Sociology Paper

Anish Mandala

12/6/17

Bree

Inro to Soch

Memior

A social class is a group of people of similar status commonly sharing comparable levels of power and wealth. When society is organized by social classes, as opposed to castes, it is theoretically possible for people to attain a higher status than the status with which they started. This movement is possible because social classes are not based on birth but on factors such as education and professional success. This is very true in my case as my dad initially had a job which had a safe and stable income. This all changed when the recession hit. My dad’s company started to struggle financially. This forced them to layoff people. My dad was one of the people that they ended up laying off. After this situation my dad decided to start his own company. This a perfect example of social mobility in which a people (in this case my dad) move across social class boundaries or move from one occupation level to another. This social mobility is very hard to do. “British professionals working in law, accountancy and finance whose parents did manual jobs or were unemployed earned 20 per cent less on average than colleagues from upper middle-class backgrounds, according to the study.” (Financial times) This is also an example of intragenerational mobility which is the career mobility a person makes within his or her lifetime. To get to this point in which my dad had a successful business he had to work very hard and overcome obstacles. In my situation we did not have to worry about money on a day to day basis and could afford extra items like vacations. This class allowed us to live in in a relatively wealthy area with a good school districts. In the school they had proper textbooks teaching materials and even smartboards that the teachers could write on. All these learning tool helped to enhance the education. The school district was also in a relatively wealthy area which meant that it could afford to staff good teachers. This is an example of social immobility which mean that social classes will often group in many aspects of their live. Due to financial situations or work commitment member of different social classes will often live in groups. This will inevitably influence the circle of friends a person has. Friends from the workplace are all in the same job and so are of the same class, have similar life chances, and live in similar area. This is true in my situation as well most or our family friends have a similar lifestyle to us and are in the same social class. Being in a good school district allowed me to have a good learning environment with good teachers. Not only that but having this extra money allowed me to get a tutor when my act scores were not where they needed to be. This situation also allowed me to be at home studying instead of working a job while in high school. All this allowed me to get into college where I can improve my pay outlooks and the increase the amount of jobs that are available to me in the future. Due to my class and my ability to travel the world and experience different ideas my cultural capital has grown as well as my views on other cultures in the world. I have been to multiple countries including China, Japan, and India. In fact, I was born in India and both of my parents immigrated from there. In China we got to eat local delicacies like duck and seafood that is native to the Chinese. We also got to visit a famous historical monument in the Great Wall of China. In India I got to see both the big booming wealthy side and the poor side where people were sleeping on the streets. We also got to travel and see the Taj Mahal. I still have cousin in India and we try to go back there every other year. While we are there I immerse myself in the culture by visiting my hometown village which is surrounded by farmland. I also try to eat local food and sometimes even eat in roadside food stations. We also dress in traditional Indian clothing and go to traditional Indian functions. It has shaped my views as I don’t think the world is a terrible place full or hatred and evil. This may be because everything in my life has been good and I have not had many trouble. Social stratification which refers to a society’s categorization of its people into rankings of socioeconomic tiers based on factors like wealth, income, race, education, and power. This is a society wide system that makes inequalities apparent. This stratification is not about individual inequalities, but based on group membership and classes. Social stratification is created and supported by societies. Stratification is an economic system based on wealth, the net value of money, and the income a person has. The class system of social stratification is based on both social factors and individual achievement. This social stratification also represents an unequal distribution of power.  In my case people in the social class below me may not be able to have the same experiences or the same access to resources as me. They will not have the chances to get into college as they may have to work during high school or they may not have been able to afford ACT tutoring to raise their score. The social class a person comes from still determines success. The poorest children still have little chance of becoming lawyer, doctors, and fanciers. Teenagers from poorer families are not going to get a university degree.

        In addition to social class race and ethnicity is a topic that I experience every day. Race is defined as a group of people who have been singled out on the basis of real or alleged physical characteristics. Ethnicity is defined as the common cultural characteristics that people such as the same language, origin, dress, food, and values. African Americans in the United States are heavily discriminated against. The Jim Crow laws passed in the late 1800s are an example of institutional racial discrimination. This is any “meso-level institutional arrangement that facors on racial group over another; this favoritism may result in intentional or unintentional consequences for minority groups.” (Our social world) Unnecessary labels are placed on African American like they are criminals. These labels are usually not founded in fact. The USA Today found “police in Berkley, Calif., and Madison, Wis., arrested black people at a rate nine times higher than members of other racial groups.” “African American are incarcerated in state prisons at a rate that is 5.1 times the imprisonment of whites. In five states the disparity is more than 10 to 1.” This clearly shows that there are stereotypes associated with African Americans that is causing them to be incarcerated at a rate that is disproportionately higher than other races. There are particular labels associated with this race that causes police to arrest them more than other races. Racial profiling may play a role in why African Americans are more likely to be put in prison. This significantly limits African American chances of getting a job in the future. If an employer on sees African Americans as criminals, they will be less likely to higher them even though they may be equally as qualified as other candidates. Back home where I came to Akron from everyone automatically assumed you were smart or intelligent just because you were Asian. They expected me to do well on all the tests and be one of the people that were the highest rank in my high school class. This is a stereotype which is a rigid often inaccurate mage that summarizes a belief. This is in no way similar or even remotely close to the prejudice or discrimination that African American face daily but is a stereotype that I encountered every day in my high school. Because these stereotypes reflect beliefs rather than facts they are often illogical and self-serving. These stereotypes persist in cultures because stereotypes can work to evaluate the status of the group which engages in it. Stereotyping reduces the need to think by creating universal ideas rather than acknowledging individual characteristics.  Even I have implicit biases like being more careful around a person with a tattoo that is visible or being more careful if there is a person with their hood up at night. According to Conflict ethnic and racial inequality results from the endless competition among groups for power wealth status and other valuable social resources. Two groups of people compete for these resources. If the minorities were to acquire power, they would demand the higher paying jobs that give them more prestige and better working conditions. That is why the dominant races and ethnicity don’t allow the minorities to get to that area. Racial and ethnic inequalities always almost end in conflict. This can explain the labels that are put on minority groups is to hold them down in the social order so the dominant races can have the prestige and the power. Prejudice is an understandable response of humans to their social environment. To survive, every social group or unit needs to convince people to voluntarily commit energy, time, skills, and resources to the organization so the organization can meet its needs. This loyalty lead to a preference for the group and attempts to distinguish it from others. It is important to recognize prejudice and how it can lead to discriminatory actions. There are a few instances in which I have experienced prejudice. When I was walking back from school one day I remember receiving a glaring and dirty look from an older aged white male. This was most likely because I was a person of color. Back home shortly after the 9/11 attack on the twin tower some people said some hateful things toward our family. This is overt racism due to the terrorist attack. This could be an example of frustration-aggression theory. According to frustration-aggression many of those who carry out acts of racial discrimination fell angry and frustrated because they achieve their work or other goals. Frustration-aggression theory focuses on people who express their frustration their frustration through aggressive attacks on others.  In this case it is a perfect example as people were frustrated that the country go attacked by outsiders. This frustration was overtly expressed through discrimination. For me during the college admissions process they were so many Asians applying to the top universities and they all had amazing test scores it was much harder for me as an Asian to get into these colleges. I needed good test scores, a good GPA, and unique extracurriculars to even have a shot at being accepted into the university. All this did not guarantee me a spot at that university. These top tier universities did not want all Asians which is why it is much harder for them to get into these universities. According to the Chicago Tribune “Asian students must have SAT scores 140 points higher than whit students, 270 points higher than Hispanics and 450 points higher than black students to be admitted.” These statics are some of that show that is harder for Asian Americans to get into top tier colleges. Overall I have not had too many experiences with overt racism or discrimination but it has affected my life in certain ways.

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