his application but he was admitted to Brown University.

 

At Brown, Jennings struggled academically as compared to the more prepared students from the Monied, Elitist, and Guardian classes. But, with perseverance and intelligence, he overcame once again and graduated with a degree in education. Then Jennings received graduate degrees in education from Harvard University and in clinical counseling from the University of Michigan. Today Jennings is a counselor and youth minister in the DC area. Therefore, he has chosen the Middle Class in which he lives his life. Read Ron Suskind’s A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League for more information.

 

My second example is J.D. Vance of Cincinnati, Ohio. Vance was born in Middletown, Ohio but his family roots were in Appalachian Kentucky his closest kin were Working Poor. His maternal grandparents had to Middletown where they could enjoy the fruits of a Middle Class life. When the steel plants closed in the city his grandparents were again Working Poor and his mother began a life of drugs and marriages. While his sister was able to leave the situation, Vance endured and finally was living with his grandmother after his grandfather had died. His grandmother disciplined him and gave him hope for a better life.

 

After high school graduation, Vance joined the Marine Corps which shaped him further for success. Leaving the military Vance entered Ohio State University where he graduated in two and a half years. Nest he was accepted at Yale Law School. After graduation, Vance became a venture capitalist, married his law school sweetheart, and wrote his Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis. Vance returned to Ohio to become a nonprofit executive and presently he is a candidate for the US Senate. While Vance has shown potential to gain entry into the Guardian Class, he is at present in the Middle Class.